Drill Hall Theatre Company
The Drill Hall Theatre Company is a community theatre company based on Bundjalung Country in Mullumbimby, NSW. From this tiny theatre space we bring great Australian stories to life.
Together with Artistic Director, Liz Chance, each year we present an exciting program of unique Australian stories that will inspire and challenge you, with characters who dare our company of actors and creatives to make playful leaps and take even greater creative risks.
GHOSTING THE PARTY by Melissa Bubnic (CANCELLED)
Between Thursday 9 May 2024 and Sunday 19 May 2024
Directed by Liz Chance, this is a truly Australian take on a universal theme, dealing head-on with a topic we spend most of our lives managing to avoid thinking about, let alone dealing with, death.
Then along comes Grace. Now in her eighties, she's ready to leave. And says so in no uncertain terms. She is both serious and seriously funny with a bone-dry sense of humour and a solid grip on her own reality. Her daughter, Dorothy, is appalled. Her granddaughter Suzie is interested in discussing how. And how not to end up like Nan.
This play deals with the complex reality of how ordinary people deal with the collision between the strongest primal urge we have, the survival instinct, and a deep longing for rest. Do we have the right to decide? Or do others, family, doctors get to decide for us?
This play pulls no punches but facing the Grim Reaper has never been so funny!
*Content warning: References to suicide and drug use, descriptions of self-harm, coarse language and sex
Drill Hall Theatre
Secret Bridesmaids' Business by Elizabeth Coleman
Between Thursday 30 May 2024 and Sunday 9 June 2024
It is the very eve of Meg's wedding. Her mother is fussing over every little detail and her best friends are doing little to help. Her wedding is the gala event that Meg has dreamed of since she was a little girl and one that has taken far too long to come true. But, anything that can go wrong does until finally the veil is lifted on an unhappy secret and Meg's dream is rocked by a revelation she doesn't want to be true.
In this very funny play, Elizabeth Coleman asks serious questions about friendship, fidelity and tough life decisions. She gives us touching moments of female friendship, reveals some of the things women discuss when men aren't around and will make you wonder if all the fuss of a wedding is going just a bit too far.
Director Mike Russo has chosen this hugely successful Australian play to feature his acting workshop students. Mike is delighted with the array of talent and dedication amongst his students and promises an enjoyable night at the theatre.
Drill Hall Theatre
ESCAPED ALONE by Caryl Churchill
Between Saturday 23 March 2024 and Sunday 24 March 2024
Directed by Susan Melhuish with Music by Alan Hughes with Lorrie Cruikshank, Susan Hayward, Georgia Martin & Brenda Shero
A rehearsed reading for members & guests.
Three old friends and a neighbour. A summer of afternoons in the back yard. Tea and catastrophe.
Caryl Churchill is considered one of the world’s greatest living playwrights. Escaped Alone, her most recent work, premiered at the Royal Court in London in 2016. It combines the domestic with the epic. The play explores the idea of catastrophe, global and personal, verging into the absurd.
It is a non-naturalistic play experimenting with dramatic form and structure, eclectic styles and shifts in time and place.
A special Showcase event for Drill Hall Theatre members & guests. Cast & director available for discussion after the reading.
Running time: approx. 50 minutes
Drill Hall Theatre
The Eldershaw Chronicles - with Script in Hand
Between Saturday 10 February 2024 and Sunday 10 March 2024
The Eldershaw Chronicles is an intricate, multi-layered story of love that spans sixty years - 1941- 2002. This new work for the stage is adapted from Stephen Edgar’s narrative verse novel, Eldershaw. Stephen Edgar was the recipient of 2021 Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry.
Adapted for the stage by the director Gregory Aitken, The Eldershaw Chronicles received a creative development grant from the Regional Arts Fund. Audiences are invited to a special moved rehearsed reading of The Eldershaw Chronicles on 9 & 10 March. The Saturday moved reading is at 7.30 pm and Sunday’s at 6pm, followed Q&A about the development process.
The full production will be unveiled at the Drill Hall Theatre, Mullumbimby, in September 2024. Audiences are invited to enjoy witnessing how the creation of this wonderful new work unfolds.
The DHTC gratefully acknowledges the support of Regional Arts NSW for the development of this project.
