7:30pm Saturday 11th May (One Night Only)
at the Bridge Street Theatre Coniston
(home of the Phoenix Theatre Company)
24 Hour Theatre is a Black Box Theatre Production
Executive Producer | Luke Berman
Tickets are now available
$22 Adult, $17 Concession/Student, $12 Pensioner/Carers
Plays may contain coarse language and adult themes
and may not be suitable for children under the age of 14.
Click Here to book tickets
Black Box Theatre is proud to announce its first batch of writers for this year’s 24 Hour Theatre Illawarra.
We will be adding at least another two writers into the mix over the next week or two as more actor registrations come through in the lead-up to the show.
If you are an actor, and you’d like to take part in the production, click here for more information and to register your interest.
Our 24 Hour Theatre writers will be taking on the challenge of writing an original short play (8-15 minutes) over the course of one night (7 hours) and will watch as their play is rehearsed and performed all within 24 hours. This year we had a record number of writer submissions, with eighteen Illawarra playwrights applying. This is a strong testimony to the depth of our region’s creative writing pool, and the appeal of writing to the strictest of deadlines.
So here are our first six writers for 24 Hour Theatre Illawarra 2019. Four writers are returning to take on the challenge again, while Charlotte Cuff and Dylan Gee are taking on their first rapid-fire writing experience with Black Box Theatre.
DIANA MCLAREN
Diana McLaren is an Australian with an American accent. She studied Acting and Television at Charles Sturt University which is when she first began writing scripts. She has been a part of the theatre for most of her life and has been writing and performing since she was 8 years old. She took a break from the world of theatre briefly after university to work in the corporate world but quickly learned you can take the girl out of the theatre but you can’t take the theatre out of the girl. Now at the age of 27, she mainly works as a stand-up comedian but still loves to stretch her writing fingers and applying them to the theatre.
TOM PEACH
Tom first became involved with the theatre at SPAT (Stanwell Park Arts Theatre) in 2012. He had never done anything artistic before but was dragged along by his daughter to audition for the role of “British villain”. Since then Tom has been heavily involved with both writing, directing and acting in various productions in Stanwell Park, Wollongong, and Sydney. He has also trained in Writing for Performance at the Open Studio course at NIDA and has founded his own theatre company, DuGarde, to showcase new writing.
His writing and directing experience includes:
· Shakespeare’s Playlist, Actor and Director
· NIDA, Open Studio, Writing for Performance
· Robespierre’s Shoes, Writer and Director
· Doctors’ Orders, Writer
· Desire of the Soul, Writer
· Old Viaduct Hotel, Writer and Director
· Badda Bing Badda Bang, Writer and Director
· The Goddess, Writer and Director
DAVID RIENITS
David is an English/Geography/History/Drama Highschool Teacher who holds degrees in English Literature, Creative Writing and Teaching. He has taught writing for the stage at both the IPAC and Roo Theatre and has had plays he has written performed at both. He has performed in productions for most community theatre companies in the Illawarra and has represented them all like a strange mercenary in the Playmates Improvisation Competition. Known as a beardy, tall glass of water who wears tweed occasionally, he has participated in three previous 24hr Theatre productions and is keen to return for a fourth.
ALEXANDER CUFF
Since 2015, Alexander has written over 10 short plays for various productions and companies across the Illawarra and Sydney. His first 24-Hour Theatre piece, Time Squad, advances to the Gala Finals of Short+Sweet Sydney 2017. Two of his other short plays, The Human Trap and For Hire, were performed in Short+Sweet Sydney 2018 and 2019 respectively, with For Hire also being staged at the inaugural Short+Sweet Illawarra festival last year. Alexander’s first full-length play, Verdict, was performed at the Roo Theatre Company and was well received by audiences.
CHARLOTTE CUFF
Charlotte has written in various creative writing competitions including earning a high distinction for a NAPLAN examination and getting shortlisted for the WhatMatters NSW competition in 2018. She has written short plays that have been put on for public viewing such as ‘My Faults Are Yours’ in Bridgeworks 2018 and ‘Piece of Cake’ for Ipac’s Young Playwrights Project. Charlotte also has an upcoming project for Phoenix Theatre’s ‘Tale From the Metropolis’ and has been touted by 24 Hour Theatre producer Luke Berman as one of the most promising emerging performance artists in the Illawarra both as an actor and as a writer.
DYLAN GEE
Dylan has loved writing since he was a ‘wee lad of six’, who loved the narrative section of kindergarten When he was ten years old he asserted to his family that he would be a famous author. Since then he has finished a Creative Writing degree at UOW and has had a go at many prose competitions, decided aggressively against poetry and put on his first short play two years ago, called Locust, in Bridge Works 2017. Dylan’s first full length play Finn McCool was performed at the Phoenix Theatre. Much to the dismay of many of Dylan’s writing friends, his novel sits at a solid 5000 words whilst his word building notes have reach over three hundred pages.
