White Rabbit Theatre Ensemble

A week on from the fabulous Matilda Awards (and multiple moments of pinching ourselves!) we wanted to share the lovely news that we were the very proud recipients of the Actors & Entertainers Benevolent Fund’s 2025 Tony Gould Award.

The Tony Gould Award recognises an independent Arts Company / Collective that has left a positive impact on the Queensland performing arts sector through its curation, programming, or development.

We are so honored to have been nominated for this award (and to whoever did this, we thank you!) and to be the recipient was such an unexpected privilege and delight!

A massive thank you to all our art angels, including
City of Gold Coast
Experience Gold Coast
DARTS network
Our marvellous committee of advisors (to be introduced officially soon!)
Our incredible artist collaborators
Our wonderful mentors
And our amazing parents, families and friends.

We love what we do and we are honoured to share this award with you all - there is no theatre without you.

📷 by Luke Monsour

Where did the week go? Last week we were fortunate to present a Company Profile as part of QSHOWCASE. It was a glorious few days with inspiring QLD arts community.

Thanks so much for having us, filling our cup and warming our hearts despite the chilly Toowoomba air. What an amazing industry we have!!

🐇🌵🖤

What an evening! 🥂 A big cheers and congrats to all the nominees, winners and lovers of theatre in the room. We feel so grateful to be in the mix with such an amazing group of inspiring artist and true, important stories.

Massive shout out to the forever incredible 💛 The way you brought this show to life is something we only dreamt about. Your skill, ability to translate dreams and hold this story so close and so intimately is like no other and we are so so proud and honoured to work with you.

A big thank you to the for the honour of being nominated in five categories this year and to all of the cheerleaders and supporters in our community who have made us feel so loved. 🐇💙

🎈🎈

👀 Ready or Not is proudly supported by HOTA, Home of the Arts through HOTA’s Housemates program.

👀 Ready or Not is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund and Generate GC. 

👀 The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Gold Coast City Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

Well this was a bloody lovely surprise! We are beyond excited to announce that READY OR NOT 🎈 has been nominated for FIVE Matilda Awards! 🤯

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

THE LORD MAYOR’S AWARD FOR BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING ROLE - INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

BEST DIRECTION

BEST SOUND DESIGN

We’re still a bit gobsmacked so I’m sure a more articulate post is coming soon but for now THANK YOU to everyone who helped bring this show to life!

OUR INCREDIBLE CREATIVE TEAM
Creator & Performer: Ainslee Palmer
Director: Lisa Smith
Performance Mentor & Design Consultant: Leah Shelton
Sound Design: Anna Whitaker
Lighting Design: Lee Eldrige
Dramaturg: Tammy Weller
Psychological Consultant: Miriam Emad
Touring Stage Manager: Taylah Andersen

Piloted at HOTA Home of the Arts
Premiered at JUTE Theatre Company
Supported by Generate GC, City of Gold Coast Arts and Culture and DARTS (Driving and Activating the Regional Theatre Sector)

📷
📷
📷

Ready or Not Tour 2/3 🎈 Here we share a little sneak peak into the tour including our world premiere at Bulmba-ja in Cairns hosted by JUTE Theatre and our community workshops throughout the tour entiltled: Here I come - The magic of Metaphor and Autobiographical Story Telling. (we love a big title 😅)

A massive thank you to all the community participants for joining our workshops and sharing their writing! We can’t wait to continue these connections into 2025.

And a special and HUGE shout out and thank you to our incredible team for holding this show with grace, kindness, power and compassion we couldn’t have done it without you.

Ready or Not Tour 1/3 🎈It has been just over a month since we returned from our Regional QLD tour. With well-rested limbs, tired eyes and grateful hearts we want to thank each and every person who supported us on this journey! One we will certainly never forget!

First up we have DARTS (Driving and Activating the Regional Theatre Sector) who without their support this tour would not have existed. Our Producer Jess, you worked tirelessly and endlessly with a passionate heart thank you! And to the fabulous JUTE Theatre who have been the pilots of this initiative, thank you for giving space to Regional Artists to share work and connect.

Now our fabulous hosts to which we would not have had a space to share
JUTE Theatre
Townsville Little Theatre
Lux Noir Townsville
Bridges Health and Community Care
Perservernence Street Theatre Company

Thank you for having us in your space and letting us share our work with your communities.

Here’s to many more to come!