Lysistrata is coming!

A group of women in Ancient Greece seize the Treasury and all the money in it and stage a sex strike until the war is stopped!  Based on the comedy by Aristophanes, this is a modern adaptation by Drue Robinson, written completely in rhyme!

This is a bawdy romp, laugh out loud and with a local cast of 25 there is plenty to feast your eyes on.

The play will be performed at the old Uniting Church, 125 Gipps St, Bega with opening night on Friday 20 March at 7pm and closing on Sunday 29 March with a matinee at 1pm.  For all ticket prices and dates, head over to trybooking.com/DJOES.

Due to the many sexual innuendoes, stylised violence and adult themes, we recommend audiences are 17years and over.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Another Homegrown Workshop

Dear theatre supporters around the Bega Valley,

Happy New Year and we hope you are having a wonderful summer, maybe writing??

This year, Theatre Onset will produce a season of short plays by local writers called Homegrown.  We held a Playwriting workshop in December last year, and we all had such a fun, productive time, we decided to hold another one which will be on Sunday 15th February at the old Uniting Church in Bega, 11am-4pm. If you are a budding playwright and have a play or two half written, completely written or a very strong idea, you are more than welcome to come to the workshop.  Three of Theatre Onset’s resident writers will be on hand to guide participants through a process to help get them writing great 10-minute plays.  The deadline for submission of works for consideration in the Homegrown program is 31 March 2026.  This workshop is an opportunity to get those plays up to scratch, giving you advice and techniques to get your plays ready for submission.

Please RSVP for the workshop by Sunday 1 Feb.

Here is a checklist for developing your play:

TEN MINUTE PLAY DEVELOPMENT – CHECKLIST

  1. What’s it all about?
    • What’s your play about? Can you tell us in a single sentence? 
    • Write that sentence, read your play. How did you go? 
    • Before anything else get your story straight, beginning, middle and end. Now, do you believe it?
  2. What happens?  Actually happens… not talked about, not discussed… does anything actually happen.  Remember what they say… theatre is life with the boring bits missing.
  3. Have you got the most out of your story?
    • Those good ideas that you had, have you explored them to their logical/ illogical conclusion?
    • Anything more you want to say? Said all you wanted to say and then dribbled on a bit?
  4. Who is in it?
    • Most important…Are all your characters working to tell your story?
    • Does every exchange either build on a character or drive your story forward? Hopefully both.
    • What about Bill with his two lines??? Do you need him? Is he worth more than the two lines you’ve given him.? You’ve got ten minutes, don’t waste a minute.
  5. What have you given your director/actors to work with?
    • Does six-foot seven hard man Fred sound, and more importantly act, like a hard man? The actor and the director will start from what your character does to build a believable character. Does what you’re characters do reflect what you’ve said about them.?
  6. Dialogue
    • Read your dialogue aloud or, better yet, get someone else to read it while you listen. Does it sound like a recognisable person speaking?
    • Do all your characters sound the same? Some people will go on a bit, others you’ll be lucky to get a grunt out of, and a grunt might say as much as a dozen words for the right character.
    • Listen to people around you. You’ll pick up a rhythm in their speech. Good playwriting matches speech pattern to character.
  7. Where will this be performed?
    • Think about if you were to submit your work to an Off Off Broadway company in New York. It’s open for submissions for ten-minute plays with something to say, to be performed in their black box theatre. Is your play a fit? 
    • The company is going to present a program of plays.. It is looking for a balanced program to entertain/ stimulate its audience of paying customers. Whether it gets an audience to its next production depends on how well the audience receives this production… no pressure.
    • Does your play fit the bill? If so, press submit, etc.
    • If it’s good enough for Theatre ONset, it should be good enough for Off Off Broadway.  Don’t think of it being good enough to just get by.

So, if you have got to the end of this checklist, please let me know if you are coming to the 15 Feb workshop.  