Drill Hall Theatre
DIVINE Cabaret - TOO YOUNG TO BE ANGELS Finale
Sunday 14 January 2024
7 PM. The grand finale to a season of poetry, dance, cabaret, music and film. Now the spotlight turns onto ‘DIVINE Cabaret’ . Featuring a stellar cast of six performers, Jake Dix, Emily Turner, Tia Nelson, Rees Laird, Max Foggon and Brooke Karabache. A dazzling display of song and dance from these emerging angels.
Drill Hall Theatre
A Morning of FREE events ~ Celebrating Our Angels
Sunday 14 January 2024
11 AM. The launch of our upcoming production, The Eldershaw Chronicles by Stephen Edgar.
Actors ~ Michael Sharmon, Linda Rutledge, Danni Dwyer, Rees Laird, Chris Benaud, Kate Horsley, Abby Green, Dane Bodley, Brooke Karabache and composer & pianist Fred Cole.
Adapted and directed by Gregory Aitken, designed by Sunita Bailey with Jake Dix, movement director Deborah Mills, assistant director Michael Sharmon, costumes Abby Green, outside eyes and drama coach Avia Sebasio~Ong. Meet the cast and creatives who reveal the serendipitous events that lead to this premiere production.
Followed by ~ Already an Angel.
A comical archived video performance by the late Michael Borenstein ~ past President of the DHTC and a dear friend. Followed by the unveiling of a photograph of Michael by his lifetime sweetheart and wife, Sonia.
Drill Hall Theatre
GYAN ~ Kiss & Tell Song Conversations ~ TYTBA Season
Saturday 13 January 2024
7.30 PM. ARIA Award winning singer/songwriter Gyan goes behind the scenes of how some of her favourite songs were created. Many are still on her set list. Gyan also digs into the archives to unearth lost treasures. The score-stories draw on poignant events of the times and relationships that surrounded her as she wrote and recorded these tunes.
Winning the grand final of TV’s Star Search; singing an original song in French (when the producers pleaded with her not to); signing with Desmond Child, one of Americas’ biggest songwriter/producers; then relocating from Bondi to London to Miami to Byron Bay; Kiss & Tell is a travelogue of song….
‘I’d love this night to feel like we’re all sitting around a campfire, where we play songs from my timeline. This concert breaks the cone of silence, letting the audience hear what happened in the creative process and the music industry shenanigans. A kind of Kiss & Tell.’
Drill Hall Theatre
A DOUBLE BILL with CLAUDE GONZALEZ - Too Young to be Angels
Friday 12 January 2024
7 pm ~ Claude’s documentary, Sydney at War: The Untold Story.
The untold story about the Japanese submarine attack in SydneyHarbour in WW2. Narrated by
the late patron of the Drill HallTony Barry. Also the unveiling of the Drill Hall’s portrait of Tony, gifted by his family.
Followed by Claude’s latest film, John Farrow, Hollywood’s Man in the Shadows.
This is the first documentary ever made about the enigmatic Australian born Oscar winning filmmaker, John Farrow, who went to the very top in Hollywood but obscured his past from all who knew him.
Drill Hall Theatre
A Morning with the filmmaker CLAUDE GONZALEZ * Free Event *
Friday 12 January 2024
11 AM. Filmmaker Claude Gonzalez’s, The Ballad of Edgar and Mary - the film of the WW1 musical show created for the centenary of the Drill Hall (1916 - 2016) by Claude Gonzalez with Gregory Aitken. Claude and Gregory will be in conversation after the screening.
Drill Hall Theatre
YOU BY MY SIDE ~ Michael Sharmon & Sandra Leung Waters
Thursday 11 January 2024
7.30 PM.
YOU BY MY SIDE - A Cabaret
Born in Australia, Sandra Leung Waters and Michael Sharmon have performed across the globe in musicals, on event stages and on television.
They now bring you their successful cabaret You By My Side to the Northern Rivers for the first time. Featuring songs from Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Barbara Streisand and many more. Spend an evening with Sandra and Michael as they take you on a cosy trip down memory lane.
Please note that online bookings close 2 hours prior to the event start time. Generally there are tickets available at the door unless it is a sold-out show.
Drill Hall Theatre
A DOUBLE BILL OF FILM AND CONVERSATION
Wednesday 10 January 2024
7 pm~
RICHARD MORDAUNT with MICHAEL BALSON followed by DAVID BRADBURY with JAMES RICKETSON.
Richard Mordaunt with Michael Balson.
