DINNER & A SHOW

Do you love a pub feed and the arts? Plan your next night out with dinner at The Nest and a theatre show at KXT on Broadway across the road! 

CHECK OUT KXT ON BROADWAY’S FULL PROGRAM HERE 

BROWSE THE NEST MENU HERE

Following the 5pm Sunday matinee at KXT on Broadway, head across the road for your post show dinner with cocktails on the side!

John recommends ~ the Crispy Chicken Bao followed by an Amaretto Sour

Since we're both independent, Australian, family run companies we're always about word of mouth. If you say 'NEST' or 'GALAH' to a staff member at KXT on Broadway you'll get 20% off your theatre tickets. If you say 'KXT' to The Nest or a Flaming Galah staff member you'll get 10% off food and drink purchases. 

Learn more about Flamin’ Galah here:

See you at the pub and the theatre soon!

mentoring @ KXT on Broadway

STANDBY

for the announcement of the KXT24 Step up Team

- 2024 call out now closed -

young, lively and imbued with a feeling of magic - concrete playground

The bAKEHOUSE Step Up program is a bespoke mentoring program connecting emerging artists; providing pathways and opportunities; and nurturing new work. In 2023 the bAKEHOUSE Step up Mentoring program went on hiatus while we built KXT on Broadway.

We are excited to be relaunching this program in 2024.

Since opening we’ve been excited to welcome in early-stage directors, actors, producers, writers, designers, operators and to champion their work.  We love the fearlessness of youth, the ambition and passion that drives them headlong into risky and dangerous work. The drive to succeed and the willingness to fail. Some of the best bAKEHOUSE work has been bold, brave, ambitious. Occasionally flawed. Sometimes not. But we’ve been able to hone our craft because someone somewhere took a chance on us.

Someone said Yes.

There have been a lot of No’s. We pitched The Laden Table and Jatinga to all the venues and companies over three years, and they all said No. We took a world premiere script by an award winning living Australian legend to some of Sydney’s most accessible curated seasons and they didn’t like it *Dresden by Justin Fleming finally played a sold out season at KXT in June 2018. We were long listed for multiple seasons, and short listed for others and went to the meetings and wrote the submissions and they still said No. Sometimes we were invited in. For about 6 years we didn’t have enough experience. Then we'd been around too long. Then the work was too ambitious. The teams untried. The ideas too big. Or risky.

But we got enough Yes’s to make it work. To make the work.

Step Up is about saying YES. It’s about more than taking a risk - it’s about investing in risk. It’s about connecting people and communities, and seeing art emerge.

every KXT work in some way pushes forward the Sydney arts scene - its an opportunity for artists to experiment and create, and its a chance for the audience to see where our local performance culture is headed”

— Cassie Tongue, Time Out Sydney

APPLICATIONS

FOR THE 2024 STEP UP PROGRAM

ARE NOW CLOSED

WHO: there are no age or experience restrictions. Selection is based on what the bAKEHOUSE team is able to offer an applicant. If we think we can support you in positive and practical ways, then we’ll ask to meet up for a chat. Please note that we are a small team and there is a limit to how many meetings we are able to hold! So, take some time with your application and let us know all about you, your work, and your plans.

WHAT: like all bAKEHOUSE call outs we’re keeping it super simple

email: bakehousetheatrecompany@gmail.com

subject line: KXT2024 Step Up Application | your name here

with: a brief message in the email, and an attached single page word doc that gives us a rundown of your experience; training; current practice; ambitions note that this doesn't have to be a long list! It's not necessary to have done everything everywhere yet, we'd like to support you with that

tell us: what shows you’ve seen at KXT and why you thought they were the best thing ever! we want to know why you’d like to be a part of the Step Up program

add in: links. to your work, your website, reviews. Maximum of 3

please: no other attachments

don’t forget: we’ll need your name; age; best phone contact

handy hint: we’re fine with lists

got that all together? Great! Email it to the above account by

midnight on MONDAY 01 MARCH*

*oops - bit of a typo here… so to be fair we’re taking apps right up to Monday 04 March

we’ll be in touch in the first week of March with next steps

IMPORTANT:

All applicants are to be available for an in-person meeting in the week of 11 - 17 March

not everyone will be invited to meet up, but we will be in touch with everyone

All applicants are to be available for an additional meeting on the evening of Monday 25 March

SOMETHING SPECIAL

This year we announced something a little bit special for emerging artists

the inaugural KXT Awards for Excellence in Writing & Directing.

