Street Arts

Street Arts Community Theatre Company was founded in October 1982 in West End, Brisbane, by Denis Peel, Pauline Peel, Steve Capelin and Andrea Lynch. Street Arts was preceded in Brisbane by the agitprop ensemble the Popular Theatre Troupe. While continuing in the Popular Theatre Troupe's tradition of satire and radical political commentary, the Street Arts approach was to create theatre and circus by enabling disadvantaged communities. This became the dominant community arts methodology in Queensland in the mid-1980s, attracting funding from Australian arts boards including the Community Arts Board and Performing Arts Board.

In 1982, after returning to Brisbane, Steve Capelin and his partner Andrea Lynch formed Street Arts with Pauline and Denis Peel to give a focus to their community arts activities. Pauline and Denis Peel had been involved in community arts projects in Edinburgh public-housing areas, Scotland, in 1980. In the same year Steve Capelin was a member of WEST Community Theatre's clown troupe in Melbourne. All three had been teachers in the Queensland education system and were strongly influenced by Ian Reece's Children's Activity Group and the community arts director Neil Cameron.

In 1982 Street Arts successfully applied for funding from the Australia Council. They were known to outgoing Director Andrea Hull, who had admired the Peels' work in Scotland. The incoming director of the Community Arts Board was John Hawkes, one of the founding principals in Circus Oz. Hawkes was well disposed towards political theatre with a mix of circus and rock'n'roll.

Street Arts' first funded project was the 1983 Community Circus Festival in West End, featuring circus workshops at schools and in public halls. Key participants included clown Tony Hannan, writer-director-performer Meg Kanowski, musical director Peter Stewart and circus performer Derek Ives.

The period 1982-1986 saw Street Arts involved in 28 projects including residencies, company shows, and large community events. Therese Collie, who had been part of the Popular Theatre Troupe joined as writer-director-performer. Later coordinators included Fiona Winning, Kara Miller and Cynthia Irvine. Kath Porrill, a former member of the Grin and Tonic Theatre Troupe as well as Popular Theatre Troupe, Gavan Fenelon of Order by Numbers, and Roger Rosser of the Popular Theatre Troupe were key players. The company often hired top billing guest artists.

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