WYONG DRAMA GROUP
2010 - 2019
The terrific 'teens' is the seventh decade of productions for the Wyong Drama group. The list below contains all of the Group's productions from 2010 - 2019.
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COSI
By Louis Nowra
Directed by Ruth Crawley
Performed April 2010
Our April 2010 production was the Australian play Cosi, written by Louis Nowra, directed by Ruth Crawley, assisted by Pam Campbell. The show opened on 15 April 2010.
Ruth is a local teacher from St Peter's Catholic College at Tuggerah. WDG Audiences may remember the play Means of Happiness presented at the 2008 TheatreFest on the Friday Night by students from St Peter's College, which, although not technically entered in the TheatreFest, was considered good enough by the adjudicator to win the John Axford Memorial Award.
Cosi was an HSC play this year. We offered special prices for students ($5 discount on regular prices), and if a teacher wished to arrange a group visit, they were entitled to free admission themselves.
The performance dates for the show were Thursday 8pm (15 & 22 April - $17 tickets), Friday 8pm (16 & 23 April - $20 tickets), Saturday 2pm & 8pm (17 & 24 April - $17 for the matinee and $20 for the evening) and Sunday 2pm (18 April - $17 tickets).
The cast and crew of Cosi. Use the arrows to navigate and click the images to view them full-size.
It is 1971 and Lewis, a young director, agrees to stage a production of Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte with a cast of patients from a mental institution. There is no orchestra, no one can sing and the theatre is nothing more than a burnt out shell. Beyond the walls of the institution, citizens march against their government’s involvement in a war and Lewis’ own relationship falters. As the production lurches forward, Lewis realizes it doesn’t hurt to be a little crazy.
DIRECTED BY:
Ruth Crawley
CAST:
LEWIS - Stephen McDonald
ROY - Laszlo Weidlich
CHERRY - Debbi Clarke
RUTH - Pam Campbell
ZAC - Les Besseny
DOUG - Mike McLeod
HENRY - John Czernieki
JULIE - Sophie Berry Porter
NICK - Justin Stafford
LUCY - Sara Brown
JUSTINE - Cathy De Vries
Central Coast TheatreFest
2010
Performed 2nd - 3rd July 2010
The Theatrefest this year was held over the weekend of Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd July.
On Friday there was a night of presentations from the XtrAct Drama Academy to break the ice, get the ball rolling, and give all competitors a chance to familiarise themselves with the venue, other competitors and Wyong Drama Group itself.
"Peggy & Penny (the pint-sized pirates)"
"The Sister, The Brother, The Parents"
Special thanks to Terry Brady
"Peggy & Penny (the pint-sized pirates)"
Shots of XtrAct Academy Performances on the first night of TheatreFest 2010. Use the arrows to browse through the photos.Click the images to view them full-size.
Wyong Drama Group entered two shows this year, Three Chairs! by Roger Gimblett (directed by Julie Bailey - two awards) and The Boat by Jill Shearer (directed by Howard Oxley - six awards). A number of Wyong Drama Group members were also involved in productions entered by other theatre companies.
The competitive section of the Theatrefest was held on the Saturday in three sessions, and following that, the all-important Awards Ceremony was held. There were three sessions on the Saturday: 10am, 2pm and 6pm. The awards ceremony was then held an hour after the final session concluded.
The Whoops Award this year WAS awarded! Barry Sampson, who actually makes the trophies, was given the Whoops Award for omitting to close the rear traveller curtains after setting the stage for Karma Street Kitchen, the second-last production of the festival. Obviously the strain of stage managing all day was getting to him!
