UpStage at the Playhouse | 2024 Program

Stage Up at the Playhouse

An exciting local arts program developed by the Civic Theatre.

Bringing new & adapted performances to local audiences.

August

October

September

Lulu Bell Productions. Written by Vanessa Bates

Tickets on sale now civictheatrenewcastle.com.au/upstage Ticket office 4929 1977

November

Welcome to

A message from

the Lord Mayor of Newcastle Thank you to everyone who is supporting the four home-grown productions at the Civic Theatre during the UpStage at the Playhouse program.

City of Newcastle is committed to providing a platform for our local creatives, while also boosting the range of works being offered to our community.

Following the record-breaking success of Come From Away and The Rocky Horror Show, we know there’s an appetite for live performances in Newcastle.

The Playhouse is ideal for presenting smaller local community productions, which complement the commercial and professional Broadway shows hosted in the larger Civic Theatre.

Stage Up at the Playhouse

UpStage at the Playhouse is an exciting initiative which has been developed by the Civic Theatre for the City of Newcastle. The program aims to connect with the vibrancy and talent of our local theatre community by co-presenting and supporting works that showcase the ability and creativity of the Newcastle region. It is an opportunity to introduce fresh, new and adapted works which will be presented and performed by local artists.

The program will bring local shows to local audiences, support the creative talent in our region, and bring our community and creative industry closer, cementing the connections between the theatre, our community, and the arts industry.

We’re excited to invest in local productions, providing the space and offering marketing and technical support to local creatives to ensure they can recognise their artistic visions right here at home.

UpStage’s annual program will be showcased in the Civic Theatre’s atmospheric 195-seat venue, the Playhouse. To celebrate the launch of each production, we welcome you to join us on the opening night of each performance for an exclusive Q&A with the playwrights after the show.

Enjoy the shows!

Please join us in celebrating local creativity.

Nuatali Nelmes Lord Mayor of Newcastle

Leonie Wallace Theatre Manager

Stage Up at the Playhouse

Adult tickets $49* Opening night tickets Join us for an exclusive Q&A with the playwrights only $45* after the opening night performances. *Plus booking fee

September Thur 19 Fri 20 Sat 21 Wed 25 Thur 26 Fri 27 Sat 28

August Wed 14 Thur 15 Fri 16 Sat 17

Blueberry Play Produced by Lingua Franca Written by Ang Collins

“There’s a refreshing sharpness to Collins’ playwriting voice; she’s a talent to watch out for.

If we’re lucky, we’ll be seeing a lot more of her work in the future.”

- Time Out Sydney

7pm 7pm 11am & 7pm 7pm

Being 17 is awkward. Having to take care of your sick dad when you’re 17 is another story. Especially when he keeps trying to shave his eyebrows off.

Blueberry Play is a vivid and heart-bursting monologue that explores the high highs and the low lows of being a teenage girl in a small town. From the public pool to the locker rooms at school to back home where things are just a bit topsy-turvy, this is an Aussie coming-of-age story with a refreshing twist.

From the creative team that brought you Spewy, the sold-out smash-hit of New Annual 2023, Blueberry Play is a beautifully intimate story from award winning Novocastrian playwright Ang Collins.

Running time 70mins no interval Lingua Franca is an interdisciplinary performance company that makes alert and visceral performance, based across regional NSW.

Romeo & Juliet: A Reimagining Produced by HER Productions

By William Shakespeare, adapted by Charlotte De Wit and Pip Thoroughgood

This contemporary adaptation seeks to bridge the gap between centuries, weaving the enduring beauty of Shakespearean prose with the visceral power of movement, dance, and physical theatre.

7pm 7pm 2pm & 7pm 7pm 11am & 7pm 7pm 7pm

In this reimagined work, audiences are invited to witness the fusion of past and present, as the hauntingly poetic words of Shakespeare take on new life through the language of movement.

