Shopfront Arts Co-op marks 50 years with 50-hour act-a-thon fundraiser

Australia’s oldest youth-owned-and-led arts company, Shopfront Arts Co-op, is celebrating 50 years by reviving a 50-hour act-a-thon fundraiser where young theatre-makers perform continuously in one-hour blocks from self-devised works, The Guardian reported. The theatrical endurance event, fueled by pizza and a history of grassroots determination, is being livestreamed for the first time.

Reviving a 1970s Fundraising Tradition

The act-a-thon mimics the scrappy fundraising methods that kept the Sydney company afloat through the late 1970s and 1980s. Founded in 1976 by theatre directors Errol Bray and Garry Fry in Carlton, a working-class suburb in south-west Sydney, Shopfront quickly established a radical ethos. When their landlord attempted to evict the company and sell the building in 1978, members aged 12 to 18 voted unanimously to purchase the property. Through act-a-thon events and raffles, the young members raised a $43,000 deposit to secure the former engineering factory and mechanic’s garage.

“I was one of the kids who did the act-a-thon and costume parades, where we’d go shaking tins up and down the train line on trains and asking people for donations,” 61-year-old founding member Liz Hill told The Guardian. Hill joined the organization at age 10 after lying about her age to gain entry.

Alumni Reflections and Current Operations

Over five decades, Shopfront has fostered numerous artists, including playwrights Hilary Bell and Andrew Upton, alongside actors Jay Laga’aia, Trevor Ashley, and Paul Capsis. Ashley, now 46 and a West End performer who recently completed over 500 shows in The Producers at London’s Garrick Theatre, recalled joining the company at age five. He noted that the organization provided creative training in lighting design, screen printing, and video editing, while also offering a supportive environment for marginalized youth during the 1990s.

Participants for the current 50-hour livestreamed event include artists like Nicole Pignon, who started attending Shopfront at age 13 and now works as a rising director and facilitator. Pignon is scheduled to perform during the 3:30 AM slot. Organizers maintain the company’s democratic structure, where young members continue to vote on organizational direction during annual general meetings fuelled by pizza.