sydney

Hit Hayes Theatre Co Musical, The Pirates Of Penzance, Sails Into The Foundry Theatre

Feature-The Pirates of Penzance

For the first time ever, Hayes Theatre Co brings one of its landmark productions to the Foundry Theatre stage. After a sold-out extended season at Hayes in 2025, plus visits to Wyong, Wollongong and Canberra, Hayes Theatre Co-Artistic Directors Richard Carroll and Victoria Falconer will raise the Jolly Roger once again as they revive their acclaimed version of The Pirates of Penzance. Madcap, hilarious and bursting with invention, Carroll’s sparkling new adaptation harnesses the irreverent, genre-busting spirit of Gilbert & Sullivan’s sprawling satirical masterwork and launches it into the 21st century with raucous new life. And the wildest part? Just five actors play every role.

Original cast members Jay Laga’aia (The Pirate King and others), Brittanie Shipway (Ruth and Mabel) and Maxwell Simon (Frederic) return to the motley pirate crew once again, joined by new recruits Sarah Murr and Tana Laga’aia. Together, this fearless ensemble conjures a world of pirates, lovers, sisters, major-generals, and many, many more. Transforming in an instant as costumes, voices and characters fly past at breakneck speed, it’s a breathtaking theatrical feat, with no safety net and truly “all hands on deck”. A “riotous example” of Carroll and Falconer’s famous “What if?” approach to theatre-making, the production was hailed by The Sydney Morning Herald as “a stroke of hilarious genius.”

“Hayes shows thrive on being inventive, nimble and always entertaining, which aligns perfectly with the vision behind the Foundry Theatre. We’ve been looking for the right moment to bring a show to this space, and our rollicking, rowdy Gilbert & Sullivan reimagining is the ultimate way to kick off this exciting new partnership,” said Richard Carroll.

Brittanie Shipway, Jay Laga'aia in The Pirates of Penzance PHOTO John McCrae (2).jpg
Maxwell Simon, Brittanie Shipway in The Pirates of Penzance PHOTO John McCrae (4).jpg

“There is a specific magic built into the DNA of every Hayes production – an intimacy that we know will translate beautifully to an innovative space like the Foundry Theatre. Expanding our reach to new spaces, creative partnerships and bigger audiences isn’t just a growth milestone, it paves an ambitious pathway that will directly fuel the creativity and scope of future Hayes productions,” said Victoria Falconer.

This is Gilbert & Sullivan like you’ve never seen it before; a full throttle tour-de-force, as five wildly outnumbered actors (swash) buckle up for an epic voyage.

★★★★★ “A practically perfect Pirates experience… Beautifully ridiculous charm” – Time Out
★★★★ “A hugely sophisticated show” – Sydney Morning Herald
★★★★ “A delight!” – Stagenoise
★★★★ “Keeps the laughs bubbling up” – Cultural Binge
★★★★☆ “Such a treat to watch” – What’s the Show

Batten down the hatches and jig along to the Foundry Theatre for The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty. Five Actors. Every Role. The original mega-musical – re-wired, re-booted, re-duced!

SEASON DETAILS
Venue: Foundry Theatre, inside the Sydney Lyric, Pirrama Road, Pyrmont
Season: 12 May – 7 June
Performance Times: Tues 6:30pm, Wed-Sat 7pm, matinees Wed or Thurs 1pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm or 3pm (performances vary weekly)
Prices: From $59.90 (Transaction fees apply)
Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100

 

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Australian Premiere Of The Prom Opens This Week

Feature-THE PROM

The Australian premiere of Broadway smash-hit production, THE PROM, opens this week at Teatro at the Italian Forum in Leichardt, Sydney. Previews commence tonight for this Drama Desk Award Winner for Best Musical with the official opening night slated for Saturday 28 March. Tickets to THE PROM are on sale now at www.teatroitalianforum.com.au

Broadway and West End star Caroline O’Connor leads this stellar cast as Tony Award Winner Dee Dee Allen. Caroline has played lead roles on Broadway, the West End, France and across Australia, including Chicago, Anything Goes, 9to5 The Musical, West Side Story and Anastasia, among many others.