Terry Brady
ADJUDICATOR:
Awards (click the photos to view them full-size):
BEST MALE ACTOR: Laszlo Weidlich (The Boat)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR: Denise Pastor (The Boat)
BEST DIRECTION: Julie Bailey (Three Chairs)
BEST PRODUCTION: The Boat
(Wyong Drama Group) (Howard Oxley, Director)
BEST PRODUCTION RUNNER-UP:
The Sex Life of Snails
(XtrAct) (Pictured: Robyn Weidlich: Director)
BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE:
Joining the Club
(Woy Woy Little Theatre) (Steve Killeen, Jen Francis - cast; Marie Sellers - director)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Marc Calwell (The Boat)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Ruth Jordon (Three Chairs)
BEST SET: The Boat
(Wyong Drama Group) (Pictured: Howard Oxley, Director)
BEST COSTUMES: Murder at Church Hill
(XtrAct) (Pictured: Director Pam Campbell)
BEST UNPUBLISHED PLAY: Josh Aspinall &
Duncan Mitchell (You Can't Pick Your Friends)
(Jopuka)
ADJUDICATOR'S SPECIAL AWARD: Jen Francis (Joining the Club) (WWLT)
JOHN AXFORD MEMORIAL AWARD:
War Letters (Phoenix Productions)
(Pictured: Maree Sellers (cast) and Linda Williams (director))
APEX 40 AWARD: Laszlo Weidlich
WOOPS! AWARD: Barry Sampson - Stage Manager (WDG)
Note: For archived resources, such as the info kit and rules provided to directors for this festival, please contact us.
Central Coast TheatreFest 2010
THE BOAT
By Jill Shearer
Directed by Howard Oxley
Performed 3rd July 2010
Sel spends all day fishing from a boat in his living room after his nervous breakdown. The
love from his son and the support from his wife make confrontation with Jane difficult. An emotional rollercoaster of love in its many forms.
DIRECTED BY:
Howard Oxley
CAST:
SEL - Laszlo Weidlich
MARY - Denise Pastor
BRIAN - Marc Calwell
JANE - Sally Bartley
Central Coast TheatreFest 2010
THREE CHAIRS
By Roger Gimblett
Directed by Julie Bailey
Performed 3rd July 2010
Patty and Tom are newly married. Patty has a surprise for Tom. However, that shock is nothing compared with the revelations in store for this newly married couple.
DIRECTED BY:
Julie Bailey
CAST:
PATTY - Sara Brown
TOM - Stephen McDonald
BERNADETTE - Ruth Jordon
DOROTHY ATTENBOROUGH - Millie Sampson
GEORGE BAKER - Howard Oxley
HARP ON THE WILLOW
By John Misto
Directed by Ron Baker
Performed August 2010
This was Wyong Drama Group’s August 2010 production, directed by Ron Baker.
Irish folk singer Mary O’Hara was a star at 18, a bride at 20 and a widow at 21. Her concert tours had played to full houses worldwide. Her love affair, with the poet Richard Selig was legendary for its beauty, its intensity and its tragedy. Then, at the age of 26, at the height of her fame, she abruptly disappeared.
If this story wasn’t, in fact, true you wouldn’t believe it!
The play is largely set in the early 1970s amongst the wimples, sacred brandy and confessions of the strict Catholic order of nuns at Stanbrook Abbey. The global village of the time is one equally fraught with terror and social cultural change, IRA bombings, Richard Nixon’s Presidency, Mick Jagger and heaven forbid - ABBA fever.
The cast, crew and action of Harp On The Willow. Use the arrows to navigate and click the images to view them full-size.
Misto writes “I had to tell this story before Hollywood beat me to it, a story no writer would dare create, a story about those missing years, when Mary O’Hara entered an austere monastery in the English Midlands. Here, as an anonymous nun, unable to see visitors or even listen to a radio, she began a journey of self-discovery, a journey both humorous and harrowing. I spent six years searching for this extraordinary lady and located her finally in the heart of Africa. One of the world’s most beloved and famous singers was living literally in the jungle.”
John Misto is also the author of the play The Shoe Horn Sonata, the mini series Day of the Roses the story of the Granville train disaster, and the telemovie Heroes’ Mountain about the rescue of Stuart Diver in Thredbo.
The Melbourne 2007 production of the play featured none other than Marina Prior in the role of Mary O’Hara.