The KXT Awards for Excellence for emerging artists are to acknowledge quality work on the KXT on Broadway stage by artists early in their careers. We’re not fans of theatre as a competitive sport. However we do believe that excellence should be recognised - and sometimes in our very fast moving sector, where we quickly jump from one miraculous triumph to the next, it’s important to take time to pause and to celebrate. The degree of difficulty independent artists have to manage to make their work is deserving of recognition.

For our first year we recognised 2 categories with an award for excellence in writing and an award for excellence in directing. 

The Nominees for the 2023 KXT Award for excellence in writing:

JACOB PARKER for Dumb Kids

ERIC JIANG for Rhomboid

JOSEPHINE GAZARD for That’s What She Said

ERICA J BRENNAN for The Hero Leaves One Tooth

This year the Winner of the KXT Award for Excellence in Writing is JACOB PARKER, Dumb Kids

The winner of the KXT Awards for Excellence receive $1000 and a week in the KXT Vault for their current passion project.

Nominees for the 2023 KXT Award for excellence in directing

TIFFANY WONG for Boom

SAMMY JING for Rhomboid

CHARLIE VAUX for Cherry Smoke

SOPHIA BRYANT for Dumb Kids

This year the Winner of the KXT Award for Excellence in Directing is Sammy Jing, Rhomboid The winner of the KXT Awards for Excellence receive $1000 and a week in the KXT Vault for their current passion project.

With thanks to our partners at ELF Education and Learning Foundation


KXT2023 LOOK BACK

We move at a frantic pace in the independent sector. So every year we like to take a minute to look back before we move forward. And 2023 was an astonishing one for both KXT and bAKEHOUSE.

So. 2023. We began our year in the Cross with 4 seasons of work, incl 2 new Australian plays and a month long festival of queer work in development and production for Pride hosted by Sean Landis and Maddy Ghandi in the first full season of work from Fruit Box. Our final season in the Cross was the Australian premiere of Simon Longman’s Gundog pres by Secret House, the co-producers with New Ghosts theatre of the 2022 independent play of the year, directed by Anthony Skuse, featuring a visit from the UK-based playwright and receiving 4 and 5 star reviews.

On closing night of that show, a small team dropped the lights, cleared the chairs, put everything in a truck and drove it across town unloading everything by midnight to be installed for the inaugural show at KXT on Broadway, all ready for a building compliance inspection on Monday, and the bump in and production week for the first season. Our enormous thanks go to Virginia Plain theatre, Fruit Box, Secret House and Criss Cross productions who worked with us to make the transition to our new home in Ultimo as seamless as possible.

Also to Ben Brockman, Chris Starnawski, Emily Buxton, Charlie Vaux and countless volunteers who jumped in to carry chairs and lights and sound gear and boxes and endlessly mopped up building dust; to James Smithers who built the bar and decked out the change rooms; to Antony Mahklouf who’s beautiful artwork has graced both the Mountain St windows and the foyer wall; to the bAKEHOUSE Board Steve Newnham, Andrew McMartin, Matt Millar, Becks Blake, Michael Dean, and Renee Lim, for their moral, financial and practical support; to our new bar sponsors Atomic, and our venue staff Emily, Charlie, Bill and Aaron; our tertiary partners at UTS and Notre Dame; our builders Shannon and Dan (who built walls on the floor and managed an old fashioned barn raising but make it theatre); to our plumbers and sparkies and painters and acoustic engineers who worked miracles on a budget and schedule…


…and John and I want to personally thank Andrew who has somehow managed to keep us somewhat sane through it all.