If you know of others who would benefit from this workshop, please forward this info on.

Cheers,

Mahamati  0448 248 322

Secretary

Theatre Onset

Working Bee!

Dear supporters & friends of Theatre Onset,

Next Friday 16 January, we will be holding a Working Bee at the old Uniting Church in Bega, which is where we currently perform our plays. We have a range of tasks to achieve and would love some help in giving the old Church a bit of TLC. If you would like to come and help, we will be there from 10am-2pm. 

Last year, we were fortunate enough to receive grant funding through the Community Building Program via Dr Michael Holland.  This is to provide some needed upgrades to the Old Church and to turn her into a better theatre when we put plays on there, including lighting and reducing the damp in the building. While we won’t be able to do everything we want to do, this Working Bee is in line with our aim of taking a more proactive role in maintaining the Church as a community space.

Working Bee:

Venue:  old Uniting Church, 125 Gipps St, Bega (opposite St Vinnies)

Time:   10am-2pm

What to Bring:  clothes you don’t mind getting dirty

We will provide rolls, cooked chook and salad for lunch + tea/coffee, etc.  If you want anything else, please bring it.

Any further questions or suggestions, please text or email me.

Mahamati 0448 248 322

Secretary

Theatre Onset

2025 AGM

Theatre Onset will be holding its AGM on Sunday 21 December at High Noon.  If you would like to attend the AGM, supporting our creative schedule and offering ideas, plays, shows, etc, you would be very welcome. If you would like to join the committee, please let us know before the AGM.

Agenda:

  • President’s report
  • Treasurer’s report
  • Any other business
  • Nominations and elections for the committee in 2026
  • Followed by a General meeting and a BBQ

Please get in touch to find out where the AGM will be held and what to bring.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Mahamati 0448 248 322

Director & Secretary

Theatre Onset

Theatre Onset announce their next production – Lysistrata: A Woman’s Translation by Drue Robinson

Call for actors & Call for designers and makers for sets, props & costumes

Theatre Onset Auditions for “Lysistrata: A Woman’s Translation” a play by Drue Robinson.

Lysistrata is a bawdy, riotous, energetic &hilarious play, based on the Ancient Greek play of the same name by Aristophanes. It is full of sexual innuendo, strong women, ridiculous men and you will need to be bold and outspoken, not afraid to be rude and loud. And the play is written in rhyme.

3 auditions/read throughs (no preparation needed) will be held:

1. Saturday 27 September 2-4pm

2. Sunday 28 September 2-4pm

3. Monday 29 September from 5-7pm

4. Alternate date by request

RSVP for one date via email or text to Mahamati

0448 248 322 / mahamati.currie@gmail.com

Venue: Old Uniting Church, 125 Gipps St, Bega.

Cast of 24:

– 5 women 25-45 years, or able to play this age

– 3 women 18-25 years (+ will play another part)

– 1 woman – large, non-speaking, a powerful presence on stage!

– 6 older women 50-100

– 3 men 30-55 years

– 6 older men 50-100

We will also need other helpers, especially at the design stage then building sets, making props & costumes, Front of House for performances.

Rehearsals start Monday 13 October

Performances start on Friday 20 March with final matinee on Sunday 29 March.

HOMEGROWN

Theatre Onset will be producing a season of short plays (ten minutes maximum) in September/ October 2026.

We are looking for 10 local playwrights/writers who would be interested in supplying a short 10 min piece for production. The show will be called Homegrown.

If you are a first time writer or have never written a play before, we are happy to help you bring the piece to performance readiness – rewrites, discussion themes, what works in terms of set, etc. This project is about sharing and learning skills as well as producing great short plays.

Timeline:

If you are interested, send us a pitch or Expression of Interest now and what support you might need.
Plays must be ready for submission by 31 March 2026.
After this, we will select 10 plays for performance by the end of April. May-October 2026 – rehearsal &performance period. This may vary.

