Difference between revisions of "Workshops, Readings and Special Events"

From New Theatre History Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
m
 
(29 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Main Page|New Theatre History Home]] | '''Previous''': [[Children's Theatre]] | '''Next''': [[ASIO Agents and Moles]]
+
[[Main Page|New Theatre History Home]] | '''Previous''': [[Children's Theatre]] | '''Next''': [[Shakespeare and the Classics]]
 
----
 
----
 +
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 +
on with the show advertisement.jpg |
 +
1943 Sunday revues.jpg |
 +
</gallery>
 +
Hundreds of small-scale events have been organised by NT since its earliest days.  The Drama section of the WAC held weekly playreadings, and it was not until the late 1980s that dwindling interest by members led to the cessation of the long-standing practice of informal readings in the auditorium of forthcoming major productions.
  
Hundreds of small-scale events have been organised by NT since its earliest days.  The Drama section of the WAC held weekly playreadings, and it was not until the late 1980s that dwindling interest by members led to the cessation of the long-standing practice of informal readings in the auditorium of forthcoming major productions.
 
 
 
At Castlereagh Street there were a large number of Workshop productions  (including a “penile business” piece by <span class="person">John Hepworth</span> which caused a stir).  A training ground for directors, actors, designers, writers and technicians, as well as a means of viewing proposed plays off-the-page, Workshop encouraged experiment, and local one-act plays were produced alongside well-known pieces.  Workshop was also closely connected with the in-house education program, which covered all aspects of theatre craft.  
 
At Castlereagh Street there were a large number of Workshop productions  (including a “penile business” piece by <span class="person">John Hepworth</span> which caused a stir).  A training ground for directors, actors, designers, writers and technicians, as well as a means of viewing proposed plays off-the-page, Workshop encouraged experiment, and local one-act plays were produced alongside well-known pieces.  Workshop was also closely connected with the in-house education program, which covered all aspects of theatre craft.  
 
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
File:1949.4.14 Workshop Tennessee Williams 1.jpg | Tennessee Williams workshop, 1949
+
1951 OFlaherty VC Workshop.JPG | O'Flaherty VC, Workshop 1951
1987 Workshop Mitch Mathews.jpg | 1987 workshop with Mitch Mathews
+
1951 Pygmalion workshop Ciddor as Freddy & June Pople as Eliza .JPG| Pygmalion, Workshop 1951
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 
 
 
At Sussex Street lack of both an organising committee and space for rehearsals meant that Workshop activity was sporadic. In the period 1959-62, for instance, <span class="play">Mistress Bottom’s Dream</span> and a series of lectures on playwriting by <span class="person">Mona Brand</span> are the only such ventures recorded.  
 
At Sussex Street lack of both an organising committee and space for rehearsals meant that Workshop activity was sporadic. In the period 1959-62, for instance, <span class="play">Mistress Bottom’s Dream</span> and a series of lectures on playwriting by <span class="person">Mona Brand</span> are the only such ventures recorded.  
  
At St Peters Lane it was decided to revive acting classes and to set up a Workshop committee.  Each presentation was adjudicated by an accredited director and the audience invited to stay for coffee and discussion.  Budgets were minimal and the programs cheaply gestetneredcen                        
+
At St Peters Lane it was decided to revive acting classes and to set up a Workshop committee.  Each presentation was adjudicated by an accredited director and the audience invited to stay for coffee and discussion.  Budgets were minimal and the programs cheaply gestetnered.                        
  
 
Projects included <span class="play">The Comedy of a Man who Married a Dumb Wife</span>, <span class="play">The Trojan Women</span>, <span class="play">The Death of Bessie Smith</span> (revived as a major production), a variety show <span class="play">On Stage</span>, <span class="play">The Searching Maenads</span>, and contrasting treatments of the trial scene from <span class="play">The Merchant of Venice</span>.  Pieces by <span class="writer">Ionesco</span>, <span class="writer">Sartre</span>, <span class="writer">Tennessee Williams</span>, <span class="writer">Alex Buzo</span>, <span class="writer">van Itallie</span> and NT members <span class="writer">John Mulligan</span>, <span class="writer">Frank Marcus</span> and <span class="writer">Andrew Kemp</span> were presented, the regular actors including <span class="person">Carole Skinner</span>, <span class="person">Linal Haft</span> and <span class="person">James Kemp</span>.   
 
