Talk of the Town: Levelling the playing field
Commonly considered diametrically opposed, the disciplines of art and sport are flung together in Suzie Miller's Strong is the New Pretty and Windmill Production Company's Mama Does Derby.
We are living in a time where some people believe that the sports unite us, while the arts divide us (Financial Review, Feb 2026). Yet, upon closer inspection, there are many parallels between the two - from training schedules to rehearsal periods, from production teams to peer support networks, from sporting arenas to theatre spaces. But what happens when art and sport collide?
What does it take to endure, to perform, and to be seen on your own terms? What parallels exist between the discipline of the athlete and the artist? And what happens next? How do theatre and live performance move beyond the fight for survival into spectacle, scale, and commercial momentum, without losing heart?
Facilitated by Victoria Carthew and bringing together festival artists including Amy Ingram (Strong is the New Pretty) and Clare Watson (Mama Does Derby), this conversation explores the intersection of athleticism, storytelling, and identity.
Dates & Times
6 Sep
Duration: 90 minutes
4:30pm - 6pm
Venue
South Bank Town Hall
Accessibility
- Auslan Interpreted Event
- Wheelchair Access
Artists
Clare Watson
Clare Watson is a multi-award-winning director and theatre-maker. In 2023, she was appointed Artistic Director of Windmill. Her first work for the company, Hans and Gret, enjoyed a sell-out season at the Adelaide Festival.
From 2016-2022 she was Artistic Director of Black Swan State Theatre Company and the former Artistic Director at St Martins Youth Centre. Clare has directed work for several major theatre companies and festivals including Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir, Melbourne Theatre Company, State Theatre Company South Australia, Sydney Theatre Company, Edinburgh Festival, Adelaide Festival among others. She directed a production of Cyrano adapted by Virginia Gay which won a Fringe First Award in Edinburgh and was nominated in London for three Offies Awards including Best Production and Best Director. Clare is the recipient of a Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award.
Victoria Carthew
Victoria is a highly respected journalist, presenter, broadcaster, emcee, podcast host, facilitator, ambassador and board director with more than 35 years’ experience across every facet of the media industry.
A long-standing presenter with the Seven Network’s popular travel and lifestyle show Weekender, Victoria first rose to prominence as a sports journalist and presenter with Channel 7, later expanding into breakfast and talkback radio. Victoria covered Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games, as well as World Cups, Origin and the Lions Premership 3peat, where she is acknowledged as Televisions’ first female boundary rider.
An in-demand emcee and facilitator, Victoria regularly hosts high-profile events and award ceremonies across sectors including sport, business, government, and the not-for-profit space. Her conference work spans industries such as health, aviation, tourism and eco-tourism, mining, shipping and logistics, hospitality, and resources.
She co-hosts the QBD Book Club and QBD Crime Club, along with the QBD Book Club Podcast, where she interviews bestselling authors from across the globe. Her most recent podcast credits include a 9-part series on Women and Girls’ Health, A Clinicians Guide for Health and Wellbeing Qld.
Off camera, Victoria is a board director, committee chair, fundraiser, dedicated charity volunteer and sport lover. She is also a proud member of the small but mighty, Point Lookout SLSC.
Amy Ingram
Sydney Theatre Company: Debut. As Actor - Other Theatre: Ensemble Theatre; How To Plot a Hit In Two Days. Queensland Theatre Company; Pride and Prejudice, Family Values, Bernhardt Hamlet, The Odd Couple, The Seagull, Trollop, Seeding Bed, Fat Pig. Woodward Theatre; The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Shake & Stir Theatre Co; Fourteen inc National Tour, Out Damn Snot. MML Worldwide; Magic Mike Australian Tour. Myths Made Here; Cinderella. The Old Fitz; Low Level Panic. La Boite Theatre Co; Cosi, Blackrock, The Tragedy of King Richard The Third. The Good Room (also as co creator) ; I Want To Know What Love Is inc National Tour, I Just came To Say Goodbye, I Should Have Drunk More Champagne, One Bottle Later. As Co Creator - The Good Room; Let’s Be Friends Furever , Red Light, Dirty Laundry, I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You. As Director - JMC; Love and Information, QTC Door 3 / M.O Theatre; Pramkicker. Film and TV: Dustfall, 2 Years Later, INA, Apples Never Fall, In Our Blood, Demon Disorder, Boy Swallows Universe, Young Rock, Joe Vs Carol, Harrow, Mabo .