Past Productions
THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET DICEY!Step into a world where games become gripping epics at Hunter Drama's end-of-year performance, "Game Night"! Prepare for an immersive theatrical experience where classic board games, video games and sports transform into captivating stories on stage. "Game Night" isn't just a performance; it's an interactive adventure, where every choice and every move leads to thrilling consequences. Watch friendships tested, alliances formed, and rivalries ignited in a high-stakes battle of wits and strategy. Join us for a night of music, laughter, and excitement as we blur the lines between board games and theater. "Game Night" is not just a show; it's an invitation to be part of the game. Bring your enthusiasm, sharpen your tactics, and get ready for a theatrical experience that will keep you guessing until the final move! Check mate!
PEOPLE DON'T GET BETTER, THEY JUST GET SMARTERCarrie White is a teenage outcast who longs to fit in. At school, she's bullied by the popular crowd, and virtually invisible to everyone else. At home, she's dominated by her loving but cruelly controlling mother. What none of them know is that Carrie's just discovered she's got a special power, and if pushed too far, she's not afraid to use it.
STICK IT TO THE MAN!Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme…You better get me to school on time! SCHOOL OF ROCK is a two-act musical , based on the hit movie. The tuner follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn an extra bit of cash by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight–A pupils into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. But can he get them to the Battle of the Bands without their parents and the school’s headmistress finding out? SCHOOL OF ROCK, with its sensational live kids’ rock band, is a loving testimony to the transforming power of music. BOOK NOW!
ARE YOU HERE FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE?Hola! Bonjour! Nǐ hǎo! It’s time to pack your drama blacks and jazz shoes, and embark on a world-wide adventure across the globe! From Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, Hunter Drama’s drama and musical theatre students take to the stage in a celebration of the world’s culture, cuisine and climate. Guided by their tutors, Hunter Drama students will tell the story of a cross - continental journey to track down an important missing item. On their travels they will encounter dangers- man-made and natural and must work as a team to overcome them!
PARTIES ARE A CRUEL KIND OF FUNSomeone sneezes. Someone can’t get a signal. Someone won’t answer the door. Someone put an elephant on the stairs. Someone’s not ready to talk. Someone is her brother’s mother. Someone hates irrational numbers. Someone told the police. Someone got a message from the traffic light. Someone’s never felt like this before. In this fast moving kaleidoscope, more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. “Where hearts connect, minds collide, and data reveals the secrets of the soul." Love and Information by Caryl Churchill is a captivating and thought-provoking play that delves into the complexities of human connection in the digital age, exploring the ways in which love and information intersect and shape our lives. With sharp wit, humour, and a keen understanding of the human experience, Churchill's play prompts us to question the nature of our connections and the impact of technology on the fabric of our relationships. The script doesn’t dictate who says what, when, or in what order. In this way, no production of this show is ever the same. Performed in the intimate setting of the Playhouse, with a colourful, modular set that reflects the kaleidoscope of emotions that the characters experience, it will speak most to audiences under 30 and should have great appeal to students of Drama and English and anyone who enjoys contemporary theatre. BOOK NOW
A BRAVE HEART IS YOUR BEST WEAPONIn this action-packed adaptation of the classic adventure story, precocious Mowgli grows up believing he's as fierce a wolf as any of the members of his pack. When he learns he is actually a human, he must discover how to reconcile these very different identities, and decide whether to remain with the pack, or return to the human world from which he was born. What will he choose? And will he be trained in the Law of the Jungle in time to defeat Shere Khan, the most feared animal of all? Vacation Care/OOSH Performances: Thursday 18 April 10.30am Tuesday 23 April 10.30am Running time 60mins no interval BOOK NOW
Beam me up, Scotty.
JUST KEEP SWIMMING
They came to CONQUER the EARTH!
JUST KEEP SWIMMING
A MID-YEAR WOWFEST EVENT
You think history is boring? Well think again! The history of our world is absolutely UNHINGED! Each group of students will take a look back into the past and create a short 10 minute performance to be presented as part of Unhinged History. Guided by their tutors, students will work with their classmates during term 2 and explore the world of playbuilding. With a focus on ensemble work and building the fundamentals for performing in front of an audience, our students will bring history to life!The past meets the present!