Projects included <span class="play">The Comedy of a Man who Married a Dumb Wife</span>, <span class="play">The Trojan Women</span>, <span class="play">The Death of Bessie Smith</span> (revived as a major production), a variety show <span class="play">On Stage</span>, <span class="play">The Searching Maenads</span>, and contrasting treatments of the trial scene from <span class="play">The Merchant of Venice</span>.  Pieces by <span class="writer">Ionesco</span>, <span class="writer">Sartre</span>, <span class="writer">Tennessee Williams</span>, <span class="writer">Alex Buzo</span>, <span class="writer">van Itallie</span> and NT members <span class="writer">John Mulligan</span>, <span class="writer">Frank Marcus</span> and <span class="writer">Andrew Kemp</span> were presented, the regular actors including <span class="person">Carole Skinner</span>, <span class="person">Linal Haft</span> and <span class="person">James Kemp</span>.   
 +
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 +
Dancing Maenads.jpg | The Searching Maenads devised by Tessa Mallos, 1965
 +
</gallery>
  
 
Although many members were interested only in major productions, stalwarts (<span class="person">John Short</span>, <span class="person">Frank McNamara</span>, <span class="person">Sean Surplus</span>, <span class="person">Paul Quinn</span>, <span class="person">Phil de Carle</span>, <span class="person">Rob Steele</span> and <span class="person">Roy Dias</span>) kept Workshop going in the 1970s.  Projects included <span class="play">Little Brother Little Sister</span>, <span class="play">Anyway</span>, <span class="play">Christie in Love</span>, <span class="play">The Doomsday Show</span>, <span class="play">Passion</span>, <span class="play">Ile</span>, <span class="play">Dance Drama</span>, <span class="play">Casting</span>, <span class="play">R</span>, <span class="group">Street Theatre</span>’s <span class="play">Born Loser</span>, and scenes from <span class="play">A Life in a Theatre</span>.  Building fundraisers included theatre parties, jumble sales, an anniversary ball, garden parties, and an haute couture fashion parade at Greenoaks Darling Point.  
 
Although many members were interested only in major productions, stalwarts (<span class="person">John Short</span>, <span class="person">Frank McNamara</span>, <span class="person">Sean Surplus</span>, <span class="person">Paul Quinn</span>, <span class="person">Phil de Carle</span>, <span class="person">Rob Steele</span> and <span class="person">Roy Dias</span>) kept Workshop going in the 1970s.  Projects included <span class="play">Little Brother Little Sister</span>, <span class="play">Anyway</span>, <span class="play">Christie in Love</span>, <span class="play">The Doomsday Show</span>, <span class="play">Passion</span>, <span class="play">Ile</span>, <span class="play">Dance Drama</span>, <span class="play">Casting</span>, <span class="play">R</span>, <span class="group">Street Theatre</span>’s <span class="play">Born Loser</span>, and scenes from <span class="play">A Life in a Theatre</span>.  Building fundraisers included theatre parties, jumble sales, an anniversary ball, garden parties, and an haute couture fashion parade at Greenoaks Darling Point.  
Line 24: Line 27:
 
<span class="play">50 Not Out!</span> marked <span class="person">Miriam  Hampson</span>’s retirement and the theatre’s half-century in 1982.  Other musical evenings in the 1980s: <span class="play">Oh, How We Danced</span>, <span class="play">Drama Sunday</span>, and <span class="play">New Theatre in Concert</span> (with a company of 27, nine musicians, five choreographers and seven on the production team) in 1988.  Workshop projects included <span class="play">Three Stories</span>, <span class="play">The Master</span>, <span class="play">The Living Room War</span>, <span class="play">Talking With</span>, <span class="play">Picnic on the Battlefield</span>, <span class="play">Cahoots</span>, <span class="play">All the Lonely People</span>, <span class="play">Drama Break-In</span>, <span class="play">Three Sisters</span>, <span class="play">Swallowing is a Very Private Thing</span>, <span class="play">Busted</span> and <span class="play">All in All: A Shakespearian essay on marriage</span>.  
 
