Like so many independent companies Montague Basement began as a name to stick on a Fringe show. After collaborating together frequently in the Sydney University Dramatic Society (SUDS) Imogen Gardam and Saro Lusty Cavallari began work on their first independent collaboration Procne & Tereus as part of the 2014 Sydney Fringe. After the show’s warm response from audiences and critics Montague Baseme
nt began to establish itself as a company in 2015 with All About Medea at the Sydney Fringe and Hamlet at PACT Theatre. After launching the company through their own collaboration Montague Basement expanded to collaborate with other young artists throughout Sydney. 2016 saw the presentation of eight different works, an unprecedented feat for an unfunded and unhoused independent company. This season saw two new works by playwright Charles O’Grady (Kaleidoscope, Telescope), Lusty-Cavallari’s original work The Big Bruise, an ambitious three-show residency at the Sydney Fringe (Tammy & Kite, Metamorphoses, Crave) and a double bill of radical reworkings of two Shakespeare plays (Macbeth and Taming of the Shrew). Since then Montague Basement has remained a continued presence in Sydney independent theatre - both as a platform for emerging artists and as a home for Gardam and Lusty-Cavallari’s continued collaboration, branching out to include two interstate presentations with The Public Domain Opera at the 2018 Melbourne Fringe and Kim Ho’s The Great Australian Play at Theatre Works in 2020. See our Past Shows (https://www.montaguebasement.com/pastshows) to see what else we’ve been up to. Montague Basement has also recently taken up residency at KXT, working with the good people at Bakehouse to provide support to writers, directors, producers and creative teams on productions in the venue. For any enquiries about getting involved in any area of production or presenting a previous Montague Basement show please don’t hesitate to get in touch. To stay up to date on all news about upcoming productions please subscribe to our newsletter (https://www.montaguebasement.com/contact).