At the heart of this joyful musical are its young stars- Sophie Montague (Sister Act) plays Emma, High School Student Banned from The Prom and Paige Fallu (Hairspray) plays Alyssa Greene, Head of Student Council with a Secret.

The role of Broadway Chorine, Angie is played by Renae Corser née Berry (Saturday Night Fever) while Brendan Monger (Urinetown) plays Drama Desk Award Winner Barry Glickman. Brad Green (Bootmen) plays Sheldon Saperstein, Broadway Press Agent with a Plan while Thern Reynolds (Evita) plays Esteemed Julliard Graduate/Cater Waiter, Trent. Mrs. Greene, President of the PTA, is played by Erin Bruce (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – The Musical) with the role of Mr Hawkins, High School Principal (and Theatre Fan) played by Scott Irwin (West Side Story).

Joining this incredible line up are Murray Cunynghame as Nick, Ewan Herdman as Kevin, Abbey McPherson as Shelby and Nina Hurley as Kayley. The ensemble comprises of Isabella Colusso, Rafael Gill, Sophie Gulloch, Kye Hall, Clementine Jenkins, Bella McSporran, Brock Rankmore, Jack Ryan, Sophie Sutton, Jasper Wind with Siena Bucknall and Justin Sacco as swings.

The Cast of The Prom (c) Robert Miniter.jpg

With direction by Teatro Co-Founder Andrew Bevis and co-direction and choreography by Teatro Co-Founder Nathan M. Wright and musical direction by Bev Kennedy, THE PROM features a book by Tony Award winner Bob Martin (Elf, The Drowsy Chaperone) and Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (Aladdin), music by Tony Award nominee Matthew Sklar (Elf the Musical) and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin.

“A smart, big-hearted musical!” New York Magazine
“It’s so full of happiness that you think your heart is about to burst.” Variety

Four eccentric Broadway stars are in desperate need of a new stage. So, when they hear that trouble is brewing around a small-town prom, they know that it’s time to put a spotlight on the issue…and themselves. The town’s parents want to keep the high school dance on the straight and narrow-but when one student just wants to bring her girlfriend to prom, the entire town has a date with destiny. On a mission to transform lives, Broadway’s brassiest join forces with a courageous girl and the town’s citizens and the result is love that brings them all together. Everyone deserves a chance to celebrate!

THE PROM made its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia in August 2016 before it moved to Broadway and enjoyed a successful and critically acclaimed run. The musical was nominated for seven Tony Awards in 2019, including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Original Score. It won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and received multiple Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations as well.

In addition to its Broadway success, a Netflix film adaptation of THE PROM, directed and produced by Ryan Murphy and starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Jo Ellen Pellman, and Ariana DeBose, was released in December 2020.

So, grab your tickets and your friends and join the most joyful night of the year at THE PROM @ www.teatroitalianforum.com.au

THE PROM
Season: From 24 March
Venue: Teatro at the Italian Forum, Norton Street, Leichhardt
Performance Times: Wed-Thurs 7pm, Fri-Sat 7.30pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm & 6pm
Prices: $75 for previews Tue 24 – Thu 26 March (a handling fee of $6.95 per transaction applies). From $85 for remaining dates (a handling fee of $6.95 per transaction applies)
Bookings: www.teatroitalianforum.com.au

 

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The Four Quartets

The Four Quartets

The Four Quartets Rating

★★★★★

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The Four Quartets – T.S.Elliot

Venue: Old Fitz Theatre, Woolloomooloo
Date: 12 March, 2026
Running: Until 20 March 2026
Directed by Patrick Klavins
Presented by The Wounded Surgeon

Four actors presented a sermon each on time, place, spirituality, a crisis of the soul and so many other philosophical ideas. Each piece was presented with fervour, not with pomposity, and left us with questions as Elliot intended. Whilst it would be good to understand the historical, religious, nature-focused and literal context of when he was writing these, it is also interesting to note that many of the words and references have also faded away and are no longer used. Eliot may have found this philosophically interesting.