<span class="play">50 Not Out!</span> marked <span class="person">Miriam  Hampson</span>’s retirement and the theatre’s half-century in 1982.  Other musical evenings in the 1980s: <span class="play">Oh, How We Danced</span>, <span class="play">Drama Sunday</span>, and <span class="play">New Theatre in Concert</span> (with a company of 27, nine musicians, five choreographers and seven on the production team) in 1988.  Workshop projects included <span class="play">Three Stories</span>, <span class="play">The Master</span>, <span class="play">The Living Room War</span>, <span class="play">Talking With</span>, <span class="play">Picnic on the Battlefield</span>, <span class="play">Cahoots</span>, <span class="play">All the Lonely People</span>, <span class="play">Drama Break-In</span>, <span class="play">Three Sisters</span>, <span class="play">Swallowing is a Very Private Thing</span>, <span class="play">Busted</span> and <span class="play">All in All: A Shakespearian essay on marriage</span>.  
  
 +
In 1986 John Grinston directed a series of Drama Sunday workshops, assisted by Sandra and Gary Smith, Michael Sommerville and Jane Seymour.
 +
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 +
1987 Workshop Mitch Mathews.jpg | Cedric McLaughlin's All the Lonely People was directed as a Workshop by casting agent Mitch Mathews (back row, centre) in 1987
 +
</gallery>
 
There were occasional collaborations with outside bodies such as the <span class="group">Deadly Sins Drama Group</span> at Macquarie University and the <span class="group">NSW Association for Mental Health</span>.
 
There were occasional collaborations with outside bodies such as the <span class="group">Deadly Sins Drama Group</span> at Macquarie University and the <span class="group">NSW Association for Mental Health</span>.
  
 
During the 1990s Workshop flourished.  Projects included <span class="play">Lulu – The Musical</span>, <span class="play">Everything Old Is New Again</span>, <span class="play">Unlikely Lovers</span>, <span class="play">Damn! Yankees/As American As?</span>, <span class="play">Going Down for the Third Time</span>, <span class="play">In the Desert of My Soul</span>, <span class="play">The House of Bernarda Alba</span>, <span class="play">The Poet and the Pirate</span>, <span class="play">The Rope</span>, <span class="play">Johnny Starkey</span>, <span class="play">Not Bloody Likely!</span>, <span class="play">The Royal Commission</span>,  <span class="play">Tadzio</span>, <span class="play">Dream Reef</span>, <span class="play">Summer of the Aliens</span> (a major production in 1999), <span class="play">Fen</span>, <span class="play">Women on the Stage</span>, <span class="play">Everyman</span>, <span class="play">In the Groove</span>, <span class="play">Family Voices</span> and <span class="play">The Torrents</span>.  A packed house saw Shakespeare’s “latest play” <span class="play">Edward III</span>.  <span class="group">Club Cockroach</span> staged <span class="play">Merry Christmas, Pauline Hanson</span>.  A benefit was held for East Timor in 1999.  Energies in the first two years of the new millennium were devoted to fundraising activities ~ the biggest a dinner at Enmore’s Cyprus Club where a rush of last-minute guests sent the catering staff into a spin.
 
During the 1990s Workshop flourished.  Projects included <span class="play">Lulu – The Musical</span>, <span class="play">Everything Old Is New Again</span>, <span class="play">Unlikely Lovers</span>, <span class="play">Damn! Yankees/As American As?</span>, <span class="play">Going Down for the Third Time</span>, <span class="play">In the Desert of My Soul</span>, <span class="play">The House of Bernarda Alba</span>, <span class="play">The Poet and the Pirate</span>, <span class="play">The Rope</span>, <span class="play">Johnny Starkey</span>, <span class="play">Not Bloody Likely!</span>, <span class="play">The Royal Commission</span>,  <span class="play">Tadzio</span>, <span class="play">Dream Reef</span>, <span class="play">Summer of the Aliens</span> (a major production in 1999), <span class="play">Fen</span>, <span class="play">Women on the Stage</span>, <span class="play">Everyman</span>, <span class="play">In the Groove</span>, <span class="play">Family Voices</span> and <span class="play">The Torrents</span>.  A packed house saw Shakespeare’s “latest play” <span class="play">Edward III</span>.  <span class="group">Club Cockroach</span> staged <span class="play">Merry Christmas, Pauline Hanson</span>.  A benefit was held for East Timor in 1999.  Energies in the first two years of the new millennium were devoted to fundraising activities ~ the biggest a dinner at Enmore’s Cyprus Club where a rush of last-minute guests sent the catering staff into a spin.
  