Selections from Ireland Behind the Wire and Master of Light will be screened and Richard will be in conversation with local filmmaker Michael Balson about his career and life.
DAVID BRADBURY with JAMES RICKETSON.
David Bradbury and James Ricketson in conversation about their FILMING IN DANGEROUS SITUATIONS with selections from some of their films.
Drill Hall Theatre
WOMEN BEYOND TIME - Memoirs Through Poetry TYTBA Season
Tuesday 9 January 2024
7.30 PM. An evening that will sweep you up and draw you in like no other poetry night. Like voyeurs, we peek behind the curtain into a feast of the feminine, a journey into the lives of others through poetry. A night of humour, of tenderness and heartbreak, of love and of passion. Bringing this journey to life will be the skilled artistry of some of the regions most seasoned and admired actresses. This night will be remembered. May it stir the heart, ignite the soul and inspire the mind.
Directed by Avia Sebasio~Ong & Maureen Lill, read by Linda Rutledge, Sonia Borenstein, Liz Chance, Kate Horsley, Cate Feldman, Lorrie Cruickshank, Cathy McDouall, Georgia Martin, Mandy Morris & Avia Sebasio~Ong
Please note that online bookings close 2 hours prior to the event start time. Generally there are tickets available at the door unless it is a sold-out show.
Drill Hall Theatre
TWO JOURNEYS - A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION TYTBA Season
Monday 8 January 2024
7 PM. Selections from two well loved and respected local photographers GERHARD VEIT & JOHN McCORMICK projected onto the silver screen.
GERHARD says "I left Germany in 1966 via the East and the journey is still continuing. Drawing, painting, and photography are my passions. You will see a collection of images of the past 60 years of places, some of which have vanished as time has erased them."
JOHN says "Photography has been a wonderful journey …… the images I’ve selected give some idea of my life, lived in this place for 45 years."
Please note that online bookings close 2 hours prior to the event start time. Generally there are tickets available at the door unless it is a sold-out show.
Drill Hall Theatre
THE MAKING OF THE MULLUMBIMBY GATEWAY * Free Event *
Monday 8 January 2024
11 AM. Jingi Walla ~ Welcome to Mullumbimby ~ celebrates the Arakwal and Bundjalung people as the original inhabitants and caretakers on this land which we all live.
Made by Richard Mordaunt, produced by Delta Kay and the late Diana Mordaunt and edited with Michael Balson, this film tells the history of the Mullumbimby Gateway site since 1988.
The Making of The Mullumbimby Gateway, is a film by the Season’s Angel, Richard Mordaunt. After the screening of the documentary Richard will be in conversation with Sunita Bailey & Gregory Aitken about The Gateway Project.
Drill Hall Theatre
DANCE SALON by KIMBERLEY McINTYRE ~ TYTBA Season
Sunday 7 January 2024
7 PM. The Dance Salon with Kimberley McIntyre and friends is a collective experience between the dancers and the audience.
Kimberley has been dancing, researching and accumulating dancing friends for the past 26 years. This Salon will showcase pieces crafted from some of these relationships made here in the Northern Rivers.
Contact Improvisation, ensemble arrangements, a trio responding to text, a trumpet player, Old Men Dancing, a touch of cabaret with Ménage and a new work -~ The Bolero.
Seven collaborating dance artists with a live musician will be part of the evening and Kimberley will be an MC of sorts, giving insights and context throughout.
Expect an evening of shifting moods and styles. Open to all ages.
Please note that online bookings close 2 hours prior to the event start time. Generally there are tickets available at the door unless it is a sold-out show.
Drill Hall Theatre
MICHAEL HENNESSY ~ Reflections of a Dancer * Free Event *
Sunday 7 January 2024
11AM. Michael will be in conversation with Gregory Aitken. A fascinating insight into the life of a country boy who became a dancer with one of the country’s premier dance companies with arguably one of Australia’s best choreographers. REFLECTIONS chronicles Michael ‘s life. His time growing up in a small country town in Victoria, playing sport that lead to Michael becoming a PE teacher and then a dancer with the Sydney Dance Company under the direction of Graeme Murphy, touring nationally and internationally.
After leaving the Sydney Dance Company he freelanced in Sydney, then moved to the Northern Rivers to be Head of Dance at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium and resident choreographer in NORPA. Under the artistic direction of Lyndon Terracini, Michael created numerous dance works for NORPA.