We think it’s important to note that this all happened in a year when yet another small indie venue closed, the 3rd in under 2 years. We certainly hope that all the reports and surveys currently underway designed to bring change to the culture and arts sectors of Australia recognise the critical role that small venues play, and that supporting theatres like KXT is supporting artists

Since moving to Ultimo on the 13 March - only an exhausting 10 months ago - KXT on Broadway has delivered a further 15 seasons and 2 festivals; and our new space the KXT Vault has allowed us to support 17 developments; an additional 2 pop up seasons; and provide 10 weeks of free rehearsal space.

Bringing this year’s KXT stats to 23 seasons of work; 13 weeks of rehearsal support; 12 world premieres: 16 Australian premieres; 7 seasons of work led by artists of colour; 15 women-led productions; while providing space for something like 300 artists. Meanwhile downstairs in the Vault we made space for 24 artists developing work, alongside countless actors - seriously we lost track …

Audiences also moved with us from the Cross to Broadway, and while we’re still crunching the final numbers we can report 2023 included a number of sold out seasons. We’ve also seen new audiences from the creative hub that is Chippendale, Glebe and Newtown, and our new neighbourhood is fast developing as a centre for the arts in Sydney. KXT on Broadway is home to multiple value-adding Artist programs: the Vault at KXT; Storytellers Festival; KXT Crossroads events; bAKEHOUSE Residencies; step Up mentoring, the laboratory and StoryLines. Each year we program new work that comes through our Artist Support programs: we’re proud to say that when you’re programmed at KXT you become part of a fresh and exciting community of artists & audience delivering new Australian work

This year our additional space downstairs means we have been able to focus on expanding developments. Previous work supported through the bAKEHOUSE Residency program include: Hubris & Humiliation by Lewis Treston led by Rily Spadaro and Pheobe Pilcher; The Italians by Danny Ball led by Danny Ball, Thomas D’Angelis and Emma O’Sullivan; Symphonie Fantastique by the Little Eggs Collective led by Mathew Lee and Julia Robertson; The Monologue Collective the brainchild of Laneikka Denne; U.B.U. by Tooth and Sinew with Richard Hilliar and Nicole Wineberg at the helm; Feminazi by Laneikka Denne; Porpoise Pool by Jojo Zhou led by Eve Beck and Bite Productions. All this miraculously during a pandemic on a tiny stage in the Cross, squeezed in between back to back seasons. Now with the KXT Vault downstairs it is a true joy to us to be able to have a home for new work. A special shout-out to Charlie Vaux who works with us in Artist Support, to be sure we can offer so much to so many independent and emerging artists.

There was a moment in March this year as Gundog closed out our 8 years in the Cross, when the director of the first show at KXT Michael Dean sat on stage and chatted with Anthony Skuse the director of the final show. We’ll dig through the records at some point and come up with the actual numbers, however we can say that thousands of artists have worked on the KXT stage since its inception late in 2015. And hundreds of artists who began their careers here, learning the lessons that can only be learned in the cauldron of production, are now working at STC, Belvoir, Griffin, Darlinghurst Theatre Co, ensemble, Malthouse, Melbourne Theatre Co, even the UKs Punchdrunk. While we’re not claiming credit for all of these successes, we are certainly proud to have been able to offer support, guidance and pathways to so many along the way. In 2024 we’ll be relaunching STEP UP, the KXT Mentoring program; and the Laboratory, our investment in emerging writers and their work

So what does KXT2024 look like? click on the link below to find out

  • Suzanne Millar Creative Director KXT on Broadway



investing

NEW WRITING AT KXT ON BROADWAY - 2023

KXT2023 showcased 9 new Australian plays; hosted 15 bAKEHOUSE Residencies in the KXT Vault; and delivered the 4th iteration of the stunningly successful Storytellers Festival

in the KXT2023 season we programmed 2 plays from the Storytellers season; s from the Laboratory; and 1 from the Panimo Pandemonium season.