 
+
After 2003 moved readings, many staged for school students, included <span class="play">The Dumb Waiter</span> and <span class="play">Zoo Story</span>, <span class="play">The Real Inspector Hound</span>, <span class="play">The Plough and the Stars</span>, <span class="play">Gary’s House</span>, <span class="play">Speed-the-Plow</span>, <span class="play">The Beauty Queen of Leenane</span>, <span class="play">Julius Caesar</span>, <span class="play">Macbeth</span>, <span class="play">Double Take: Shakespeare Scenework</span>, <span class="play">Danton’s Death</span>, <span class="play">Going to St Ives</span>, <span class="play">Thief River</span>, <span class="play">The Titanic Orchestra</span>, <span class="play">The Winslow Boy</span>, <span class="play">The Country</span>, <span class="play">Pelléas and Mélisande</span>, <span class="play">Running Up a Dress</span>, <span class="play">Black Sail, White Sail</span>, <span class="play">A Beautiful Life</span>, <span class="play">The Club</span>, <span class="play">Not About Heroes</span>, key scenes from <span class="play">Hamlet</span>, <span class="play">Death of a Salesman</span>, <span class="play">Desire Under the Elms</span>, <span class="play">The Removalists</span> and <span class="play">Educating Rita</span>.  A number of these became full-scale productions.  
 
+
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
After 2003 moved readings, many staged for school students, included <span class="play">The Dumb Waiter</span> and <span class="play">Zoo Story</span>, <span class="play">The Real Inspector Hound</span>, <span class="play">The Plough and the Stars</span>, <span class="play">Gary’s House</span>, <span class="play">Speed-the-Plow</span>, <span class="play">The Beauty Queen of Leenane</span>, <span class="play">Julius Caesar</span>, <span class="play">Macbeth</span>, <span class="play">Double Take: Shakespeare Scenework</span>, <span class="play">Danton’s Death</span>, <span class="play">Going to St Ives</span>, <span class="play">Thief River</span>, <span class="play">The Titanic Orchestra</span>, <span class="play">The Winslow Boy</span>, <span class="play">The Country</span>, <span class="play">Pelleas and Melisande</span>, <span class="play">Running Up a Dress</span>, <span class="play">Black Sail, White Sail</span>, <span class="play">A Beautiful Life</span>, <span class="play">The Club</span>, <span class="play">Not About Heroes</span>, key scenes from <span class="play">Hamlet</span>, <span class="play">Death of a Salesman</span>, <span class="play">Desire Under the Elms</span>, <span class="play">The Removalists</span> and <span class="play">Educating Rita</span>.  A number of these became full-scale productions.   
+
2005 Pelleas.jpg | Pelléas and Mélisande, a moved reading as part of an Education program in 2005.  Left to right: John Keightley, Martin Scholtz-Moller, Peter Talmacs, Jenni Dibley, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Florette Cohen
 +
</gallery>    
  
 
To mark NT’s 70th birthday moved and costumed readings were staged of a “hit” from each of the seven decades: <span class="play">Waiting for Lefty</span>, <span class="play">An Inspector Calls</span>, <span class="play">Reedy River</span>, <span class="play">The Crucible</span>, <span class="play">The Season at Sarsaparilla</span>, <span class="play">One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest</span> and <span class="play">Cloud 9</span>.  Included in the 75th birthday program was <span class="play">Censored!</span>, moved and costumed readings of banned plays.
 
To mark NT’s 70th birthday moved and costumed readings were staged of a “hit” from each of the seven decades: <span class="play">Waiting for Lefty</span>, <span class="play">An Inspector Calls</span>, <span class="play">Reedy River</span>, <span class="play">The Crucible</span>, <span class="play">The Season at Sarsaparilla</span>, <span class="play">One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest</span> and <span class="play">Cloud 9</span>.  Included in the 75th birthday program was <span class="play">Censored!</span>, moved and costumed readings of banned plays.
  
