ABOUT

Shopfront is a non-profit contemporary arts centre in south eastern metropolitan Sydney. Our members are young people 25 years and under.

Vision - Values - Company Goals - Company History - Staff - Board

Shopfront has always been a beautiful and crazy idea - from its radical beginnings in 1976 as a not for profit cooperative theatre for young people to its current day progression to all encompassing arts production house, the focus has been providing contemporary performance opportunities and arts activities that engage and involve young people in a relevant, empowering and resonant way.

In 1976 The St George Theatre for Young People was founded by Errol Bray and established in Penshurst. In 1977 the group moved to the current site consisting of a dance hall, two shops and an old house- all converted to an engineering factory which had closed down a few years earlier. They renamed the company Shopfront Theatre for Young People in June 1977 and became a registered Co-operative owned by young people with a Board of Directors elected by shareholders, becoming the only youth theatre company in the country owned by its members. Through fifty hour actathons, costume parades, raffles, shows, donations, loans and $35000 from the NSW Ministry of the Arts, the young people at Shopfront raised enough to purchase the current site for $102800 in 1979.

In its long history Shopfront has built A City of Shadows and Ice in Kogarah town square; created an aerial urban ghetto with an integrated cast of young people with and without disabilities in Angels in the Architecture; trained with Y Space in Victoria and eRTH in NSW to create a three dimensional, multi-media pop up book; worked with residents of the Juvenile Justice system (Yasmar and Cobham) to create CODA; produced the amazing hit song Down River by The Wilcannia Mob and Morganics; collaborated with Kirinari Aboriginal hostel (Kareela) to create the beautiful installation Shifting Spirits; flown massive puppets off thirteen metre walls.

Shopfront hosted a live radio broadcast from Skid Row in a back lane at Rockdale; won an Australian Writers Guild Award for Rated X and Home; toured to the outback to explore Aboriginal spirituality in Mungo ; created the massive outdoor extravaganza - Seven Canoes and a Beatbox with Joe Hurst, featuring over 150 performers; toured to China, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and The United States; set up Interplay and the National Young Playwrights weekend; developed a theatre in education touring company; played an instrumental role in the development of Errol Bray’s seminal text on devising work – Playbuilding; created music, films, plays, musicals, art shows, installations, dance pieces, festivals, posters, magazines, and too many performances to list all.

Shopfront is a non-profit cooperative and thus we are able to run our amazing programs through grants, donations and sponsorship from Government, philantrophic foundations and the generosity of individuals and businesses.

Our Funding Bodies

Shopfront acknowledges the assistance and generous support from our core funding bodies: The Federal Government through the Australia Council-The Commonwealth Government's arts funding and advisory body, the NSW State Government through Arts NSW and the Department of Community Services ( DOCS) We also gratefully acknowledge the assistance from Hurstville City Council, Kogarah City Council, Rockdale City Council, Sutherland Shire Council, Ian Potter Foundation, Local Clubs Community Development and Expenditure Scheme, The Besen Family Foundation & Perpetual Trustees Teen Spirit Foundation.