After two decades of neglect, the sprawling Eveleigh rail
yards. on the border of Newtown
and Redfern, are about to begin a new career as the city’s newest, boldest and
quirkiest arts complex. The vast, abandoned Victorian workshops, once the
lynchpin of Australia’s
rail network, have been transformed into a centre for contemporary dance, music
and theatre. The CarriageWorks Contemporary Performance Space, which opens on
January 5, houses three state-of-the-art theatres, rehearsal spaces, offices,
workshops and a cafe. The impressive foyer doubles as a performance space.
The $45 million state government-funded project is part of a
wider redevelopment plan for the Eveleigh rail yards, which closed in 1988.
Planners hope to attract residential, business and retail tenants.
CarriageWorks will get its baptism of fire during the 2007 Sydney Festival when it
hosts three major productions, including Zero Degrees, a dance work featuring
the music of British DJ Nitin Sawhney. Despite the international flavour of
this initial program, those behind the new space say CarriageWorks is
principally intended for artists living in Marrickville, Newtown and Redfern as well as edgier
companies such as Performance Space, which will take up residency early in 2007
Director Sue Hunt says the space is keen to attract troupes
that are pushing the boundaries of dance, video art and mixed media. “You
won’t see anything here that requires a proscenium arch,” she says.
Project architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (TZG) consulted
with performers and dancers in order to create the three theatres. The result
is a multi-use space that can be reconfigured to suit various performance
styles, from intimate drama to flamboyant circus acts.
Memories of the old rail yards will be preserved in a series
of aluminium panels on display in the main foyer. The main entrance to CarriageWorks
– constructed of giant metal trusses from the original roof – is another
reminder of its origins. “Not only does this provide a dramatic entrance
structure,” says TZG director Tim Greer. “it symbolically links the
building’s past and the site’s new incarnation”
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald the(Sydney)magazine Issue
#44 December 06 pp29
[This document is produced by OCR of the print article and
may contain recognition errors]