In 2002 <span class="play">Stop Laughing...This is Serious!</span> celebrated 70 years of political and social revue at the New. 
+
<gallery heights="250px" mode="packed">
 +
File:Censored.jpg |
 +
2007 Mozart & Salieri.jpg | Cast of Mozart and Salieri, Pushkin's "banned" play, 2007
 +
</gallery>
  
 +
In 2002 <span class="play">Stop Laughing...This is Serious!</span> celebrated 70 years of political and social revue at the New.  Held on the previous year’s election night was the <span class="play">All Ordinaries</span> revue.  Most at <span class="play">Howard’s End</span> in 2007 watched the TV monitor in the foyer rather than the entertainment in the auditorium. 
 +
<gallery heights="250px" mode="packed">
 +
2001.11.10 election revue.jpg |
 +
Election night revue seats .jpg | Audience members were allocated electorates in November 2001
 +
</gallery>
 +
A local community centre was chosen for <span class="play">Australia’s Most Wanted</span> on election night 2004 so that the audience could sit down to a meal.  Another nearby venue, the Dickson Space, was chosen for the end-of-year <span class="play">A Christmas Carol</span>, a production restaged at Newington College where a Victorian music hall was also mounted.  Supper followed a performance of <span class="play">East Lynne</span>, played out in a member's Victorian house and garden.
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
2002.12.17.jpg | Stop Laughing...This is Serious! 2002
+
C carol.jpg |
</gallery>
+
C Carol.jpg | A Christmas Carol at Newington College, 2012
 
+
2013 Victoriana rehearsal.jpg | Bobbie Gledhill rehearsing Victoriana with pianist John Short
 
+
Alan + Deb Victoriana.jpg | Alan Walker and Deborah Thomson at Newington College, Victoriana, 2013
 
+
</gallery>  
Held on the previous year’s election night was the <span class="play">All Ordinaries</span> revue.  Most at <span class="play">Howard’s End</span> in 2007 watched the TV monitor in the foyer rather than the entertainment in the auditorium. 
 
  
 +
Wayne Richmond brought his <span class="group">Loosely Woven</span> acoustic troupe from the northern beaches to present <span class="play">Bird Sings the Blues</span>, <span class="play">Frilly Red Pyjamas</span>, <span class="play">Aba Daba Honeymoon</span>, <span class="play">Deja Vu</span>, <span class="play">On the Road Again</span> and <span class="play">Waltzing With Bears</span>.  The musicians also played at the <span class="play">Saturday Kids’ Club</span>, a variety show featuring music, drama, songs, magic and storytelling.
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
File:2007.11.24 Howard s End revue.jpg | Howard's End, 2007
+
Loosely woven.jpg |  
</gallery>
+
Aba Daba.jpg | Loosely Woven concert, 2006
 
+
</gallery>  
A local community centre was chosen for <span class="play">Australia’s Most Wanted</span> on election night 2004 so that the audience could sit down to a meal. Another nearby venue, the Dickson Space, was chosen for the end-of-year <span class="play">A Christmas Carol</span>, a production restaged at Newington College where a Victorian music hall was also mounted.  Supper followed a performance of <span class="play">East Lynne</span>, played out in members’ Victorian house and garden. 
 
 
 
Wayne Richmond brought his <span class="group">Loosely Woven</span> acoustic troupe from the northern beaches to present <span class="play">Bird Sings the Blues</span>, <span class="play">Frilly Red Pyjamas</span>, <span class="play">Aba Daba Honeymoon</span>, <span class="play">Deja Vu</span> and <span class="play">Waltzing With Bears</span>.  The musicians also played at the <span class="play">Saturday Kids’ Club</span>, a variety show featuring music, drama, songs, magic and storytelling.
 
 
 
 
Events in the theatre included a memorial concert for Bushwhacker <span class="person">Chris Kempster</span>; wakes for members <span class="person">Susan O’Brien</span> and <span class="person">Frank McNamara</span>; <span class="play">Oye! New Sudan Celebrates</span> showcasing over 40 Sudanese performers from Blacktown; and <span class="play">A Cultural Kebab</span> celebrating Sydney’s Middle Eastern community.
 
Events in the theatre included a memorial concert for Bushwhacker <span class="person">Chris Kempster</span>; wakes for members <span class="person">Susan O’Brien</span> and <span class="person">Frank McNamara</span>; <span class="play">Oye! New Sudan Celebrates</span> showcasing over 40 Sudanese performers from Blacktown; and <span class="play">A Cultural Kebab</span> celebrating Sydney’s Middle Eastern community.
 
