The Sydney Front

The Sydney Front was formed in 1986, and was particularly known for integrating the audience into their productions.{{Cite book|title=Body show/s : Australian viewings of live performance|date=2000|publisher=Rodopi|author=Tait, Peta|isbn=9042014830|location=Amsterdam|oclc=46776338}}

Premiering many of their works at the Performance Space, Sydney, they toured the UK, Europe and Hong Kong.Hamilton, Margaret. Transfigured Stages: Major Practitioners and Theatre Aesthetics in Australia, Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam 2011, {{ISBN|978-90-420-3356-6}}

Their work The Pornography of Performance became a cause célèbre when it was performed at London's Riverside Studios.Hamilton, Margaret. Transfigured Stages: Major Practitioners and Theatre Aesthetics in Australia, Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam 2011. {{ISBN|978-90-420-3356-6}}

The group briefly reformed in 2004 to perform at the 21st birthday event for the Performance Space in Sydney.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/anything-goes-20041105-gdk1tc.html|title=Anything goes|date=2004-11-05|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2019-03-19}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/72378|website=AusStage|title=Performance Space is 21: Bulls Eye|access-date=2019-03-19}}

The core of the group were performers John Baylis, Andrea Eloise, Clare Grant, Nigel Kellaway, and Chris Ryan. Kellaway had been the first Australian to train with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki.Hamilton, Margaret. Transfigured Stages: Major Practitioners and Theatre Aesthetics in Australia, Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam 2011, {{ISBN|978-90-420-3356-6}} The group combined elements of performance art and experimental theatre in their work.{{Cite book|title=Transfigured stages : major practitioners and theatre aesthetics in Australia|last=Margaret.|first=Hamilton|date=2011|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=978-9042033566|location=Amsterdam|oclc=743298882}}

Along with the work of the Wooster Group and Forced Entertainment,{{Cite book|title=Postdramatic theatre|last=Hans-Thies|first=Lehmann|author2=Jürs-Munby, Karen|isbn=0415268133|oclc=61229777|year = 2006}} p. 5 The Sydney Front were cited as Anglophonic examples of postdramatic theatre in the English edition of Hans-Thies Lehmann's Postdramatic Theatre, 2006.{{Cite book|title=Postdramatic theatre|last=Hans-Thies|first=Lehmann|author2=Jürs-Munby, Karen|isbn=0415268133|oclc=61229777|year = 2006}}

In 1999 John McCallum, theatre critic in The Australian, wrote "The Sydney Front is still Australia's most influential contemporary performance company, although they disbanded in 1993".{{Cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/|title=The Shock of the Few|last=John|first=McCallum|date=December 18–19, 1999|work=The Weekend Australian}}

A two-DVD set and streaming program, Staging the Audience: The Sydney Front, documenting The Sydney Front's work, was released by Artfilms in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.artfilms.com.au/item/staging-the-audience-the-sydney-front|website=artfilms.com.au|title=Staging the Audience: The Sydney Front|access-date=2017-09-19}}

The Sydney Front's major works included:{{cite web |title=AusStage |website=AusStage |date=6 November 2004 |url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/organisation/106 |access-date=28 November 2024}}

• Waltz, 70-minute theatre work, Sydney, 1987.
• John Laws/Sade, 80-minute theatre work, Sydney, 1987.
• The Pornography of Performance, 100-minute performance work, Adelaide, Sydney, 1988; Denmark, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Düsseldorf, London, 1989.
• The Burnt Wedding, 60-minute street performance, Brisbane, 1988; Sydney & European tour, 1989.
• Photocopies of God, 60-minute theatre work, Sydney, 1989.
• The Nuremberg Recital, 60-minute solo theatre work by Nigel Kellaway, Sydney & Perth, 1989.
• Prescripts, 30-minute theatre work, Sydney 1990.
• Woman in the Wall, 50-minute solo theatre work by Clare Grant, Sydney & Auckland, 1990.
• Don Juan, 85-minute theatre work, Sydney 1991.
• First and Last Warning, theatre work, Sydney, 1992.
• Techno/Dumb/Show, video work by John Gillies and The Sydney Front, 1991.
• Passion, theatre work, Sydney, 1993{{Cite book|title=Transfigured stages : major practitioners and theatre aesthetics in Australia|last=Margaret.|first=Hamilton|date=2011|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=978-9042033566|location=Amsterdam|oclc=743298882}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/organisation/106|title=AusStage|website=www.ausstage.edu.au|access-date=2019-03-19}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/organisation/106 The Sydney Front] on AusStage

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Category:Theatre companies in Australia

Category:Culture of Sydney