The cast from Moruya Red Door Theatre’s 2021 production of Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders. Photos: Supplied.
Moruya Red Door Theatre is celebrating 10 years of storytelling and performance.
From humble beginnings, it has grown into a vibrant community theatre that is performing its 14th production this month.
The double bill Escalating Chaos opens on Friday 13 February. It features former Sale of the Century hostess Victoria Nicolls, who is also well known for playing officer Heather Rodgers in the television drama Prisoner.
The theatre is the brainchild of Anthony Mayne, the inaugural theatre president who wanted to share his passion for the performing arts with his community.
“I optimistically put an article in the Moruya Examiner with a photo of Aunty Heather May and me asking for any interest in a local theatre company,” Mr Mayne said. “It was a mid-week, cold and wet night and 18 people turned up.”
As the enthusiastic group sat in a circle introducing themselves, Mr Mayne silently prayed that someone in the group had some experience.
He struck gold in Linda Heald, who happened to be Eurobodalla Shire Council’s chief librarian.
“She had been a theatre director, a musician and a playwright and had a long background in theatre,” he said. “I thought great, we have got our director. Linda was phenomenal.”
James Gillett as the policeman in Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders.
The group performed their first play Babes in the Wood in 2017 at Moruya Public School as it had a stage and audio system.
“At the beginning, full of enthusiasm I had thought how hard could it be,” Mr Mayne said. “There was no firm structure, no lighting, no costumes, no sound. It was beg, borrow or steal to get it going.”
The theatre has always been very inclusive and welcomed people from all backgrounds and all levels of talent.
One homeless man who joined the theatre sent a picture of himself in the play to his son, with a note, “See, your Dad did something”.
One of their stalwart actors is James ‘Superman’ Gillett. He has learning difficulties, but was keen to get involved. His parents John and Brenda are actors, and his sisters are in theatre in Melbourne.
“His father said he loves being on stage, even if you just give him a role as a rock or a tree. I said, ‘Let’s see what he is capable of,'” Mr Mayne said. “Every time he is on stage he has to speak, and he has grown enormously.”
In 2022 James won a Commendation Award at the prestigious Canberra Area Theatre Awards for services to theatre and community. Escalating Chaos is his fifth play with the theatre company.
The first play they performed was Babes in the Woods in 2017 at Moruya Primary School. Linda Heald made the coat on the left from her curtains.
Escalating Chaos features An Innocent Little Murder written by Jean-Pierre Martinez and directed by Phil Barr and Thief of Time written by local playwright Camilla Barr. Her play Shades of Loss was shortlisted and performed at Sydney’s highly competitive Short+Sweet short play festival.
Thief of Time is a trilogy of short plays exploring life’s moments of time lost through dementia, procrastination, and the waiting room. With humour, confusion and moments of calamity, the trilogy reflects the universal human experience of time lost.
Mr Mayne is over the moon at having accomplished actor Ms Nicolls in the production. A resident of the shire for a year, she has a long association with the area.
Both waxed lyrically about the joy and power of live theatre.
Mr Mayne said live theatre grew a community and created a sense of engagement and togetherness “as you aren’t sitting at home alone doomscrolling”.
Ms Nicolls said each performance was different and required actors to be totally present because anything could happen.
“As an actor you have to learn your lines, trust your fellow actors, navigate egos and still be fluid with your other actors,” she said.
“It is mostly about trust, moving on the spot if someone forgets their lines, and you have to trust your audience because they can throw a curve ball.
“Every night is different. Your audience dictates how you go because of their reaction,” Ms Nicolls said. “It doesn’t matter whether you are a professional or an amateur, you are dealing with the same elements and turning the dysfunctional into the functional.”
Evening performances of Escalating Chaos are at 7:30 pm on 13, 14, 20 and 21 February, with a matinee at 2 pm on 14 February, at Moruya’s RSL Hall in Page Street.
