Red Rock Theatre in Cororooke used to be a church and was converted by a dairy farmer, Andrew Beale who was trying to build something good out of the grief of the loss of his daughter, this is why its theatre is named after her, Carolyn.
Andrew is a patriot and a lover of freedom, he is also dependably brave, and what I mean by that is when I suggested that we stage the premiere of “The No Goat Show” there, I knew he’d go for it.
But would an audience?
Initially tickets sold slowly, and there was an email warning Andrew that we were basically Deplorable.
But, we stuck to our guns and despite the venue being nearly two hours away from Melbourne, we filled it, and streamed it.
We had a few hiccups, all issues that can be resolved, but it worked.
Instead of having an audience listen to speeches with a short Q&A at the end, from the beginning we tried to get the audience to not only contribute to the conversation but help it flow.
There was some anger, but then we have had two years of pent-up conversations, so when things burst, even freedom, it can come out swinging.
What we achieved though, through hiring a theatre and selling tickets was a commercial hit with what is basically a Resistance show. And since people came from over five hours away, and since the show has had over fourteen thousand online views, we proved that a section of the Australian public don’t want to be preached to, but rather heard. What we sold was the Art of Conversation.
Now, before we head to do a short tour of Tasmania, we decided to try a city theatre, and the Theatre gracious enough to let us try is The Alex Theatre in St Kilda.
We have also reached out to John Shipton, the father of Julian Assange, to come on as a special guest, and he has accepted.
Our goal now is to replicate the excitement of the premiere show, at The Alex Theatre.
In a way, every seat we fill, is a protest against the two years of the one narrative.
We ourselves, are called all sorts of names, but what we really are, are believers in Freedom of choice, we know this is the true bedrock of a healthy democracy. And we believe this enough to not only sacrifice our individual careers but now we are continuing to try to defend it using what skills we have.
If you want to have an exhilarating night of uncensored conversation, full of disagreements, (And it is possible to disagree and still be the one people) WTF moments, laughter, and maybe even ideas then I guarantee you will leave with your hope tanks refilled and your soul full of courage.
Together let’s show the City that in the midst of all this endless change, we the people would like to rigorously discuss the route we are all taking.
Date
11 August 2020
Time
If you would like to watch a documentary of The Deplorable’s Trip around Australia that starts at 5pm and is optional and free.
7pm the main show starts and goes from around two hours.
The No Goat Show Live at the Alex Theatre
Guest: John Shipton.
Date: 11 August 2020
Time: 7pm
Address: Level 1, 135 Fitzroy Street
Grand Boulevard
St Kilda, MELBOURNE
https://www.trybooking.com/CBJUX
Thanks 🙏 for all you do for us