It’s Noosa Arts Theatre’s 50th Birthday Celebrations and to celebrate they are returning three of the most loved one act plays from their One Act playwriting Competitions.
Forty-three years of great one act plays and the three that have made the cut are Nancy Cato’s Travellers Through The Night, John Cundall’s The Eulogy and Debra Chalmers Here’s The Thing.
Travellers Through the Night was performed as part of the first One Act Playwriting Competition in 1977 and was an adaptation of a short story Nancy Cato had written 10 years prior.
It is night at an interstate roadhouse cafe. A woman and a man are attracted to each other, but their lives are altered irrevocably by a serious accident involving a mysterious stranger.
Director Sue Sewell is excited to be reimagining this classic and has cast local favourites; Glen Miller, Tracey Simpson, Paul Wright and Tom Middleton. Sue joined Noosa Arts in the early 80s when the theatre looked very different from what we see now.
After a time away back in the UK, she returned to the Sunshine Coast and has been involved in many plays at Noosa Arts. Although Sue gets pleasure from the buzz of being on stage, she most enjoys writing and directing and is more than happy to be directing the first Noosa Arts One-Act Playwriting Festival winner.
The Eulogy, winning Audience Choice in 2008, is a poignant drama by John Cundill. A son decides to show his dying mother a draft of his intended eulogy for her funeral. When she hears what he wants to say, she decides that it’s time for a few home truths.
Director Liza Park is relishing working with stage greats; Yvie Sommerville and Ian Mackeller. Although Liza trained as an actress at NIDA, she has enjoyed her directorial efforts at Noosa Arts Theatre over the past decade. A winner of both Best Actress and Best Director Awards, she is also a past President of the theatre, and was made a Life Member in 2016.
She directed The Eulogy as part of the 2008 One Act Play Festival, and is thrilled to revisit it. Here’s The Thing won Best Play and Audience Choice at the Noosa One Act Play Competition in 2012 and has since been performed both in Australia and overseas.
A raucous comedy about two sisters, Amanda and Carolyn, who didn’t expect to have much more than blinding headaches after their big night out on the town. But finding a naked young man passed out on their couch makes them ask the question – what the hell did we do last night? If only they could remember…
Director Jenni McCaul is excited to be working with award winning actors including Jannine Ritchie, Jane Rivers, Helen Smith, Andrew Moon, Cordel Belmlette and Tom Middleton.
Noosa Arts Theatre will be dona>ng the proceeds from Thursday 20 February performance of Retro Replays to help out a community theatre affected by the recent bushfire crisis.
DATES
Cut price preview 13 February at 7.30pm, all tickets $25.
Retro Gala Opening Night 14 February at 7.30pm, all tickets $36 Includes one free drink and a light supper.
Evenings 20, 21, 22 February at 7.30pm.
Matinees 15 and 16 February at 2pm.
Tickets adults $30, concessions $25 member/group $22, Under 18 $20.