Stay Tuned for our Round 2 writer offers and Cast Announcements
Opening week two is WAITING FOR MASTERCHEF written and directed by one of the Illawarra’s most loved and respected artists, Will Worthington and is presented by ITC group Eat Will’s Shorts. Our opening piece features an all-star Illawarra cast, all having tasted success in Short+Sweet Sydney over the last few years – with Bradley Ward (Doctors Orders, and Sydney 2017 Gala Finalist in Time Squad), Sophie Bentley (2018 Sydney Gala Finalist in The Quality of Life) and Arthur Gallagher (2018 Sydney Wildcards Finalist Badda Bing Badda Bang). Together, this dynamic trio play three protagonists absorbed in their digital detritus who try to find meaning.
Our second play of week two is written by one of the Illawarra’s most respected and experienced writers, especially in the ten-minute theatre form. Writer Tom Peach has written in every one of Black Box Theatre’s 24 Hour Theatre Project since its Wollongong launch five years ago and has had multiple stagings of his play in Short+Sweet Sydney including (Doctor’s Orders and 2018 Wildcard Finalist Badda Bing Badda Bang). THE GODDESS is presented by ITC group duGarde and is Directed by prolific playwright and SPAT director Bernadette Le Mesurier.
Third on the lineup is SIGN OF THE TIMES written by Sydney playwright Crystal Jane as is directed by Andrew Cremen from Wollongong University Dramatic Society. Starring Raisa Ryma, Rylie Vaccaro, Elise Vohradsky, Bobby Le and Jai Szwec, the cast play six people who reflect on an incident on the train the day before where a tradie called an Islamic girl a terrorist.
USA playwright Rich Orloff’s play A WOMB WITH A VIEW is next up, directed by Karen Beavis and starring a talented all-female ensemble, including Week 1 actors Isabella Whitcher, Abbey Mcdonald and Lily Christie Daly (director of People’s Choice winner Is This A Dream) along with the very talented Melanie Ringer, and Samantha Brownlee-Knight. A young girl, minutes away from being born, has a team doing a final check when she starts having second thoughts about leaving the comfort of her current home. Then the contractions begin…
Adding a taste of Hollywood to our Illawarra festival is FIFTEEN SECONDS written by American writer and Emmy Award winner (outstanding comedy series) Ken Levine, who has worked on a number of television series including M*A*S*H, Cheers, Frasier, The Simpsons, Wings, Everyone Loves Raymond, Becker and Dharma and Greg.
Closing our first half of week 2 is COUNTERPOINTS written by Nicholas Fitzpatrick-Fuller, and directed by Jarrod Sleiman who returns to the director’s chair after directing the Short+Sweet Sydney 2018 Wildcard Finalist play Badda Bing Badda Bang. Counterpoints is presented by our week-2 host theatre company Phoenix Theatre and stars Oscar Baker, Kiah Sassall and Cameron Johnston. Our ‘hero’, Mike introduces his Commie-Atheist brother, Jack to his girlfriend over dinner-with messy results!
If six plays in the first half haven’t satisfied your appetite, we still have five cracker plays in the second half, starting with SLOW DATING who have made the epic road trip from the far south coast (Lochiel/Pambula near the Victorian border) to perform with us at Short+Sweet Illawarra. Footprint Theatre Company presents Sydney writer Adam Szudrich’s monologue which is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Actor Penelope Hunt plays 70-something happily married Ester, who drops in to a ‘speed dating’ event for seniors that leads her to making a difficult decision.
Following his acting performance in Waiting For Masterchef, the versatile Arthur Gallagher steps into the director’s chair, taking the helm of OH NO A GHOST written by our festival Stage Manager James Turnbull and starring Cara Severino (who directed week-1 director’s choice winning play Threatened Panda Fights Back), Short+Sweet Sydney Wildcard winning actor Bryson Grenfell (Badda Bing Badda Bang) and Short+Sweet Sydney regular Sam Lovell (Doctor’s Orders, Badda Bing Badda Bang, Time Squad). Being a real estate agent is hard, especially when the house you’re trying to sell is haunted by the vengeful ghost of a murder victim.
Our tenth play for week-2 is the thought-provoking CONTEXT written by American writer John C. Davenport. Context is directed by one of our most promising director debutants Laryssa Sutherton and boasts an impressive cast including Bradley Ward and Zac Chadwick who both back-up from their previous week-2 plays (Waiting For Masterchef and Fifteen Seconds), Phoenix Theatre favourite actress Gillian Meers and Olivia Harris who returns from her triumphant performance in week-1 People’s Choice winning production Is This A Dream. These characters, involved in a break-up, say what’s on their minds – but not to each other.
Our final play for Short+Sweet Illawarra will be the supercharged comedy THE DEATH OF NIGHTSTICK which is co-written by award-winning playwright Alexander Cuff, Sam Lovell and Jarrod Sleiman, is presented by ITC group Cerberus Theatre Company and directed by Sam Sweeting – who is making his Short+Sweet directing debut after working as an actor in our Sydney festival over the last few years (Time Squad, Badda Bing Badda Bing, Doctor’s Orders). Starring Justin Clayden, Anna Murphy, Freya Jarrett and Short+Sweet Sydney experienced actor Alex Groombridge (Time Squad, The Human Trap) who returns from her highly-acclaimed performance in week-1 play For Hire.
