Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Hardcastle.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Nick. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I did my first play when I was 7 years old. I played the wicked witch in Snow White and the 7 Dwarves and my fate was set. I’ve worked in theatre in Australia and the U.K as a performer, a creative and a producer on intimate fringe and large scale commercial projects as well as film, television and music. In Australia, most actors train and work in the theatre. When you look at some of our most successful and revered actors such as Cate Blanchett, Jacki Weaver, Hugh Jackman and Geoffrey Rush, they all have very solid theatre backgrounds.
However, many of our finest acting and creative talents come to LA to further their careers in film and television. When I arrived here in December 2012 via a 5-year stint in London, I reconnected with a lot of my acting peers from home, many of whom I worked with in the theatre. They were all auditioning and trying to fit in classes and whatever they could to keep in shape as a performer, but many of them were not working. Aside from the huge amount of talent that was here and able to be harnessed, I also found that unlike in the U.K where Australians are considered the ‘convict’ cousins, we were considered a little more ‘exotic’ here and Americans were genuinely interested in our stories our culture and the unique voice that we had here and I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to challenge some outdated stereotypes that still exist about Australians. When I heard that my now colleague Nate Jones was hosting a reading of a brilliant Australian play called ‘Holding the Man’ that I had some history with, I made sure that I was able to attend. The response to the reading was fabulous. I immediately reached out to Nate, we had coffee the next day and by the end of our coffee date, ATC was born. Since then we have produced three more mainstage shows including a World Premiere, hosted three annual reading series presenting a range of works never seen or heard in the United States before, offered hundreds of opportunities to actors and creatives, welcomed thousands of people to the theatre and now steward an international scholarship program for emerging theatre makers with Australian Theatre for Young People and their International Ambassadors, Rose Byrne and Rebel Wilson.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We have had enormous support from the Australian Consulate General in Los Angeles who hosted our media launch on April 23, 2014 which has been a huge help in establishing ourselves here. The Australian expatriate community have also been wonderful but it’s really the extended local theatre and arts community here in LA that have allowed us to flourish and grow. We almost didn’t make it to where we are today though a number of times. As yet we still have no consistent funding source and in spite of Holding the Man being the most successful guest production of all time at the Matrix Theatre, we still lost money. It was then that we knew that we had a place here, but that in order for us to become the kind of organization we wanted to be, that we would be better off becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Our four founding directors including me, Nate, Jackie Diamond and Joshua Thorburn are also the general managers. We have a volunteer’s coordinator and an ad-hoc literary manager but essentially, we have no staff and it’s not easy doing everything that we do with the limited resources we have and not having a physical home where we are in residence. Still, we continue to punch above our weight and it’s pretty extraordinary to see the progress we’ve made in such a short time.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Australian Theatre Company story. Tell us more about the business.
We are the only cultural organization based in the United States, dedicated to building upon the relationship between Australia and the U.S and creating meaningful cultural exchange through theatrical projects. We are only a very young organization, but are becoming known for our inclusive and vibrant community, our top quality theatrical productions where we collaborate with some of the finest American practitioners and artists as well as our education program which includes masterclasses that we curate with our partners 16th Street Actors Studio in Melbourne. Aside from harnessing great talent in the U.S we also offer opportunities for Australian talent to be seen here through the International Ambassador Scholarship program that we steward with Australian Theatre for Young People, Rose Byrne and Rebel Wilson and G’day USA – the Australian U.S public diplomacy and trade program. We also throw great parties!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I won the Green Card Lottery in order to be able to move to the U.S in the first place, so I would say that ‘luck’ has had a pivotal role in my life and the life of ATC. However, outside of us all just happening to be here together, it has been a very charmed project and I believe that the wonderful spirit in which we started working together has propelled us forward and been kind of infectious, offering us amazing momentum with incredible support from quality people.
Contact Info:
- Website: australiantheatrecompany.org
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @aussietheatreco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aussietheatreco/
- Twitter: @aussietheatreco
Image Credit:
John Tsiavis
Adrian Wlodarzcyk
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