THE VAULT CABARET BOOK
This book is a commemoration of The Vault Cabaret, an event that lived for 13 years in the heart of Port Kembla, and a souvenir of a very particular moment in the cultural life of the Illawarra. Debuting on Valentine’s Day 2004, The Vault Cabaret began as an experiment, a way to activate the local professional performing arts scene by providing a regular opportunity for local emerging and established artists to perform and to develop an audience for their work.
It wouldn’t have happened, or at least wouldn’t have been what we knew it to be without Jenny Briscoe-Hough taking me on a walk down Wentworth Street in 2003 to meet Lou Belancic – drummer, local butcher and venue operator. Lou had recently turned the old ANZ Bank into The Vault Venue, and was operating it as a breakfast club and hiring it out for parties.
The space was perfect: a 1960s building with floor to ceiling glass windows, an idiosyncratic room with a mezzanine like the deck of a very small ship, its own water feature in an internal courtyard, a mysterious entrance through the rear carpark, and Lou himself. Lou became an integral partner in The Vault Cabaret’s success; operating as a one-man technician, getting the shows up and rehearsed in less than four hours, providing generous feedback to local artists, and along with his wife Jan and their daughters, creating a safe and welcoming space for performers and audience alike.
There was trepidation at the beginning – more than a few people warned me that no-one would come to Port Kembla at night because it was too dangerous, its reputation for antisocial activity at an all-time high in the early noughties. But this only galvanised me into wanting this to be the place where such an event would find its home. And in the end, gut instinct and belief in people paid off because the audience came and continued to come for 13 years, loyally lining up in the carpark on Military Lane and putting up with our stubborn refusal to allow pre-booking – even when it rained there was a line of umbrellas all the way to the back gate. They came with their BYO picnics, dressed up according to whatever loose theme we had going, and during the show, cheered on the acts, supporting both emerging and established talent with the same enthusiastic applause, and appreciating how the intimate venue dissolved the space between audience and artist to create a uniquely shared experience.
There are so many wonderful artists to acknowledge – acts as diverse as sideshow, burlesque, stand-up, circus, contemporary dance, spoken word, theatre, performance art and live music came through the doors – and we hope the book does justice to the extraordinary diversity as a pictorial record.
Unfortunately, there was little to no photographic documentation of the first three years of the cabarets but we have reprinted Sarah Moss’ fabulous and fun flier designs to remind us of the early line-ups. From 2007, photographers were assigned to document the nights and the beautiful work of Nina Kourea, Jessica Millman and Carolyn Nowacyzk fill the following pages.
Thirteen years is a long time for any cultural event to sustain itself and the cabaret’s longevity is largely due to Merrigong Theatre Company’s belief in it as an important platform for local artists. The company subsidised the event, incorporating it into its annual programming from 2006, and produced Treasures from the Vault, the annual celebration at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre from 2005-2012.
The Vault Cabaret was a cultural phenomenon, a perfect alignment of time, place and people. It was also crazy fun, a night where the combined energies of artists and audiences lit up a little space in Port Kembla with a whole lot of love - we hope you enjoy the memories
Anne-Louise Rentell