Bradley graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2013 with a Bachelor of Performance (Acting). He has spent the years since experimenting with every style of theatre he can get his hands on, including Musicals, Radio Plays, Short Plays, Dinner Theatre and Improvisation. Performing mostly in the Illawarra, Macarthur and Sydney areas, he has somehow also found the time to write and direct several productions. This is his fourth time participating in 24 Hour Theatre, including being in two that progressed to Short+Sweet Sydney .
Aviva Sheb’a graduated from full-time dance school in 1968. Studies included classical ballet (Cecchetti Method), jazz dance, various types of national dance, some tap, and her favourite, Classical Spanish and Flamenco dance, as well as singing. Aviva developed Vocal Dance as a way to express her innermost feelings when words failed, and taught her method in many countries. At seventeen, she toured the Vietnam War as a flamenco dancer — with a Rhythm and Blues band. Throughout Vietnam, she heard, “This is a war zone, Baby — improvise!” That became her motto for life, and eventually the title of her one-woman show. Currently Aviva is developing her War Zone sequel, Apuckerlips Now.
Jen has a strong comedic and improvised theatre performance background and returns again for her fourth 24 Hour Theatre Illawarra. She is a current member of The Improverts and has been a team anchor for the Wollongong Comedy team in Playmates since 2013. Jen has also worked on Sydney shows, such as Crash Test Drama and Short+Sweet Sydney. Jen spent over a decade working with the Brook Theatre based in the Blue Mountains and worked with Sydney Interactive Theatre for three years. She has also done several short courses and a six month program at NIDA and has become an Illawarra favourite, especially at 24 Hour Theatre.
Sophie currently studies Acting at the Academy of Film, Theatre and Television. She has performed with the IPAC Drama Studio for over a decade, and has done shows including Macbeth, Silent Laughter, Alice in Wonderland and more. Last year she Played Mary in Roo Theatre’s Our Country’s Good and is about to go into production for Roo’s highly anticipated staging of 1984. Sophie is also lead actress in Black Box’s short play The Quality of Life which has advanced to the Short+Sweet Sydney Gala Finals in two weeks after winning best play by both audience and judges. The Quality of Life was written by Sevgi Murphy at last year’s 24 Hour Theatre and adapted to the ten minute form.
Sam Sweeting has been on stage in multiple local Wollongong productions, including Red vs Blue, Alice Through a Looking Glass Darkly, Grimm Tales, Tempest, and Cannibal the Musical. He has also directed in both Bridgeworks productions held at the Phoenix Theatre. Sam was also Co-Director and Artistic Director for Red vs Blue, also at the Phoenix Theatre.
Dylan is an actor, director, writer, stand-up comedian and improv comedian who has acted for 24 Hour Theatre every year since 2015. Notable roles include Barry Hollis in “Hating Alison Ashley“, Tim Allgood in “Noises Off“, Vinnie in “The Odd Couple“, Alan Roderick in “Othello“, Hipockets Duncan in “The Buddy Holly Story“, and Aide Williams in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at Roo Theatre.
Alex acted in the last two years of 24 hour theatre and returns to take on team captaincy for the first time. Last year, Alex’s piece Pieces of Time was selected to perform in Short+Sweet Sydney with a revamped version of the 24 Hour Theatre piece (2016) later named Time Squad, written by Alexander Cuff. Time Squad won best play by judges of its week in the Top 80 and performed in last year’s Short+Sweet Sydney Gala Finals.
After having spent a decade studying dance, Nat has looked to other performance crafts to add to her creative repertoire including acting where she now finds herself in her third year at the University of Wollongong studying Theatre.
Charmaine is currently studying Bachelor of Performance at the University of Wollongong and is in her second year. Outside her studies, she has performed in most Phoenix Theatre shows last year, notably Slacky Flat and Jadore Lemore. She enjoyed her first 24 Hour Experience and is excited to return for another challenge! Her performance and team work was particularly noted by the producer and the Black Box production team, and is excited to see her leadership skills develop as Team Captain.
Talented actress Bronte Pearce, who first bonded with the cast from Quality of Life back in week 4, steps in to play Dr Simpson. Bronte is an actor from Queensland but is currently based in Sydney where she graduated from The Actor’s Workshop and has since performed in various independent theatre productions. Bronte boasts an impressive professional resume including several US feature films shot on the Gold Coast including Pirates of the Caribbean: dead men tell no tales, San Andreas and Thor: Ragnorok. Bronte is currently in production on an Australian Television series and has recently been cast in a lead role in a new Australian feature film.
Arthur has been involved with a variety of film and stage productions, taking on countless amateur productions with roles including Richard III, Lady Bracknell, Dr Frankenstien, Hamlet, Estragon, Pumba, Doug from Cosi and Biff from Death of a Salesman. Arthur showed an amazing stage presence and ability to commit to his character with the abilities of an actor far beyond his years, and Black Box is excited to have him as our front-man in the Wildcard Finals, as well as in the up-coming 24 Hour Theatre Illawarra.
Black Box Productions 