Stooged Theatre

01/12/2018

A great way to end our final CONDAs!

Our Artistic Director Mathew Lee was awarded Excellence by a Director – Drama or Comedy for Stooged Theatre’s C**k. Congratulations Mat! 🐓🐓🐓

Bringing the house down, Carl Young and Mathew presented in the first half - and it really was a perfect send off from our two ADs.

Congratulations to all of the CONDA winners from the awards last night. Sending a very special shout out to the wonderful Rachelle Schmidt Adnum for all of her tireless efforts as CONDA President. We love you!

It’s been a pleasure representing Stooged at these awards for over a decade. Thank you to the every judge, every organiser and also - every creative person who participates in the Newcastle theatre community, nomination or not. It is a rich community and it’s been great to be apart of that.

16/11/2018

STOOGED THEATRE BIDS FAREWELL

On the 3rd of November 2018 the Stooged Theatre ensemble made the difficult decision that 2018 would be our last season. With a majority of members now based in Sydney, continuing the company into 2019 whilst maintaining our high standards was no longer a possibility.

Over the last fifteen years, Stooged Theatre has grown from a group of Year 12 students with a $500 grant to put on a show, to an incorporated association producing multiple performances a year. For over a decade Stooged Theatre has also paid artists [onstage and off] for their work. We were fortunate enough to be included in the Civic Theatre subscription season six times, and tour productions to Gloucester, Nimbin and Port Macquarie.

Perhaps the most important work the company did was introducing Newcastle to a large number of contemporary playwrights (both Australian and international) and presenting challenging theatre in the Civic Playhouse at a time when the local theatre scene needed it. It is encouraging to see a number of contemporary theatre companies now established in Newcastle, and the embrace by audiences over the years of this type of work.

The last twelve months has included output of which the company is incredibly proud: C**k, Dead Centre / Sea Wall, The Dark Room, and the tours of both C**k and Neighbourhood Watch. In all the circumstances, Stooged has decided to go out while still leading the charge for independent theatre in Newcastle, rather than slowly fade away.

We would like to thank all the artists that gave their time to work with Stooged over the years on our thirty-four productions [thirty-one of which are represented in the image above!]. We hope you enjoyed your experience with us and were challenged in some way.

To all the ensemble members – thank you for your tireless work in building this company into what it was. There simply would not be a Stooged Theatre without the brilliant group of artists who, in addition to occasionally acting or directing, volunteered their time to assist with the administration of running a theatre company, the marketing, fundraising and generally being Stooged ambassadors in the community and getting people to the theatre.

Finally, to our audience members and supporters. Thank you for attending Stooged productions over the last fifteen years. Theatre doesn’t exist without an audience and we have been incredibly lucky to have so many regular ticket-buyers who not only attended but spread the word. Your support has meant the world to us.

We now finish up Stooged, looking back fondly on our memories of the productions past. While the company may be no more, the friendships made will last a lifetime.

Carl Young (Artistic Director 2003-2016) and Mathew Lee (Artistic Director 2017-2018).

14/11/2018

Thank you to the City of Newcastle Drama Association - CONDAs for their nominations in the 2018 awards.

* Best Dramatic Production
C**k
* Excellence by a Director – Drama or Comedy
Mathew Lee, C**k
* Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama or Comedy
Elise Martin (née Bialek), C**k
* Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama or Comedy
Drew Holmes, C**k
* Best Ensemble Acting
C**k

* Best Dramatic Production
The Dark Room
* Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama or Comedy
Mathew Lee, The Dark Room

This year has been incredibly successful for Stooged, and we are so proud of every single person working on a production with us this year.

18/10/2018

HELP the City of Newcastle Drama Association - CONDAs! This is a great initiative to collect archival photos of theatre in Newcastle. See below!

This year we celebrate 40 years of The City of Newcastle Drama Awards.

As a part of the celebrations, and to create an historical, archival collection for the future, we are looking for historical photos of theatre in Newcastle throughout the years.

If you have any images that are suitable please email them to [email protected] with the name of the theatre company, the name of the show and the year.
Or post them in the comments below with the same information.

Please note: In providing photos to CONDA INC you are giving permission for this photo to be used for both the 40th year celebration and the archival collection.

12/10/2018

Sending a huge chookas and congratulations to the cast and crew of High Street Productions’ The Drowsy Chaperone, opening tonight!

The production includes Stooged Head of Ensemble alumni Theo Rule and Rachelle Schmidt Adnum, along with many of our friends and colleagues.

We can’t wait to see the show next weekend!

🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸

'The Drowsy Chaperone' opens Saturday night! Robert, Janet, Man in Chair and The Drowsy Chaperone (as pictured) are ready for a superbly hilarious couple of hours of musical mayhem! Book at www.tickets.spcc.nsw.edu.au ($24 a ticket- NO booking fees) :)

05/10/2018

We DEEPLY encourage everyone to see Catapult Dance’s That Place in Between at the Civic Theatre on Friday 12 October and Saturday 13 October.

This is a professional dance company based in Newcastle, run by the dedicated Cadi McCarthy. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our arts community to have a performance like this supported by the Civic! Plus, it’s going to be stunning.

Let’s show our support!

http://civictheatrenewcastle.com.au/Season-2018/Season-Shows/That-Place-in-Between

27/09/2018

Are you in Sydney this week? Our Artistic Director Mathew Lee is performing in Little Eggs' Pinocchio for the Sydney Fringe.

The production opened last night and runs every night until Saturday 29 September - 8pm. The Warehouse, 225 Euston Road, Alexandria.

The reviews are in and shows are selling out. You can buy tickets over here: https://bit.ly/2nlQGIX

A spellbinding pantomime of choreographed movement and free-flowing music.

08/09/2018

Thank you to the wonderful Nick and David at the Nimbin Bush Theatre for their hospitality. We absolutely loved performing C**K in Nimbin, and we really hope to come back really soon.

🐓🐓🐓

07/09/2018

Opening night of C**K was a huge success! We couldn’t be happier with the audience buzz after the show - and some really interesting conversations about sexuality and healthy relationships sparked and continued long into the night.

One more show this evening; 7.30pm at the Nimbin Bush Theatre. If you’re in the area, join us!