How do you write about something that changed the course of your life?

When I first started writing for AussieTheatre nearly a decade ago, I was doing it because I had never loved anything more than getting close to the theatre and examining it – trying to find my way into the magic to better understand it. When I started writing reviews, news, features, live-tweets, opinion pieces, questionnaires, I did it because it was my language, a place I felt at home.

And the world opened up.

I met writers who became friends, then great friends, then family. I danced all night at Matt and Erin’s wedding. I started writing professionally, digging deeper into the theatre and holding what I had found up to the light. I met critics across the country, made more friends, forged more family. I mentored young writers (and basically adopted one of them). I learned from the best. I built a career. I built a life.

When you start writing for love – when you do it even though you have another job, even though it demands a lot of time, even though it can be difficult – you can’t know where it will lead. I had no idea that the journey would be so long and so rewarding.

And I learned so much from those first years with Erin and Matt.

I learned to look closer, to write more cleanly (even if I never learned to embrace short sentences). I learned to write quickly, to talk to new people with less fear, to mingle and laugh and circuit the room and let myself belong somewhere.

I watched as Erin led her team with compassion and kindness and guidance. I think she’s phenomenal – a brilliant brain, a giant heart, a ream of talents to her name – and every time I see her parents, I think that’s all I ever say to them: isn’t Erin amazing? I learned from Matt’s conviction and clarity of mind and purpose, felt tempered and supported by him; we were all so lucky to have them.

A few times a week – sometimes more, now – I’m in a theatre foyer to review a show and examine the scene. I talk to countless people I met because AussieTheatre gave me a platform and encouraged me to use my voice. I text my friends – the writers and editors and actors and playwrights and agents and more – that I met through AussieTheatre work, other AussieTheatre writers and beyond, every branch of this tree forking out into new directions. I go to a day job I won, in part, because of my track record of public work on AussieTheatre and everywhere I’ve written since.

Has it ever been so easy to chart a life back to the heart?

Matt and Erin’s AussieTheatre is one of the last places in this country that a new theatre writer could learn the ropes and have space to grow, fail maybe, and get better and better. It meant everything to me.

They shone a light on local talents that couldn’t be replicated elsewhere. They celebrated local productions, recordings, companies. They cared about the wellbeing of creative artists and made sure their readers did too. They helped bring the massive landscape of Australian theatre into people’s homes and onto their screens. And they did all of this while working and performing and maintaining their own rich and busy lives. Total superheroes.

And the thing I’ll never forget – more than the breaking news or red carpet coverage or controversial reviews – is that Erin and Matt led by being good people. By raising others up.

Having this website opened doors; Erin and Matt propped those doors open and said hey, come inside. You belong here too.

May we all do that wherever we go.

AussieTheatre is moving to new owners now, and I’m excited to see what will happen to the site. My days as deputy editor are long gone; I write for a number of different publications now. But AussieTheatre will always be part of me; Erin and Matt will always be at the core of my journey.

Peter and Sean, welcome. I hope that you give someone else what I was given – a platform, a voice, a beginning. Isn’t that what theatre’s all about, new ways to see the world? I look forward to the things you’ll show us.

Erin and Matt, all the love and luck in the world for your future and your new baby and your family. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you.