The Pram Factory

Streaming video - 2015

In the early 1970s Melbourne was home to the Australian Performing Group, a theatre collective that quickly became a focal point for the intellectual, artistic and political life of those turbulent times. They were based in a building called the Pram Factory, now synonymous with the people and events that laid the groundwork for a renaissance in Australian culture. The Pram was a 'scene', a 24-hour happening, a radical alternative to the mainstream. Those who lived and worked at the Pram expected the world to come to them - and for a while it did. The building was eventually demolished to make way for a supermarket. Survivors tell of the conflicts and passions which dominated their lives. Theirs was an explosive combination of per...sonalities who saw alternative theatre as a step toward an alternative society. They went on to be among Australia's leading actors, writers, directors, musicians, artists, designers and theatre performers. The Pram Factory was a unique cultural experiment that tells a story of the 1970s - one that continues to reverberate in contemporary Australian art and culture. Copyright - 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Executive Producer: Sharon Connolly Producer: Anna Grieve, James Manche (Co-Producer) Director: Anna Grieve, James Manche Writer: Anna Grieve DOP/Cinematographer: Rey Carlson Featured People: David Williamson, Jack Hibberd, John Romeril, Helen Garner, John Duigan, Graeme Blundell, Max Gillies, Sue Ingleton, Bruce Spence. more