The Bells is the 5AngryMen company's flagship touring show. We are in the process of re-launching this renowned show to an overseas audience. All funds raised will assist in paying our Australian performers a fair wage when touring.
The Bells has had a decorated career since its inception in the late 1990's. Touring across several years on the European outdoor theatre circuit - including appearances at the prestigious Aurillac Festival, France and winning the gold medal at the Dagodai World Cup of Busking in Shizuoka, Japan. After a chapter of recent Australian touring, The Bells is setting its sights once again on international destinations throughout SE Asia and beyond. We have recently received a number of invitations to perform at high profile international arts festivals: Georgetown Festival, Malaysia & Serendipity Arts Festival, India. In tandem with applying for government funding, we are looking to raise funds to assist us to be able to attend these festivals. With our festival invitations happening in the latter half of 2024, we're hoping to achieve our target in the next 6 months.
The Bells is a one-of-a-kind large-scale outdoor public-space theatrical extravaganza. A unique combination of aerial performance, campanology (music played using bells), dance, theatre and slapstick comedy, The Bells has been wowing audiences around the globe for the past 30 years and spans three generations of Australian performers. As a donor - you have the opportunity to support Australian artists who have worked incredible hard to achieve this creative goal. Your support will go a long way - The Bells, being public space theatre has an enormous reach. At our appearance for White Night Melbourne in 2018, the presenter estimated that around 750,000 people saw The Bells perform across the evenings performances.
Due to exchange rates between Australia and South East Asia, it is often difficult for our presenting partners to cover the Australian Artist fees. At the moment, government funding to do this is in very short supply and receiving or not receiving funding outcomes will often determine if we can accept a potentially career defining international invitation. This ACF fund is set up exclusively for the payment of the Australian artists working on a 5AngryMen international tour. It will enable us as a company to cover any gaps that we encounter in being able to pay our Artists a fair wage, and afford us a lot more flexibility and manoeuvrability as we look to establish ourselves in Asia and beyond. You can find out more about the 5AngryMen and The Bells at www.5angrymen.com and there are links there to our socials to see more of The Bells in action.