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More information on Neil Cameron's approach to
celebratory theatre can be found in his books. Forthcoming
books
Neil
Cameron is currently finishing his new book, The Art Makers,
which is the result of a
two-year research program into cultural development funded by an
Australia Council fellowship.
He
is also preparing his fifth book, Rituals of the Mind,
which interprets festivals and celebration from a cognitive
studies perspective, examining how and why communities become
involved.
Currently
available
Maleny Folk Festival: The Art of Celebration
Mimburi Press, Australia: 1995
ISBN: 0646267051
From 1987 to 1995 the small Australian rural town of Maleny hosted a festival which grew from a get-together for 700 folk music enthusiasts into a cultural phenomenon without equal, attracting in excess of 60,000 people annually to its own permanent site. Now renamed the Woodford Folk Festival, the importance of this living event to the development of Australian culture cannot be overstated.
Through interviews with organisers, volunteers, artists and performers, Neil Cameron looks at the festival from deep inside to reveal the human history of its first 10
years, and goes beyond the festival itself to examine the origins and traditions of festivals worldwide.
 The Running and Stamping Book
Currency Press, Australia; Heinemann, US: 1995.
92 pages. ISBN: 0435086812
Cameron’s unique and invigorating series of warm-up exercises for groups, drawing inspiration from a broad range of influences: from Zen monastic ritual and Aboriginal dance, to modern practitioners such as running guru Jim Shapiro and Japanese theatre director Tadashi Suzuki.
The aim of the exercises is to build the fitness and muscular coordination of the individual, together with communication and cohesion within the group. Performing artists, team members and other groups will find that this program generates a creative state – enthusiastic, centred and bursting with energy.
 Fire on the Water: A Personal View of Theatre in the Community
Currency Press, Australia: 1993.
186 pages. ISBN: 0868193070
In Fire on the Water, Neil Cameron gives his own view on the importance of theatre in the community and describes his experience working in the community for over two decades.
The book contains detailed examples of events and much useful information on the pitfalls to be avoided as well as the paths to success.
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