The set was sparse with a tired looking curtain, one old chair, a crate and a bucket and by chance, a lone cockroach scuttled across the large hanging curtain as if to say, this is where I belong. Lighting and dry ice were used effectively to give a sense of sadness and thoughtfulness. We were in for an interesting time. Costumes were old linen as if the actors had come from the land.

 

The Four Quartets
The Four Quartets
The Four Quartets

 

The first actor set the scene as she presented immediately with a strong, shaman-like oration about time and that time is really eternity and what of it? With a depth of quiet sadness and gentle hand movements, she created an image of how life is not quite how we imagine and the present, past and future are non-chronological. The audience was attentive and moved by her sense of fatigue and desire to understand how we live and age and come to terms with it all.

The second actor was just as powerful and communicated the poetry as if it were a fervent conversation. Fiery at times and imploring at others, it was all about age and the actor was of an age to demonstrate an understanding of the questions we ask ourselves about where we have been as a reflection. The message was not to give up and keep on creating and experiencing life. It reminded us of Dylan Thomas’, “Do not go gentle, in to that good night…”

The third actor was young and moved us with parables about the sea, the ebb and flow of life and death, the sailors who didn’t come back and the women that mourned. Each part was about nature’s lifecycle and how we are part of it regardless. A strong plea was to “fare forward”.

The final actor brought the other pieces together with passion and fire questioning what we are doing with our lives and thoughts. To well-deserved applause for the difficulty of the text, it was the last word on deep imagery offering philosophical questions. The audience seemed to leave asking ourselves, where are we going, where have we been and why?

To book tickets to The Four Quartets, please visit https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/four-quartets.

Photographer: Matt Bartlett

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Worlds Alive 2026

Worlds Alive 2026

Worlds Alive 2026 Rating

★★★★★

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Offering five separate perspectives of oppression, suppression, and corruption across different cultures but with the same result of division and pathos, Worlds Alive presented plays and excerpts as if listening to a radio. In a current world of media and without costumes, a set or lighting, the spotlight was on the beauty or directness of the word. It required concentration and some stamina but was well worth it.

Kunene and the King presented two people from opposing cultures and with past apartheid history hanging overhead. With one person ageing and the other caring for the aged, the audience was hoping for a developing friendship. Despite the antagonism due to a disappointment of the present socio-political environment, eventually deep conversations led to an understanding. Both actors generated a connection with well-rehearsed readings intertwined with the beauty of King Lear but also the foolishness of misunderstanding and ageing. With no set, the language was all the audience had and a powerful message was relayed of how mis-communication results in missing the opportunity for understanding and peace.

Miss Margarita’s Way – it was a hard act to follow the first powerful play. The actor offered a dark comedic vignette of suppression and indoctrination starting with youth. It left people quite rightly nervous of being in her space!

 

Worlds Alive 2026

 

An Evening at the Opera – a couple at war with themselves and with a history of their despotic family ties and corruption, the relationship erupts as the dictator focuses on a macho-style leadership of ‘bread and circuses’ to appear as a benevolent dictator. At the same time, his wife, who has come from a line of family dictators, faces herself literally in the mirror and has to come to terms with who she is and what she has become. With her mother’s ghost offering dutiful female advice from the past, the future looks bleak. The actors each kept the audience uncomfortable enough to recognise the underlying political corruption with the overlay of a marriage and family dynasty.

Night Picture of Rain Sound – a reader questions the symbolism of Romeo and Juliet, offering a different perspective and possible outcome. The actor presented quietly and thoughtfully how we should question what we are supposed to believe, perform or be and for what purpose really?

The Struggle of the Naga Tribe – the full ensemble presented as a Greek chorus swapping roles to offer different perspectives. There were the corrupt business developers deliberately misinterpreting and demonstrating the results of economic progress to the benevolent but corrupt government who choose to ignore the impact on a peaceful village. Other voices included the village leader and people recognising too late that they have also been sold a story and that their culture and soul has been sold at a huge price. The actors powerfully presented alternating points of view with a sobering ending of ‘too little, too late’.

The audience listened carefully, absorbing and resonating with the social messages applauding each piece as a separate entity. It was at times bald, poetic and informative and well worth the effort.

To book tickets to Worlds Alive 2026, please visit https://www.scenetheatresydney.net.au/.

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