DIRECTED BY:
Ron Baker
CAST:
SISTER MIRIAM PERPETUA SELIG & MARY O’HARA - Rose Cooper
YOUNG MARY O'HARA - Tamara Abbott
MOTHER RAPHAEL WALKER - Julie Bailey
TYRONE KANE - Brad Talbot
RICHARD SELIG - Rohan Smith
Note: For more information and archived resources, such as the audition notice used for this production, or ticket and show times, please contact us.
CAUGHT IN THE NET
By Ray Cooney
Directed by Peter Deane
Performed November 2010
The play opened on 11 November 2010 and was directed by Peter Deane. Previous shows from this director for WDG include Kid Stakes (1989), The One Day of the Year (1990 and 2001), Other Times (1996), Hot Taps (1999), Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (2005) and Pass the Butler (2007).
The cast, crew, rehearsals and some miscellaneous photos from Caught In The Net. Use the arrows to browse through the photos . Click the images to view them full-size.
Here's the interview with Scott Levi and Yianni Johns on Smart Arts on ABC 92.5FM broadcast on Friday 5 Nov 2010 at 1:45pm. This includes an extract from the play done by Stephen McDonald and Steve Killeen.
Here's the interview done with Lyn Smith (the Drama Queen) on 96.3 CoastFM on Friday 12 Nov 2010 at 11:15am. This is just me rabbiting on about the show after opening night, which was a sheer pleasure, given the standard of performance we managed to achieve.
Synopsis
This play is a typical Ray Cooney farce. That description may be enough for some people, but if you’re still intrigued, and love a good rollicking farce, read on.
The play is the sequel to another Ray Cooney Farce (Run for your Wife) which was presented by Wyong Drama Group in April 2003. In this farce we learn of John Smith, taxi driver, of both Wimbledon and Streatham who has, unbeknown to each other, two wives, Mary and Barbara. John is ably assisted by Stanley in ensuring that the pair never find out that the other exists.
We now fast-forward eighteen years. Barbara has a son, Gavin; and Mary has a daughter, Vicki. Thanks to modern technology the two Smith children meet in an internet chat room and it seems they are growing keen on each other.
At first they are amazed at the coincidences surrounding their fathers. Both are called John Smith (well, there are a lot of them). Both are taxi drivers (again there are a lot of them). Both are the same age (this is getting to be uncanny). Both have the middle name Leonard (now it’s even suspicious).
Is John’s biggest secret about to be revealed? Stanley is still helping him keep mum about it. But it turns out Gavin is very keen on meeting Vicki and vice versa. John is keen to prevent the meeting as it will complicate his arrangements with his wives somewhat more than they already are. He is also absolutely determined to prevent the unthinkable from happening between the two young ones.
At first, things go well. Only a few lies are needed on the part of John and Stanley. But naturally, it doesn’t remain this way. Stanley’s somewhat senile father arrives, expecting to get a lift from his son to Felixstowe to start his long-awaited holiday. This makes it even harder for John and Stanley to keep their story going and results in more lies, and some incredibly ponderous phone calls.
Gavin actually visits Vicki’s house and desperately tries to see her, but with Stanley and John working hard and fabricating even more untruths, this doesn’t happen. More and more lies are the fare of the day and eventually they become so ludicrous that even John and Stanley have trouble believing them!
This sounds like the recipe for a fast-paced farce in the classic Ray Cooney vein, and audiences won't be disappointed on that score. The play was nominated for the 2002 Olivier Award and the 2001 Evening Standard Awards for Best New Comedy.
Cooney’s plays are anything but high brow literature, but what they do is entertain. One critic has said “It has been a while since I cried laughing at the theatre, and what a joy it is when it happens.” Another writes: “Cooney gives you a master class in the art of farce … the perfectly potty plot is a precision-built laughter machine.”
WDG is sure this play is definitely its audience’s cup of tea. If you’re after laughs (and plenty of them) this play is one for you.
Note: For more information and archived resources, including detailed documents for future directors, please contact us.
