Cooma Little Theatre just wrapped up Seussical, a colourful family-friendly production. Photo: Supplied.
Cooma Little Theatre, the only live production theatre in the Cooma region, has just turned 70 and like its founder Reg Harris intended, it’s still run by the community as a self-sustaining not-for-profit organisation.
Having just wrapped up a season of a colourful comedy called Seussical, the 20 performers plus the technicians and administrators all worked on a volunteer basis to bring residents of the Snowy-Monaro the art of live performance.
“Seussical went really well; it was a lot of fun,” theatre president Caroline Fox said.
The bright and family-friendly production directed by Samuel Pevere garnered much community support, in part, Caroline said, due to its large cast including children, which always helps draw a crowd.
It’s the kind of support the theatre has come to rely on over the past 70 years and stories of packed houses and boisterous audience participation are common.
Audiences of the 1964 production, Maria Marten or Murder, might just take the cake as one of the most boisterous, a state of play entirely encouraged by the theatre group who served chilled beer via singing waiters in period costume and the audience encouraged to throw peanuts to express their displeasure at the play’s villain.
The Cooma Little Theatre has been active in the community for 70 years, including this 2010 production of The Wizard of Oz. Photo: Supplied.
The theatre, which now hosts two to three productions per year, got its start in an unexpected way with workers from the Snowy Hydro project.
With the 25-year long project being based in Cooma, more than 100,000 workers came to the region, a large majority of which were immigrants from Europe.
As friendships formed amongst the workers, it was in the mid-1950s that a group of theatre enthusiasts found each other. Caroline said they would often meet and read plays together.
Play reading evolved into hosting small productions in halls around the region and in 1955, the Cooma Little Theatre group was officially formed, the name a nod to a naming tradition for small theatre groups in England.
It wasn’t until 1959 that the group found a permanent home in a former Snowy Hydro recreation hall, which was gifted to it and where it remains to this day.
Lyric soprano Sarah Louise Ownes accompanied by Kathleen Loh on piano performing at the theatre. Photo: Supplied.
Caroline said those connections to the Snowy Hydro project saw people return to the region and reconnect with the theatre, as was the case in 2024 when the project celebrated its 75th anniversary.
“During the anniversary we heard from a number of people who had been to the theatre when they were children; it’s lovely having connections with people who have been involved with the theatre over the years,” she says.
The little tin shed, as Caroline refers to the building that houses the theatre, has now evolved beyond just the original theatre group and is also a multi-use space available for rent to a range of performers and interest groups, including live music, film clubs, touring theatre productions, theatre workshops and even opera.
Blues group Matt Arthur and the Lazybones will perform in September and earlier this year the theatre screened the 80s classic movie Footloose, where the audience attended in their finest 80s gear and danced along with Kevin Bacon.
Showing no signs of stagnating, the theatre continues to grow its reach in the community by drawing talent from the local region.
Caroline said plays were cast through an open callout via social media, attracting a high level of talented aspiring actors who want to take to the stage and be involved with the community-driven initiative.
To find out more about the Cooma Little Theatre head to its website. And to be the first to know when you can audition to take to the stage, follow it on Facebook.