This year, Sydney Theatre Company launched their 2023 season with the acclimaed Hubris and Humiliation by Lewis Treston, picked up after a development and showcase at KXT at the end of 2022.

4 of the recent productions playing at Belvoir in their 25a season in the downstairs theatre began their life at KXT: 2 in the bAKEHOUSE Residency program; 1 as part of our Open the Door program following Covid lockdowns.

This year three of the 4 finalists for the Griffin Award have had their early work supported and staged at KXT, including Kate Bubalo’s Your Name which featured as a play read in the Purple Tape season earlier in the year.

Click on the button below to read more about the bAKEHOUSE Residency Program.

Click on the button below to find out about the Storytellers Festival

STANDBY for updates on the KXT Laboratory and the Step Up program

HUMAN ACTIVITY - Directors Notes

Human Activity is the final puzzle piece in the work that I began in Kamathipura 10 years ago. It’s been a glorious and challenging project, mostly rewarding: the young girls that live in the laneways of Asia’s oldest and largest red light district now have an arts program run by Clowns Without Borders and the Brett Lee Music Centre. Girls have traveled - on a plane! - to international children’s theatre festivals. We’ve supported a program to train women in hair salons, to provide them with an opportunity to change their lives. We’ve seen a night shelter established for the most vulnerable tots and toddlers from the local brothels. On the way we worked alongside, partnered with and were inspired by some titans of Indian theatre. We’ve established an arts exchange, hosting 4 Mumbai artists in Sydney and sending 4 from Sydney to Mumbai.

Sometimes the big wild ideas take off. Human Activity is a companion piece to Jatinga, a play inspired by the stories of the girls I met in Kamathipura, commissioned by bAKEHOUSE and written and developed by playwright Purva Naresh, Aarambh theatre and a team of actors at bAKEHOUSE. In 2017 we put India on a tiny stage in KX and played a sold out and acclaimed season. 

In 2017 I wrote this about Jatinga: “It’s just a play. And it’s not going to change the world in any big way. But the work of building it, and the context of its development, and the stories it tells, has changed the world for a few girls”. Human Activity is an Australian response to the big ideas of Jatinga: that at the point where our lives intersect there is an opportunity for love and compassion: that a little play can say a big thing; that theatre and art can both reflect and transcend life; that new and different is good - in theatre, in life.

Katie’s play is a uniquely Australian response to that season. Determinedly Australian yet somehow touched by Indian playmaking, universal in its story and themes, it begins with the idea that our lives intersect and our experiences are shared. We’ve put together a cast that looks like no other you’ll see in Sydney this year, with 21 year olds working on their first production alongside veterans in their 70s. You may have seen some on stages for Belvoir, Riverside, Monkey Baa and KXT. There are those who have lived in Sydney their whole lives, others who have been here for only a few years. Most have traveled to rehearsals from the outer edges of Sydney, (and will be pleased when we transfer to Riverside theatres in October!)

It’s the final piece of a complex 10 year puzzle, driven by compassion, and generosity, and deep care for those who find themselves alone. It is a strange lovely hybrid thing: heavily influenced by the poetry and storytelling of its origins in Indian theatre making, written for and speaking to an Australian audience, locked deep in recent culture and events. Thank you for giving it your time.

POPUP DOWNSTAIRS

gloriously unhinged Toasting Aussie Theatre

skin-crawlingly uncomfortable feeling of secondhand embarrassment Rebecca Cushway

★ ★ ★ ★ Time Out Sydney

NOMINATED BEST IN COMEDY SYDNEY FRINGE

Join Jenna as they bunker down in their living room to process the triple threat of a lifetime - getting dumped, being made redundant, and starting a career in stand-up comedy.

It’s Not Funny, It’s Private is a self-deprecating love letter to Jenna’s past relationships, her 18 year old cat Mam, and the Real Housewives franchise. This loveable Lexapro lesbian is making their private life public. Get ready to feel seen (even if you don’t want to admit it).

