The Black Honey Company were awarded a Fresh Ground residency at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts (JWCoCA) to further the creative development, dramaturgy, choreography, costume and set design of their production Hot Brown Honey.
The work was originally created by Lisa Fa’alafi (Polytoxic), Candy B (Circus OZ) and Busty Beatz (Musical Director - Briefs) and explores multiple genres including dance, poetry, comedy, circus, strip tease and song.
The Fresh Ground residency was used to rehearse the show in preparation for performance seasons, to expand marketing tools and develop producing skills to on-sell the work nationally and internationally.
Hot Brown Honey achieved a sell-out season at the Adelaide Fringe in February 2015 and was presented by JWCoCA in March 2015 as a signature programmed event.
In April 2016 Hot Brown Honey performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
November 2014 to March 2015
Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts (JWCoCA)
Hot Brown Honey excerpts:
Black Honey reflected on the benefits of the residency:
Having the time to explore the content has been vital to the work’s heart and soul. Issues were able to be addressed in a real and thoughtful way during the residency, enriching the performances. New marketing strategies to develop future audiences were also tested. The JWCoCA support has been a significant contribution to the success of the work.
Discussions with Briefs Factory began during the Fresh Ground Residency and were finalised during the JWCOCA season in March 2015. The producers recognised the process in which the work was made while visiting during the Fresh Ground residency. By witnessing the process and the performances they saw the potential trajectory of the work locally, nationally and internationally and have entered into a partnership with Black Honey Company to present the work, bringing on an internationally-renowned production team.
Without the JWCoCA support and financial investment, through the Fresh Ground residency, Black Honey Company (as an Independent arts company) would not have had the capacity to support Hot Brown Honey. Throughout the development and the subsequent seasons, it became clear that Fresh Ground is not only a financial contribution, but also a truly physical one by backing daring work that places diversity centre stage. Being able to present Hot Brown Honey after the Fresh Ground residency was inspiring and reassuring to the artistic team about the content and artistic depth of the work and enabled us to establish exciting connections with local audiences.
Black Honey Company look forward to continuing the relationship with the JWCOCA into the future as the production moves to the global market.
Email: busty@blackhoneycompany.com
Phone: +61 404 406 645
Website: www.blackhoneycompany.com
All images by Sean Young.
A pdf version of the Hot Brown Honey case study (PDF) (369.09 KB) is available.