It may be weird, it may be wonderful but it's definitely Made From Scratch.

2024's MerrigongX program begins tonight at the Music Lounge in Wollongong with the first of three multi-artform nights featuring performance, film, stand-up comedy, poetry, music, cabaret and circus. The goal is to give local artists a chance to test new ideas in front of an audience.

“Made From Scratch is just always such a fun, eclectic, sometimes weird night,” said Merrigong’s artistic director and CEO, Simon Hinton.

“But it's such a great window into the performance culture of this region. It's just a fantastic opportunity to see people trying things in a very supportive kind of environment.

“Sometimes those MerrigongX artists are showing little excerpts of something that will end up then being a full show a year later. So it's great if you want to get that insight into what might be coming up … but sometimes it's just weird and wacky too.”

Emceed by comedian, musician and spoken word poet Marty Bright, Made From Scratch will feature seven eclectic acts, including 19-year-old poet Paige Jenkins; circus routines by Emma Khourey (think hula hoops, a unicycle and bottle flipping) and a music video set in 1970s Corrimal called Lazy Kangaroo, made by musician Misty Escarpment, the Golden Gaytimes Acrobalance Performance Troupe and Ten Alphas Films, who recently won an AACTA award for their work on short film Finding Addison.

“There's a couple of the MerrigongX artists showing some work in progress, like Bobby Aazami is doing an excerpt,” Simon said.

Bobby – described as “a photographer, writer, storyteller and professional belly slapper” – will be reading from his theatre work, Ayatollah-La-Land, the story of a young Iranian boy during Iran’s 1979 revolution.

For ages 15+, Made From Scratch is a ‘pay what you feel’ event. This means theatregoers can book a spot, watch the show, then pay what they think it is worth. Seats are free to book online but there is a $20 no-show fee.

How much people generally pay varies, but ultimately it's less about making money than involving the audience in the arts, Simon said.

“What we have found over the years is that generally we used to sell tickets to these shows, and generally the box office ends up being about the same. So for everybody that forgets to contribute or doesn't want to or whatever, somebody else gives more, and there are friends and family, and people who really want to support the artists. Sometimes those takings are considerable.

“We think it's a better way of people thinking about being part of an event – rather than buying a ticket. They’re part of that event. We want them to experience that artist's work without thinking about the monetary value beforehand, and then to make that relationship less transactional.

“Because – I'm going to get really political here –  it’s a strange feature of our capitalist Western structured arts industry that we have commodified art into a very particular idea that each person pays a set amount and that's what the thing is worth …

“While we obviously believe that artists should be valued and paid, and all of those things, I think sometimes we are training the audience to think of the value of it as only the ticket price – but, of course, art has a much greater value than what you would be willing to pay for it necessarily."

Payments may also serve as a review, with audience members receiving a message after the show, reminding them to make a contribution.

“It can be a way of encouraging artists, a way of showing your appreciation, but also, it's a really interesting psychological thing for people who come to the theatre, part of what people pay for is their own cultural capital – i.e. how they think about themselves as being cultural or being supportive of the arts.

“You're paying the artist, but you're also really purchasing your cultural capital. You are purchasing your view of yourself as a person that is involved in, interacting with art. We have got lots of examples where what people are prepared to pay for things isn't always about what the thing is worth. It's about what it's worth to them.

“So it's about how it makes you feel as well, as a patron."

The MerringongX program began in 2018 but the theatre company has run similar development programs helping independent artists with the financial, technical and marketing aspects of a production since 2006, Simon said.

“It's grown so much over the last few years, it's really become quite an exciting thing.”

In addition to supporting local artists to develop ideas, the MerrigongX program for 2024 will include public performances of the three new works. In August, Josh Hinton (Simon’s son) will perform A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen or How To Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry, which will involve cooking live on stage. Then Nathan Harrison will present Birdsong of Tomorrow, billed as “a playful and heartfelt look at the birds around us, and what they might sing when we’re gone”. The MerrigongX season will end with The Cardinal Rules, by Rose Maher in November.

Simon encourages Wollongong audiences to be brave and try new local theatre. “Come and see a show in its very first incarnation, because inevitably the things that are popular and mainstream in 10, 20 years right now are at the fringe, right now are being created by unknown artists in little rehearsal rooms.

“And this is your chance to see those.

"Every now and again, you're there and you go, wow, that really is gonna be something… and that's such an exciting feeling. So be a risk taker, come and see it.”

Made from Scratch is on tonight at Wollongong Town Hall and will return in June and September. Reserve your spot here.