Listed as one of the top comedy acts to see at The Melbourne Fringe 2022, Jenna Suffern is a Eora (Sydney) based comedian, producer and writer. She has an engaging presence and a flair for performance, bringing an off-the-cuff and kooky approach to comedy. She's a known face in the Sydney comedy scene, a familiar voice for Pedestrian.TV and VICE AU, and produces and hosts the queer comedy room, ‘Two Queers Walk Into A Bar’.

“Suffern is a particularly bright spark” Sydney Morning Herald

Writer, Performer, Producer Jenna Suffern | Director Courtney Ammenhauser

Lighting Designer Jasmin Borsovszky Stage Manager Stephanie Black Sound Designer, Dramaturg Brendan Hancock

BROADWAY LIGHTS

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE  

Since launching KXT in 2015 bAKEHOUSE has invested significantly in the development of new voices, providing a safe space for some of our most exciting and adventurous new work, and offering support and guidance to the next generation of important storytellers. We have grown and expanded with the help of countless artists and allies committed to change and transformation. 

That we have done this without Federal or State Funding is a testament to the passion and commitment of our team, our supporters, and fellow artists.

In 2023 we moved to our new home at KXT on Broadway. We are proud of the theatre we have built: a meeting place for artists and audiences alike; an incubator for new work; and an artistic landmark connecting people and art.

We have been fortunate to receive funding that has helped us to cover some of the cost of our beautiful new home. However, the costs of building a new theatre are extensive and in 2024 we have set ourselves the target of raising $50,000 to keep the Broadway Lights on. With the investment of generous donors and supporters we are already nearing the halfway mark. We are asking for your help to support Sydney’s most dynamic and accessible theatre. Your generosity is an investment in the art and artists of the future. 

YOUR DONATIONS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

A $100 donation will provide

Free development space for a new work

Support for a company through production and technical periods

Dramaturgical guidance for new writers

Regular management and maintenance of the KXT Vault

 

A $500 donation will provide

Free rehearsal space for producers

Wages for staffing of the bAKEHOUSE Bar

New lighting fixtures for our state-of-the-art rig

Showcases for new Australian plays

 

A $1000 donation will provide

Internships and production placements for 2 student artists

Mentoring and opportunities for 2 emerging artists

Engagement workshops with not for profit and charitable organisations

Subsidised programming to maintain affordable venue hire

All Donations will

mean that bAKEHOUSE can invest in venue upgrades: most notably improved seating; state of the art lighting; up to date sound equipment

Would you like your donation to be an investment in something specific? Get in touch with us on the following email: bakehousetheatrecompany@gmail.com

the bAKERs Dozen is a group of valued partners who each donate $5,000 to support the work on the KXT stage. Please send us a message via the CONTACT HOST button below if you would like to know more

bAKEHOUSE RESIDENCIES

IN THE KXT VAULT

STANDBY - 2024 CALL OUT COMING SOON

In 2023 bAKEHOUSE continues to support the development of new work and emerging artists through a residency program based in the Vault at KXT on Broadway.

previous developments include: Hubris & Humiliation by Lewis Treston led by Rily Spadaro and Pheobe Pilcher; The Italians by Danny Ball led by Danny Ball, Thomas D’Angelis and Emma O’Sullivan; Symphonie Fantastique by the Little Eggs Collective led by Mathew Lee and Julia Robertson; The Monologue Collective led by Laneikka Denne; Reimagining Sputnik 1 by Snatched Theatre led by Warwick Doddrell; U.B.U. by Tooth and Sinew led by Richard Hilliar; The Park by Simon Thomson led by Emma Wright and Jess Bell; Fighting by Xavier Coy led by Claudia Barrie, Feminazi by Laneikka Denne; Porpoise Pool by Jojo Zhou led by Bite Productions