In 2014 Michael became the Artistic Director of Sprung Integrated Dance Theatre. A local company of young dancers with and without disability, training and creating works for the company.
Drill Hall Theatre
JAMES RICKETSON DOUBLE BILL - TOO YOUNG TO BE ANGELS Season
Saturday 6 January 2024
7 PM. A screening of James’ film SLEEPING WITH CAMBODIA.
Sleeping with Cambodia, filmed in 1995/96 is James’ record of his first few trips to Cambodia to document the plight of street kids and child prostitutes.
Followed by RISKY BUSINESS.
Risky Business, an improvised interactive theatre performance in which James recounts his 15 months in a maximum security Cambodian prison on espionage charges.
Please note that online bookings close 2 hours prior to the event start time. Generally there are tickets available at the door unless it is a sold-out show.
Drill Hall Theatre
MAROON - TOO YOUNG TO BE ANGELS Season
Friday 5 January 2024
7.30 PM. Opening the Angel’s season is the jazz ensemble MAROON, featuring the talents of Dr Fred Cole (piano), Govinda Abbott (Trumpet), Hans Lovejoy (Bass) and Ben Cox (Drums).
The trio of Cole, Cox and Lovejoy have been together for over a decade. With the addition of the trumpeter and flugelhorn player Govinda Abbott, the new ensemble perform contemporary original works by Dr Fred Cole and arranged interpretations from the jazz canon. Dr Fred will be playing on the Drill Hall’s newly acquired Beale piano.
Please note that online bookings close 2 hours prior to the event start time. Generally there are tickets available at the door unless it is a sold-out show.
Drill Hall Theatre
The Almighty Sometimes by Kendall Feaver
Between Thursday 12 October 2023 and Sunday 29 October 2023
Kendall Feaver‘s The Almighty Sometimes, directed by Liz Chance, is the first production to open the newly refurbished Drill Hall Theatre.
Anna is now eighteen and finished school. Brought up by her Mum, Renee, she is a typical teenager: curious, excited about the future, and rebellious. She wants to explore her creativity and finds a boyfriend, Oliver. But she has been medicated for mood swings for many years under the supervision of a brilliant psychiatrist Vivian, and she is keen to explore a life beyond pills. Renee, fiercely protective, finds herself torn in two between Anna’s zest for life and her rebellion against the medication.
This is a funny, brilliantly observed piece that does not apportion blame but rather seeks to illuminate the current and ongoing problems with mental health in young people.
Thursdays to Saturdays at 7:30pm & Sundays at 5pm.
Contains coarse language; mature themes, references to suicide, overdose and mental illness.
Warning: strobe lights
Drill Hall Theatre
SHOOT/GET TREASURE/REPEAT
Between Thursday 30 March 2023 and Saturday 1 April 2023
Rehearsed Readings
Experienced Director/theatre worker Susan Melhuish is bringing Mark Ravenhill’s politically charged Shoot/ Get Treasure/ Repeat to the Drill Hall Theatre for 3 nights as part of the Company’s free Member Nights
Drill Hall Theatre
When the Rain Stops Falling
Between Wednesday 25 January 2023 and Sunday 12 February 2023
Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling, directed by Gregory Aitken
This epic family saga unfolds over 80 years. From 1959 London to the Coorong and to Alice Springs in 2039. In Alice, a fish falls from the sky at the feet of Gabriel York. Gabriel knows that something is not right.
When the Rain Stops Falling is a multi-award winning modern Australian Classic. It is not to be missed.
Drill Hall Theatre
HOT SHORTS!
Between Friday 18 November 2022 and Sunday 27 November 2022
We’re excited to announce our biennial short-play competition, HOT SHORTS! Featuring eight original short plays - exploring love, life and loss - written by local playwrights and brought to life by some of your favourite performers. There’s $1000 in prize money up for grabs, including the $500 People’s Choice Award, where you get to decide the hottest short for 2022!
2022 featured shorts:
If You Need Me I'll Be In The Corner Crying by Sara Browne
Kali Girl by Ana Louisa Davis
Broken by Peter Hall
Siblings by Victoria King
Sissy by James May
The Well by Shelley McNamara
Mother's Day by Kylie Strelan
A Death Wish by Chelsea Thomas
Warning: Adult themes & coarse language
Drill Hall Theatre
Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography
Between Friday 16 September 2022 and Sunday 2 October 2022
Take the plunge into the Age of Too Much Information! Funny and fiercely written, Eight Gigabytes Of Hardcore Pornography is not really about porn, it’s a story about two lonely, middle-aged people trying to find love online. She’s a compulsive spender, he works in IT and is hooked on downloading porn. Both seek escape from the constraints of their existence.