Through this creative alchemy, the production seeks to connect with young people, drawing them into a world where the passion and intensity of “Romeo and Juliet” feel as relevant as ever. As the actors bring the story to life through their bodies, this adaptation promises to ignite a renewed sense of wonder and engagement with classic theatre, proving that the timeless can still captivate and inspire the modern soul.

Running time 2hours including interval HER Productions’ mission is to bring professional, original work to Newcastle while promoting equal opportunities for female identifying and underrepresented individuals in the performing and creative arts industry.

October Thur 3 Fri 4 Sat 5 Tue 8 Wed 9 Thur 10 Fri 11 Sat 12

Karma Kafé Produced by Stray Dogs Theatre Company Written by Carl Caulfield with music by Gareth Hudson

With a large all-singing, all-dancing cast, live music and the scent of roasted coffee, Karma Kafé will be an intoxicating celebration of life and the human spirit.

7.30pm 7.30pm 2pm & 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 2pm & 7.30pm

In a world of Starbucks and Costa Coffee, Karma Kafé is Newcastle’s oldest café and remains fiercely independent. The owner, Rewa Golder, is a Māori woman and practising Buddhist who, with her hard-working staff (including an opera singing chef), provides a sanctuary for the city’s movers and shakers, its dreamers and schemers, and its eccentrics, who include Bongo Joe, a homeless man who plays his bongo outside the café every morning in exchange for food (provided in the hope he’ll stop).

A local developer plans to demolish the much-loved café to build a flashy multiplex as part of his vision for a “New Newy”. With the help of “The Fixer” he gets the site rezoned. How will the café avoid the wrecking ball?

November Thur 21 Fri 22 Sat 23 Thur 28 Fri 29 Sat 30

The Magic Hour Produced by Lulu Bell Productions Written & Directed by Vanessa Bates

Welcome one and all to “the twilight hour, the dreaming hour, The Magic Hour”

Running time TBC Stray Dogs Theatre Company is a small, profit-share theatre company which has been producing original work in Newcastle since 1994. Recent shows at the Playhouse include Creativity, Dali: Hallucinogenic Toreador, Being Sellers and Shakespeare’s Fools.

School performances available for selected shows. Please see our website for further details. civictheatrenewcastle.com.au/upstage

7.30pm 7.30pm 2pm & 7.30pm 11am & 7.30pm 7.30pm 2pm & 7.30pm

Fairy-tales reworked, funny, furious and fantastic, as tales of the marginalised.

Original fairy-tales were about bravado, fortune, destiny and courage. But always, watching from the edges, were the quiet ones. The bit characters. The weary mothers, the ugly sisters, the irrelevant queens, the grandmothers.

In The Magic Hour, they get their chance to shine.

From beach shacks and caravan parks, in Housing Commission towers and old school discos, in backyard gardens and to the familiar tune of one dirty big earthquake...

Running time TBC Suitable for ages 13+ This is Lulu Bell Productions second show, the first being The Lou Chapman Show, featuring a monologue, A Real Thing, written and directed

by Vanessa Bates winning gold and world #1 ranking at the World Monologue Games 2022.

See you at the Playhouse Accessibility Accessible seating, bathrooms, wheelchair and lift access are available in the Playhouse.

Nearest accessible parking spaces are in King St, Burwood St and Auckland St. Please discuss your requirements with the ticket office staff when booking by phone.

Planning Your Visit If arriving by car there are limited parking options around the Theatre. There is a 5-minute drop-off zone located at 282 King St (outside Crystalbrook Kingsley) approximately 150m to the Playhouse.

UpStage at the Playhouse Ticket Bookings Online civictheatrenewcastle.com.au/upstage Phone 02 4929 1977 In Person Civic Theatre Ticket Office 375 Hunter St, Newcastle Mon-Fri 10am -2pm

Nearest light rail station is Civic. Nearest bus stops are on King St and Darby St. See transportnsw.info for timetables and public transport routes.

civictheatrenewcastle