What we do ...
Original Cabaret, Theatre and Circus Productions for Theatres & Festivals Australia wide
Corporate Events, Collaborations & Festivals - more info
Reflecting the true nature of the meaning of 'raconteurs' we tell stories through performance. Stories of love, tragedy and comedy, death, absurdity, fate, fear, joy, diversity, archetypes and many other things that bond us together. We utilise cabaret and theatre to connect with our audiences, we work with scripts, objectives, journeys, evolving colour palettes, an offical wardrobe consultant, lighting designs and cast our artists for their humility as well as their talents.
We have always aimed to pioneer our concepts and blend genres of both theatre and cabaret which has seen our first production "Paris Underground" become one of the most successful cabaret shows in Australia. Since 2014 we have toured every state (some three times over) and have negotiated both purchases and co-productions with major institutions such as The Perth State Theatre Trust, The Red Earth Arts Festival, The Darwin Entertainment Centre, The Barossa Convention centre, The Glasshouse Theatre and literally more than another 50 centres.
Aiming to foster community development and engagement with both the performance and visual art mediums we have, amongst many things, created multi media events to work with galleries including 'The Caloundra Art Gallery' with the assistance of Arts QLD. We also have worked closely with Regional Arts Victoria (RAV), Arts Vic, Artour and Auspcious Arts and continue to also work completely self funded and managed which certainly has been both challenging and rewarding.
Developing long term relationships with presenters, councils, production houses and agencies is something that we thrive whilst aiming to work together to discuss all viable options for our productions.
Creative Team
J. Foenander initially studied a BA in photography at RMIT before heading to work in Europe for several years exploring life as a performance artist and stage hand in Germany. She has also performed professionally in Sweden, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong as well as major venues in Australia including The Sydney Opera House and The Forum Theatre in Melbourne. Julia is also an actor and playwright having had some of her work produced in Singapore to critical acclaim and is the co-producer and tour manager of 'The Paris Underground Cabaret' and 'Club Soda'. Her new work 'Lost in Venice' combines all of her skills also expanding on a grass roots level to include film medium using archived family super 8 footage.
R. Gyoerffy is an acting graduate from NIDA and was nominated for a Green Room Award for his performance in'Night Letters' as part of the Adelaide Festival. With numerous theatre, film, television and directing credits he has also toured with major companies such as Bell Shakespeare. Richard is the co-producer and director of The Paris Underground Cabaret/Lost in Venice and currently has written his own one man show 'No Smoke No Mirrors'. He has been involved with numerous high profile theatre projects including 'The Blind Date Project' with Ride On Theatre and recently toured Australia with Carnival of Lost Souls directed by Terrance O Connell.
E. Read has been part of the Racconteur team for the past 6 years as choreographer, consultant and dance captain. Recently he has been cast as 'Mr Sandman' in Club Soda and looks forward to expanding his creative exploits in this major production over the next few years. Eden has toured as a professional dancer world wide including the USA and currently has his own dance school. He has appeared in major musical theatre productions including Hello Dolly, Sunset Bouvleard and The Mikado and is also constantly on the road as a performer in Paris Underground.
H. Trott is a graduate from NICA and operates not only as a dancer and circus performer for Racconteur but as a rigger managing all of the rigging of our varied circus equipment. Also with the team for 6 years Hannah has expanded her career to working with major companies Australia wide rigging for major music festivals and corporate events. She has also toured for many years with Paris Underground as and has worked closely with funding bodies constructing unique theatre including 'The Last Letter'. Hannah has performed all over the world with extensive experience in Japan and the UK.
About Us
Mr/Ms X doesn't say much and doesn't want to talk about it. But they are there and lending a silent hand to help expand Raconteur Productions to international markets.
What's new for us beyond 2020?
Whilst still producing Paris Underground we have created our new theatre play "Lost In Venice" that has been many years in the making as it also utilises super 8 film from the 1960's that has been painstakingly edited. Harking back to our roots in acting and directing this theatre production could well be our biggest yet and we hope to take this true and personal family story to audiences all over Australia. There is also some interest in developing a feature film script.
"Club Soda" is a concept designed to be modular with a core cast that offers 3 different options ;
1)A classic town hall dance with a live Swing Band infused cabaret elements tinged with surrealism and a concept of 'Mr Sandman'. This version of Club Soda will debut in Melbourne September 2019.
Are you a regional town hall? Let's talk about this concept.
2)A stand alone theatre and cabaret show is also currently in development.
3)Thirdly we aim to curate and develop this concept to various councils as part of an umbrella for arts festivals. Ideal for intimate venues including Spiegeltents this concept can include local performers and those who have never been on stage before as part of our curated directoral project. We also have a charity donation and secret celebrity appearance that you can utilise as part of the marketing. Installation concepts including tailored projects for gallery exhibitions fostering diversity in how spaces are used as well as cross pollination of artistic mediums is also encouraged.
"The Art of Deception" is a stand alone one man show by magician/actor Richard Vegas that toys with mind reading, magic, illusion with plays with the concepts of magic and illusion and how they are created by the magician tricking his audience. Ripe for regional touring with engaging humour, wit and cutting edge mentalism effects we aim also to include a family market and those of both a theatre and cabaret persuasion.