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 
File:Chris Kempster tribute 2004.jpg | Chris Kempster tribute, 2004
 
File:Chris Kempster tribute 2004.jpg | Chris Kempster tribute, 2004
</gallery>
 
 
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 
 
File:2005 Sudan 3.jpg| Oye! New Sudan Celebrates, 2005
 
File:2005 Sudan 3.jpg| Oye! New Sudan Celebrates, 2005
File:2005 SUDAN dancers.jpg | Sudanese dancers
+
2005.12.19 SUDAN boy.jpg |
 +
File:2005 SUDAN dancers.jpg |  
 +
2006 Cultural Kebab postcard.jpg | A Cultural Kebab, 2006
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 
 
<gallery heights="300px" mode="packed">
 
2006 Cultural Kebab EFlyer.jpg| A Cultural Kebab, 2006
 
 
</gallery>
 
 
 
  
 
Outside events included a party at NIDA for <span class="person">Mona Brand</span>’s 90th birthday, and <span class="play">Words Can Be Bullets</span> presented at the State Library and <span class="play">Politics in the Pub</span>.  
 
Outside events included a party at NIDA for <span class="person">Mona Brand</span>’s 90th birthday, and <span class="play">Words Can Be Bullets</span> presented at the State Library and <span class="play">Politics in the Pub</span>.  
 
  
 
----
 
----
[[Main Page|New Theatre History Home]] | '''Previous''': [[Children's Theatre]] | '''Next''': [[ASIO Agents and Moles]]
+
[[Main Page|New Theatre History Home]] | '''Previous''': [[Children's Theatre]] | '''Next''': [[Shakespeare and the Classics]]

Latest revision as of 09:03, 14 November 2022

New Theatre History Home | Previous: Children's Theatre | Next: Shakespeare and the Classics


Hundreds of small-scale events have been organised by NT since its earliest days. The Drama section of the WAC held weekly playreadings, and it was not until the late 1980s that dwindling interest by members led to the cessation of the long-standing practice of informal readings in the auditorium of forthcoming major productions.

At Castlereagh Street there were a large number of Workshop productions (including a “penile business” piece by John Hepworth which caused a stir). A training ground for directors, actors, designers, writers and technicians, as well as a means of viewing proposed plays off-the-page, Workshop encouraged experiment, and local one-act plays were produced alongside well-known pieces. Workshop was also closely connected with the in-house education program, which covered all aspects of theatre craft.

At Sussex Street lack of both an organising committee and space for rehearsals meant that Workshop activity was sporadic. In the period 1959-62, for instance, Mistress Bottom’s Dream and a series of lectures on playwriting by Mona Brand are the only such ventures recorded.

At St Peters Lane it was decided to revive acting classes and to set up a Workshop committee. Each presentation was adjudicated by an accredited director and the audience invited to stay for coffee and discussion. Budgets were minimal and the programs cheaply gestetnered.

Projects included The Comedy of a Man who Married a Dumb Wife, The Trojan Women, The Death of Bessie Smith (revived as a major production), a variety show On Stage, The Searching Maenads, and contrasting treatments of the trial scene from The Merchant of Venice. Pieces by Ionesco, Sartre, Tennessee Williams, Alex Buzo, van Itallie and NT members John Mulligan, Frank Marcus and Andrew Kemp were presented, the regular actors including Carole Skinner, Linal Haft and James Kemp.

Although many members were interested only in major productions, stalwarts (John Short, Frank McNamara, Sean Surplus, Paul Quinn, Phil de Carle, Rob Steele and Roy Dias) kept Workshop going in the 1970s. Projects included Little Brother Little Sister, Anyway, Christie in Love, The Doomsday Show, Passion, Ile, Dance Drama, Casting, R, Street Theatre’s Born Loser, and scenes from A Life in a Theatre. Building fundraisers included theatre parties, jumble sales, an anniversary ball, garden parties, and an haute couture fashion parade at Greenoaks Darling Point.

At King Street classes were held in movement, acting and voice, and youth activities flourished, an average of 60 each day attending school holiday programs. Workshop and readings included Bermondsey, As It Stands, Out of Our Minds, Woman Alive, Four To Go, Here Comes Kisch! (a major production in 1984), Cages, A Seat in the House, Shadows on the Wall, All That Fall, The White Liars, an adaptation of Gormenghast, Madame de Sade, The Beard, Company Fracture, Offshore Island and Hanging On.