DIRECTED BY:
Peter Deane
CAST:
GAVIN SMITH - Rohan Smith
VICKI SMITH - Sara Brown
BARBARA SMITH - Virginia Skinner
MARY SMITH - Nikki De Vries
JOHN SMITH - Stephen McDonald
STANLEY GARDNER - Steve Killeen
DAD GARDNER - Hagen Heinrich
LITTLE WOMEN
A Non-Musical Adaptation of the novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Adapted by Peter Clapham
Directed by Ron Baker
Performed April 2011
In April 2011, Ron Baker directed yet another WDG play, this time an adaptation of Little Women. The play is based on the famous novel by American novelist Louisa May Alcott. It was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869.
The play performed is a much shorter work set on a single set with the adaptation written by Peter Clapham (1925-2003). It is one of about four or five adaptations of the novel produced as a play.
The famous novel by Louisa May Alcott can be read or downloaded from here:
Alcott's original work explores the overcoming of character flaws. Many of the chapter titles in this first part are allusions to the allegorical concepts and places in Pilgrim's Progress. When young, the girls played Pilgrim's Progress by taking an imaginary journey through their home. As young women, they agree to continue the figurative journey, using the "guidebooks" — copies of The Pilgrim's Progress, described as "that beautiful old story of the best life ever lived"; they receive on Christmas morning. Each of the March girls must struggle to overcome a character flaw: Meg, vanity; Jo, a hot temper; Beth, shyness; and Amy, selfishness.
In the course of the novel, the March girls become friends with their next-door neighbour, the teenage boy Laurie. The book depicts the light hearted, often humorous activities of the sisters and their friend, such as creating a newspaper and picnicking, and the various "scrapes" that Jo and Laurie get into. Jo consistently struggles with the boundaries 19th Century society placed on females, including not being able to fight in a war, not being able to attend college, and being pressured by her Aunt March to find a suitable husband to take care of her.
The Cast, Crew and Action of Little Women. Use the arrows to browse through the photos. Click the images to view them full-size.
Note: For more information and archived resources, including detailed documents for future directors, please contact us.
DIRECTED BY:
Ron Baker
CAST:
AMY - Kalani Hirst
BETH - Renee Stein
JO SARAH - Ann Ballard
MEG - Erin Beecher
HANNAH - Julie Bailey
MARMEE - Cathy De Vries
AUNT MARCH - Pam Campbell
LAURIE - Scott Russell
MR. BROOKE - Robert Cottam
MR. LAURENCE - Marc Calwell
MR. MARCH - Howard Oxley
Central Coast TheatreFest
2011
Performed 25th - 26th June 2011
The TheatreFest this year was held over the weekend Friday 24th, Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th June 2011. We invited all interested theatre societies, collectives and other dramatically-minded groups of people to enter a One-Act play in the competition. Tickets were priced at $10 per session, or $25 for a full season pass (entry to all sessions). The final Awards Ceremony on Sunday at 2pm was free for all to attend.
WDG entered three plays this year:
Twenty-seven Wagons Full of Cotton
This was directed by Nikki De Vries, and was her directorial debut. It depicts a small glimpse into the lives of Flora and Jake Meighan and the repercussions of the “good neighbour policy”. Its cast was Sara Brown, Stephen McDonald and Marc Calwell.
Ruby of Elsinore
This was directed by Robyn Weidlich who directed three plays in this year's festival. (Two for WDG and one for XtrAct Drama Academy). This is an extremely funny spoof on Hamlet where the Danish Royal Family let their hair down when they come to Ruby's House of Beauty for a cut and counsel. The cast included Ruth Jordon, Madeline Parker, Pollyanna Forshaw, Laszlo Weidlich, Robert Cottam and Les Besseny.
Swan Song
Robyn Weidlich again directed this two-hander with Laszlo Weidlich and Les Besseny. In this play an ageing actor laments the passing of time and questions his life choices. Torn between vanity, ambition and self-doubt, should he now fade into obscurity and die, or choose life and proceed towards his inevitable fate in a blaze of glory?