2018 was a milestone year for Basement Theatre – 10 years of creative, challenging, compelling, touching and outrageous live entertainment for Auckland. Now that the dust has settled, Basement has produced an intriguing publication to mark the occasion.
Titled ‘A Decade of Disruption’, it’s a compendium of love letters, script excerpts, doodles, memories and stories by some of the Basement whanau from the first 10 years of the theatre’s life. As Basement Theatre’s print partner, Soar Arts was entrusted with bringing this special piece of memorabilia to life.
“We just click with the Soar Arts team,” commented Tim Blake, Marketing Manager for Basement. “They get who we are and with their help we’ve created such a beautiful object. With over 50 contributions from Basement artists and a giant family tree, we’ve been able to celebrate our first 10 years in a really special way.”
The compendium is a collection of nine books housed within a hard case. One of the books, The Shared Camaraderie of Weirdos, is an oral history of Basement Theatre put together by Rosabel Tan, founder of The Pantograph Punch. This book has a spectacular gold foil cover.
“Rosabel interviewed all the key people involved with Basement, so that she could write an article. But she ended up really loving the way the stories were told. The result is a collection of transcriptions that capture the Basement journey.”
Pulling everything together graphically was the job of One Design, a creative agency that’s been working with Basement Theatre for a couple of years. Casey King was the lead designer and Tim reckons the result could be an award winner for One Design.
Soar has also thrown everything at the compendium, from a print quality point of view, because we love supporting the arts. We’re also handling distribution, complete with VIP packaging, to fulfil online orders. Fingers crossed this project will be a top performer in next year’s Pride in Print Awards!
If you want to secure a copy of A Decade of Disruption, you’ll need to register your interest quickly. Only 200 copies have been produced, so there’s a waitlist. Options include a personalised copy stamped with your name, a copy signed by Basement’s contributing artists and a (cheaper) digital e-book.
Project facts
Slipcase: Manufactured from Colorplan 700gsm Ebony, foiled and die cut on the KAMA Profoil 76 using a matte silver foil. Assembled by Soar Print finishing.
Books: Each book inside the slipcover is perfect bound and printed on the HP Indigo press (covers) and the Océ VarioPrint i300 (text pages). The Shared Camaraderie of Weirdos book has a gold foil cover. Two of the books have mini books stitched inside. The compendium also includes a glossy concertina brochure of acknowledgments.
Distribution: Soar is distributing the Basement publication, complete with special packaging that adds to the experience.
For more information about Soar Arts, email Stuart Shepherd stuarts@soarprint.co.nz
Find out more about Soar Arts, a print service for the creative sector.