We envisage using an ensemble cast for this, ie the same actors will be in all the plays. We will call auditions for this in May.

We will also call for Expressions of Interest for Directors.

You will be paid performance rights if your play is brought to production.

If you are interested in being part of this project, please get in touch now. W warmly invite you to submit a play!

And a reminder that our next exciting production, Waiting For Godot, starts i Bega in just over 2 weeks on Friday 25 July. Tix through Trybooking: https://www.trybooking.com/DCRAK
Mahamati

Director & Secretary Theatre Onset

THEATRE ONSET BRINGS CLASSIC PLAY, WAITING FOR GODOT, TO THE BEGA VALLEY


Theatre Onset’s run of classic plays continues with Waiting for Godot, a tragicomedyin two acts by Irish writer, Samuel Beckett. First published in 1952 in French as Enattendant Godot and first produced in1953, Waiting for Godot was a true innovation indrama and the Theatre of the Absurd’s first theatrical success. It has been listed asone of the world’s Top 10 plays.
The play consists of conversations between Vladimir and Estragon, who are waitingfor the arrival of the mysterious Godot, who continually sends word that he willappear. They encounter Lucky and Pozzo, they discuss their miseries and their lots inlife, and they wait. 
Directed by David StockerProduced by Becky LuptonStarringJamie ForbesDennis StantonAlex NicolJames CookLachlan Thomson
Waiting for Godot will be performed at The Church Theatre, 125 Gipps St, Bega (theold Uniting Church) starting on Friday 25 July at 7pm. Matinees at 1pm on Sunday 27July and Sunday 3 August.
Tickets are $30/ $25(conc & Theatre Onset members)/ $18 (High School age or Higher Education) and are available now through Trybooking: https://www.trybooking.com/DCRAK
We look forward to sharing this classic piece of theatre with you!
Cheers,Mahamati Theatre Onset

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll closes this Sunday 8 June

If you haven’t been to see Theatre Onset’s latest production, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler, there are a limited number of tickets still available this Thursday 5, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 June.  We have just had a wonderful weekend with close to capacity audiences every show.

The play is directed by Eva Mills and features a stellar cast of local actors — Jodie Stevens, David Newell, Kym Hawthorne, Pete Wild, Mahamati, MayaRae Navarrete and Jack Grey. 

Don’t miss out on this moving and memorable production at the Old Uniting Church, Bega.

Tickets available now via TryBooking: https://www.trybooking.com/DAYKG

Theatre Onset Brings a Timeless Australian Classic to Life in Bega

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll opens Friday 30th May
Bega Valley audiences will soon have the chance to experience one of Australia’s most powerful and enduring plays, as Theatre Onset stages Summer of the Seventeenth Doll  – Ray Lawler’s unforgettable story of love, change, and the passing of time.

The play is directed by Eva Mills and features a stellar cast of local actors — Jodie Stevens, David Newell, Kym Hawthorne, Pete Wild, Mahamati, MayaRae Navarrete and Jack Grey. 

Set in 1950’s Melbourne, the story follows two cane cutters who return south for their seventeenth summer, expecting the same carefree reunion they’ve always had. But this year, things are different — and what unfolds is a deeply human exploration of relationships, identity, and the cost of holding on to the past.

“What drew me to this play was the sense of truth in the relationships between the characters. For me, that’s what makes great theatre” says Mills. “ It’s raw and real, and it still resonates. This isn’t just a story from the 1950s — it’s a story about us.”

Theatre Onset invites you to experience this moving and memorable production at the Old Uniting Church, Bega, with performances running from May 30 to June 8.

Tickets available now via TryBooking: https://www.trybooking.com/DAYKG

Links

https://www.facebook.com/Theatreonset

https://www.instagram.com/theatreonset/

Contact

Eva Mills – eva.matrie@gmail.com 0423 498 056

Mahamati – mahamati.currie@gmail.com 0448 248 322