50 Not Out! marked Miriam Hampson’s retirement and the theatre’s half-century in 1982. Other musical evenings in the 1980s: Oh, How We Danced, Drama Sunday, and New Theatre in Concert (with a company of 27, nine musicians, five choreographers and seven on the production team) in 1988. Workshop projects included Three Stories, The Master, The Living Room War, Talking With, Picnic on the Battlefield, Cahoots, All the Lonely People, Drama Break-In, Three Sisters, Swallowing is a Very Private Thing, Busted and All in All: A Shakespearian essay on marriage.

In 1986 John Grinston directed a series of Drama Sunday workshops, assisted by Sandra and Gary Smith, Michael Sommerville and Jane Seymour.

There were occasional collaborations with outside bodies such as the Deadly Sins Drama Group at Macquarie University and the NSW Association for Mental Health.

During the 1990s Workshop flourished. Projects included Lulu – The Musical, Everything Old Is New Again, Unlikely Lovers, Damn! Yankees/As American As?, Going Down for the Third Time, In the Desert of My Soul, The House of Bernarda Alba, The Poet and the Pirate, The Rope, Johnny Starkey, Not Bloody Likely!, The Royal Commission, Tadzio, Dream Reef, Summer of the Aliens (a major production in 1999), Fen, Women on the Stage, Everyman, In the Groove, Family Voices and The Torrents. A packed house saw Shakespeare’s “latest play” Edward III. Club Cockroach staged Merry Christmas, Pauline Hanson. A benefit was held for East Timor in 1999. Energies in the first two years of the new millennium were devoted to fundraising activities ~ the biggest a dinner at Enmore’s Cyprus Club where a rush of last-minute guests sent the catering staff into a spin.

After 2003 moved readings, many staged for school students, included The Dumb Waiter and Zoo Story, The Real Inspector Hound, The Plough and the Stars, Gary’s House, Speed-the-Plow, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Double Take: Shakespeare Scenework, Danton’s Death, Going to St Ives, Thief River, The Titanic Orchestra, The Winslow Boy, The Country, Pelléas and Mélisande, Running Up a Dress, Black Sail, White Sail, A Beautiful Life, The Club, Not About Heroes, key scenes from Hamlet, Death of a Salesman, Desire Under the Elms, The Removalists and Educating Rita. A number of these became full-scale productions.

To mark NT’s 70th birthday moved and costumed readings were staged of a “hit” from each of the seven decades: Waiting for Lefty, An Inspector Calls, Reedy River, The Crucible, The Season at Sarsaparilla, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Cloud 9. Included in the 75th birthday program was Censored!, moved and costumed readings of banned plays.

In 2002 Stop Laughing...This is Serious! celebrated 70 years of political and social revue at the New. Held on the previous year’s election night was the All Ordinaries revue. Most at Howard’s End in 2007 watched the TV monitor in the foyer rather than the entertainment in the auditorium.

A local community centre was chosen for Australia’s Most Wanted on election night 2004 so that the audience could sit down to a meal. Another nearby venue, the Dickson Space, was chosen for the end-of-year A Christmas Carol, a production restaged at Newington College where a Victorian music hall was also mounted. Supper followed a performance of East Lynne, played out in a member's Victorian house and garden.

Wayne Richmond brought his Loosely Woven acoustic troupe from the northern beaches to present Bird Sings the Blues, Frilly Red Pyjamas, Aba Daba Honeymoon, Deja Vu, On the Road Again and Waltzing With Bears. The musicians also played at the Saturday Kids’ Club, a variety show featuring music, drama, songs, magic and storytelling.

Events in the theatre included a memorial concert for Bushwhacker Chris Kempster; wakes for members Susan O’Brien and Frank McNamara; Oye! New Sudan Celebrates showcasing over 40 Sudanese performers from Blacktown; and A Cultural Kebab celebrating Sydney’s Middle Eastern community.

Outside events included a party at NIDA for Mona Brand’s 90th birthday, and Words Can Be Bullets presented at the State Library and Politics in the Pub.


New Theatre History Home | Previous: Children's Theatre | Next: Shakespeare and the Classics