Sydney’s intimate Old Fitz Theatre, holding just 55 seats and home to some of Sydney’s finest theatre for the past 26 years, has announced the productions that will feature in Act 1, which will play between January and April 2025, in a launch function in the Old Fitzroy Pub’s front bar area.
The Old Fitz’s Act 1 opens with a winner; an adaptation of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by American playwright Kate Hamill, presented by The Artist Experiment & Dream Plane productions. It’s P&P for a new era – bold, surprising,boisterous, and timely, replete with ballroom dancing, rum punch, and a healthy lack ofrespect for polite society. A cast of 8 comic juggernauts under the deft hand of NewYork-based Director Emma Canalese bring the original romcom to life, and chaos (of the\best possible kind) is guaranteed. Catch it in its 5-week season, 14 January – 8 February.
Next, for something different, When a troubled schoolgirl tells a lie, it sets
off a chain of events with extraordinary and damaging consequences. From 14
February – 1 March, Lillian Hellman’s THE CHILDREN’S HOUR will take to the stage with a
cast of thirteen directed by Kim Hardwick. Due to its queer themes, this controversial
piece caused the playwright to be blacklisted from Hollywood, and 90 years later the
devastating consequences of deceit, lies, homophobia and fear-mongering at its heart
remain startlingly relevant. Presented by Tiny Dog Productions and Dead Fly
Productions, this epic ensemble work presented by a women-led team is not to be
missed.
From a cast of thirteen to a cast of one: next up is a remount of New Ghosts Theatre
Company’s five star production of IPHIGENIA IN SPLOTT, directed by Lucy Clements and starring Meg Clarke.
Inspired by the enduring Greek myth, Gary Owen’s Welsh-ified
take on this classic tale drives home the high price people pay for society’s
shortcomings. With a “tour-de-force” performance from Clarke, who is flying in from the
UK to reprise the iconic role, the Old Fitz is thrilled to welcome back to the stage the
country’s debut ‘Effie’ in a strictly limited 2.5 week season, playing 7 – 22 March.
March marks an almost month-long takeover from resident company New Ghosts
Theatre Company, who are launching 2025’s Late Night program with a fan favourite:
Patricia Cornelius’ LOVE, produced by Izzy Williams and directed by Megan Sampson.
Penned by one of the country’s most prolific writers, this play is a giant in the Australian
playwriting canon; almost every actor in the country will have come across its
monologues.
Taking to the stage between 11 – 21 March LOVE is a brutal work set in a world of dimly lit backstreets and dingy squats. Prepare to find love in a loveless world, and explore the nature of this powerful human emotion and the forces it unleashes.
Continuing the thread of Australian work, the penultimate show of the Act is a world
premiere of Nikita Waldron’s debut play, AMBER. Directed by Mehhma Mahli, AMBER won the Rebel Wilson Comedy Commission (2021), and the Old Fitz is thrilled to be hosting
its inaugural season. Derailing romantic comedies from the Brat-Pack era to the
noughties and rebuilding a new kind of romcom fit for our times,
AMBER will take the spotlight 28 March – 11 April. Described as the perfect show to attend with both your grandmother and your fourteen-year-old niece, Amber may not be destined to find her love match, but fate declares she will be a crowd pleaser.
The Act concludes with a second Late Night production, this time a debut from Last
Waltz Productions; a collective founded by emerging Sydney-based actors and
creatives. Introducing DEAR ELENA SERGEEVNA which shares the stage with AMBER between 1 to 11 April.
Written in 1980s Soviet Russia by Lyudmila Razumovskaya and directed by
Romanian actor/director Clara Voda, this is a gritty, knotty, deeply compelling work that
is unflinching in asking its hard questions about humanity. Don’t miss the chance to
experience a work from across the globe and created by the stars of tomorrow
(including Old Fitz alum Madeline Li – set to make her Bell Shakespeare debut in 2025
as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet).
With ticket sales covering only 30% of the theatre’s operational costs, the activity
outlined above is made possible thanks to the support of Create NSW, the Blake
Beckett Trust, and the Old Fitz’s generous donors. This includes the collective of
champions that form Club 55, each of whom is honored with a dedicated seat in the
theatre identified by a hand painting of their name by local artist Ann Wo.
http://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/
