Adelaide Festival has announced the recipient of the inaugural Beyond Borders Venture Fund. Visions of God Support Group, a new theatre work developed by South Australian playwright Hew Parham and director Chris Drummond, has been awarded $100,000 and a creative development showcase in the 2027 festival program.

The work follows the members of a support group who meet on Tuesday nights, brought together by their belief in having experienced a vision of God.

Hew Parham and Chris Drummond in a development for Visions of God Support Group. Photo © Jamois

Parham is a playwright, actor, clown and director who has developed his practice with organisations in Canada, New York and London. He has performed at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and the Sangeunay Arts Festival, among other appearances.

A theatre director and dramaturg Drummond served as Artistic Director of Brink Productions between 2004–2023, and was Associate Director of State Theatre Company South Australia from 2001–2004. For the 2008 Adelaide Festival, he directed the world premiere of Andrew Bovell’s When The Rain Stops Falling.

They previously collaborated on Parham’s Symphonie of a Bicycle, staged by State Theatre Company South...