Warning: this production contains nudity and is not suitable for children!
Drill Hall Theatre
Mr Bailey's Minder by Debra Oswald
Between Thursday 9 June 2022 and Sunday 26 June 2022
Leo Bailey is Australia’s greatest living artist. His house is a fabulous hovel built into the sandstone cliffs over-looking Sydney Harbour. Leo is also perpetually pissed and incapable of looking after himself. His investment banker daughter has been through a succession of Minders for him until Therese comes along - this job is her last chance, she has to make it work!
Drill Hall Theatre
Switzerland by Joanna Murray-Smith
Between Friday 3 December 2021 and Sunday 19 December 2021
This tense and sharp-witted two-hander is Joanna Murray-Smith’s greatest work to date. Starring veteran actor/NIDA teacher Liz Chance and newcomer Charlie Burton, Switzerland is edge of your seat theatre.
You’ll be chilled, gripped, and seduced.
Drill Hall Theatre
SHIT
Between Friday 12 March 2021 and Sunday 28 March 2021
Out of control women are a sight to behold. They’re terrifying, electrifying, and everything that women shouldn’t be or so we’re told. This is the story about three such women. Their names are Billy, Bobby and Sam, and you will never forget them.
Warnings: Offensive language, adult themes, violent scenes, reference to sexual assault and strobe lighting.
For mature audiences only.
Drill Hall Theatre
EXTINCTION
Between Friday 2 August 2019 and Sunday 18 August 2019
Hannie Rayson, multi award winning playwright, weaves her words with wit, intelligence and a great understanding of the human condition. She is a true dialogue Diva!
Extinction delves deep into the heart of our moral values drawing the audience in to an emotive story, interwoven with both environmental and social ambiguities.
Edgy, Provocative, Funny …Australian theatre at its best !
Drill Hall Theatre
Mark Colvin's Kidney
Between Friday 28 September 2018 and Sunday 21 October 2018
A powerful show based on veteran award-winning ABC journalist Mark Colvin’s actual life, showing just how startling real-life can be. Mary-Ellen Field's career as Elle Macpherson's brand manager was destroyed by Murdoch phone hackers. This is the story of how their lives intertwined.
Written by award-winning playwright Tommy Murphy.
DOORS OPEN 30 MINUTES BEFORE THE SHOW, including Bar and Kitchen (Tea/Coffee/cakes).
Unreserved seating. Online bookings close 2 hrs before show which runs 2.5 hr
Drill Hall Theatre
Do Not Go Gentle
Between Friday 13 October 2017 and Sunday 22 October 2017
An inspirational journey of creative cooperation.
The Drill Hall Theatre Company and The Everyman Theatre's co-production of Do Not Go Gentle opens in Cardiff, Wales, in September. An international company of five actors from the Drill Hall and four from Everyman complete the expedition in Mullumbimby 13 – 22 October.
Drill Hall Theatre
The Ballad of Edgar & Mary
Between Saturday 10 October 2015 and Saturday 24 October 2015
The Ballad of Edgar & Mary, a boutique musical of love and war, was commissioned by the Drill Hall Theatre Company with assistance from The ANZAC Centenary Program.
Drill Hall Theatre
5 Women Wearing the Same Dress
Between Sunday 27 July 2014 and Saturday 9 August 2014
A seriously humourous play that combines a celebration of female friendship with a satire on the pretensions and foibles and of the upper-middle class and an expose of the skeletons in their closets.
This play is for the broad-minded as it contains adult themes and includes some strong language.
Drill Hall Theatre
A Midsummer Night's Dream Season
Between Sunday 27 April 2014 and Saturday 10 May 2014
The DHTC's production of the Dream is inspired by William Shakespeare's 450th birthday, which the Company will celebrate in lavish style on 26 April, the Bard's birthday. With a cast of over 25 performers, the Dream is set in Mullumbimby in the late 1960s. The romantic comedy, navigates the highs and lows of passionate young love, traversing spiritual and earthy realms with spiraling misunderstandings and a deeply satisfying resolution.
Drill Hall Theatre, Mullumbimby
