Next Level Profiles: Ruby Liddelow | Mandurah

Regional Arts WA

Next Level Regional Grants are now open, closing Monday 8 June. Check out the webpage here for more information, and feel free to get in touch if you’re considering making an application.

In 2017, emerging director and theatre maker Ruby Liddelow was awarded the Next Level grant to complete a month-long internship with the Australian Youth Theatre Company (ATYP) as assistant director on original production “Impending Everyone” in May 2018.

Originally starting out as a proposal to attend four masterclasses at ATYP in Sydney, Ruby had to make some changes when advised in January that the masterclasses would be pushed back to later in the year. In place of the masterclasses Ruby was offered the opportunity to assistant direct on any of their upcoming theatre projects, an offer which she took full advantage of with a slight reshuffle to her schedule.

Ruby Liddelow (back left) interns with the Australian Youth Theatre company. Picture courtesy of Ruby Liddelow.

The internship offered opportunities to be immersed in the daily workings of a small-medium arts org, receive mentorship from a multitude of teaching artists, assist teaching weekly classes, assist ATYP Artistic Director Fraser Corfield in Impending Everyone rehearsals, and network through industry forums and events, expanding Ruby’s professional networks & raising her profile nationally as an emerging Western Australian director and producer, as well as rapidly expanding theatrical leadership, skills and self belief.

“Halfway through my trip I realised that I could have used the grant to complete a full term of assistant directing or internship at an arts organisation in WA, giving me more useful networks & contacts and allowing me to go through the full journey of rehearsing and performing a show, however Sydney was definitely beneficial on other levels including independence & confidence raising, and I’m more than glad for the change in my original proposal idea. This grant was something I so needed, but because I needed it (hadn’t had any expansive arts experiences yet) I didn’t know what I could apply to do, who with, where I could go etc. If you think this grant looks like it’s for you but you don’t know how to make it happen, call Regional Arts WA and ask questions. Please just give yourself a shot!”

– Ruby Liddelow

With the Next Level support Ruby was also mentored by Riptide Youth Theatre Director Kathryn Osborne and has taken on a leadership role as a trainee- and now Co-Artistic Director, while continuing to work on her solo projects. Ruby has continued to build on the foundations of her partnership with ATYP, receiving dramaturgy on a play writing project throughout 2019 for which she and three others from Riptide travelled to ATYP in Sydney, and then further developed into a production back home in Mandurah.

Since the completing the internship and mentorship Ruby has:

Stepped into a leadership role with the Riptide Youth Theatre Ensemble as Artistic Director, while continuing to work on her solo projects with a strong focus on developing the skills of other young people in the Peel region.
Upon returning home from her NLYC trip she promptly coordinated, got funding for and directed a group of young creatives to activate space in a local park amphitheatre by developing a contemporary outdoor Shakespeare production under her independent practice, Ruby Spinning Arts, which was held as a free community event in Jan 2019. Participants and audience members were ecstatic about the experience, leading to a second project that went up in Jan 2020 (to similarly excellent feedback), and plans for more in the future.
Was nominated for and awarded the Peel Young Citizen of the Year at the 2019 official Mandurah Australia Day celebrations for continual dedication to self & youth empowerment through the arts.
Ruby attended the National Youth Arts Summit contributing to the youth arts discussions on a National scale and took an opportunity to run her own workshop for the attendees.
Ruby is currently building up a new independent project, a kids theatre company for 6-16s which will focus on growing a generation of empowered youth, fostering self development and creative expression via theatre making & performance. Keep your eyes peeled for Chameleon Theatre Factory to emerge following the Covid19 arts shutdown!

You can see more of Ruby’s work on Facebook or Instagram, and also follow Riptide on Facebook and Instagram.