★

HERE’S WHAT WE OFFER…

SPACE

In 2023 the bAKEHOUSE Residency Program moves into the KXT Vault. Downstairs beneath KXT on Broadway, whisper quiet, fresh and bright - a dedicated space for the exclusive use of artists

★

TIME

You will have access to the Vault throughout daytimes during both the week and weekends, outside of the performance times in the KXT2023 season. Some evenings may be available

★

and it’s all FREE

time in the Vault will be allocated according to availability with the intention to provide support to a broad range of projects. These projects may be

★ first reads

★ script development

★ the development of an idea

Note: this call out is for the period … it is unlikely that we will be able to provide space to all applicants. The next call out will be …


?? WHAT NOW ??

WE'RE KEEPING IT SUPER SIMPLE

FIRST UP  send us a short covering email telling us about the development. Please attach a single one page Word doc with the following information:

the stage of development | is this a first idea? Or note the draft are you working from. We’re also interested in supporting playwrights as they work on their latest draft

the outcome | what do you hope to achieve during your residency

the key personnel attached | and a brief note of their background. This will ideally be one or two lines only for each person

what you are asking for | how much time would you like? what is the ideal day, times or dates? when are you NOT available in the July - Sept period?

attach | if you’re working from a script please attach a copy of the latest draft if appropriate


You’ve got all your info together? Wonderful!

EMAIL 2023kxt@gmail.com

WITH bAKEHOUSE Residency KXT2023 July - Sept

by 5.00 pm 25th JUNE



WANT TO KNOW WHAT FLOATS OUR BOAT?

click on the images below to check out some of the previous KXT seasons and to read more about bAKEHOUSE

THE KXT VAULT

SUPPORTING ARTISTS In 2023, we have moved into our new home at KXT On Broadway. One of the most exciting things about the venue is that it comes with an additional space which allows us to significantly increase our capacity to support artists

While at KXT in the Cross, programs such as Step Up, Storytellers, The Laboratory, bAKEHOUSE Residencies, and Popupstairs had to be squeezed in whenever we could find a spare room or a gap in the schedule.

At KXT On Broadway, we have a dedicated space to offer support all year round, at no cost to artists.

This brilliant new space is The KXT Vault. In the Vault we’ll be running artist support programs and community engagement initiatives, and offering artists time for the development of new work

PERFORMANCE: The KXT Vault is not an additional theatre – we’re flat out running one of those! However, from time to time we’ll be curating some bespoke performances in the Vault that connect with the space in innovative ways or are the centerpiece of a significant community engagement initiative. This is not the place for a published play. Rather: we’ll make room for something highly experimental, or closely connected with community.

To show you what we mean: in January MKA Theatre and bAKEHOUSE joined forces to present NOBODY SPECIAL in the KXT Vault playing: theatre for an audience of 1 – an audient – a response to the covid capacity restrictions placed on theatres. You can read more on the link below

So what is the Vault for??

DEVELOPMENT: . At different points throughout the year, we’ll be opening up for expressions of interest from artists and companies for development opportunities in the Vault – the bAKEHOUSE Residencies done right! in this way it’s possible to quickly find a home for the wild new idea without having to wait for an annual call out.

ENGAGEMENT: introducing the David Bathur Creative Fellowship, investing in the building blocks of ground breaking artistic work; social justice initiatives; community engagement; or similar.

COMMUNITY: bAKEHOUSE works with companies at KXT to raise awareness and funds for an extraordinary number of Not For Profits and Community based organisations, to build relationships, and to engage in radical community support. The KXT Vault is where Community x Art meet

THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID written & performed by Josephine Gazard

Imagery: Christopher Starnawski

A stand out hit from the 2022 Storytellers festival Josephines one-woman play charted the experience of a young woman following a sexual assualt in her university college room. Playing a sold out season in the KXT Vault through May 2023 the CrissCross team worked with KXT & bAKEHOUSE to present a program of work featuring panels, partnerships and workshops with college students, Sydney University, With You We Can, The Survivor Hub, and St Andrews College