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The Wedding Singer takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room. Based on the hit Adam Sandler movie, The Wedding Singer's sparkling new score does for the '80s what Hairspray did for the '60s. Just say yes to the most romantic musical in twenty years. It's 1985, and rock star wannabe, Robbie Hart, is New Jersey's favorite wedding singer. He's the life of the party until his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. As luck would have it, Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and, unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. Hunter Drama's 2023 production of The Wedding Singer is directed by Ali Hodge and will be staged at The Civic Playhouse from April 14th-22nd."PARTY LIKE IT'S 1985!"
AN END OF YEAR WOWFEST EVENT
Superpower? CHECK Cape? CHECK Disguise? CHECK Anything else?!? What does it take to become a hero? And isn’t a villain just a victim whose story hasn’t been told? We are surrounded by a cinematic universe of heroes, but if you look closely, heroes are actually all around us. A small deed can create a hero as much as a superpower. But a superpower in the wrong hands can create a villain. People are not born heroes or villains; we’re all just ordinary people making choices that result in consequences. Using the skills accumulated over the course of the entire year, each group of students will present a short 10-minute performance as part of WOWFEST: HEROES AND VILLAINS. Guided by their tutors, students will work closely with their classmates during terms 3 and 4, to rehearse their own unique take on heroes and villains. With a focus on assembling a team of unstoppable actors, standing side by side, working together to become something more! Together, there will be no room for Thanos - er, we mean Nervous! The Playhouse stage will become the battleground where nerves will be defeated, performance superpowers flexed and a hero made of each and every actor brave enough to get on stage!EVERY VILLAIN IS A HERO IN THEIR OWN MIND
NEWCASTLE PREMIERE
A comedic romp into the world of fantasy role-playing games! In this high-octane dramatic comedy, laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres and 90s pop culture, acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all. She Kills Monsters tells the story of Agnes Evans, a young woman grieving for her deceased sister. The Evans sisters never were especially close, but after Tilly’s death, Agnes discovers a notebook containing a game scenario created by her sister. She discovers Tilly was a well-known Dungeons and Dragons player, who was passionate about online fantasy gaming. In order to unlock more secrets about her mysterious young sibling, Agnes recruits a “dungeon master” named Chuck, to help her understand and grieve Tilly. Chock-full of supermodel elves, dominatrix warrior women, and nasty ogres, She Kills Monsters is a surprisingly sweet tale of friendship, loss, and acceptance. This is a story in which girls wield swords, queer kids are cool and nerds rule the earth.A STORY ABOUT KIDS WHO MAKE UP STORIES
BASED ON THE WORKS OF DR. SEUSS
Coming to the Civic Theatre mainstage for the very first time (at a time when we need it most), this full length production of Seussical will be a full blown musical adventure through The Jungle of Nool, perfect for the entire family. Join us, as the most famous of Cats in the most iconic of Hats guides us into the world of Dr Seuss, where Horton, the kind hearted elephant, discovers a speck of dust on which the civilisation of Whoville exists. There JoJo lives, a Who child sent to military school for thinking too many “thinks.” Horton is thrust into an urgent battle to protect the speck of dust and the residents of Whoville, while at the same time protecting an abandoned egg left to his care by the lazy Mayzie la Bird. Unable to convince the other animals in The Jungle of the existence of the Whos, Horton is ridiculed and put on trial for insanity, with only a loyal few who never lose faith in him. One of the most widely produced musicals in the world, Seussical weaves a story of friendship, loyalty, and love. Despite all odds, Horton and Gertrude band together to save the Whos, free Horton, and restore peace and unity to the Jungle of Nool. For anyone who has ever felt too small to matter, or ever felt unheard, this all new production, directed by Daniel Stoddart, is sure to warm the heart, provoke a gleaming grin, and remind us of the importance of fighting for your beliefs. For a strictly limited season in the July school holidays. DIRECTOR - DANIEL STODDART MUSICAL DIRECTOR - ALISON HODGE CHOREOGRAPHY - LAUREN HARVEY MUSIC BY - STEPHEN FLAHERTY LYRICS BY - LYNN AHRENSIT’S POSSIBLE! ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE!
The town that caught Tourettes.
A MID-YEAR WOWFEST EVENT
The world around us is a very noisy place. It’s full of sounds: wind, talking, chainsaws, laughter, YouTube, a running shower, message alerts, a strumming guitar, a crackling fire, car horns, barking dogs and, if you listen very carefully, you can even hear the silence. Each group of students will be given a random sound effect to use as a stimulus point to create a short 10 minute performance to be presented as part of The Sound Effects Show. Guided by their tutors, students will work with their classmates during term 2 and explore the world of playbuilding. With a focus on ensemble work and building the fundamentals for performing in front of an audience, a simple sound effect will bring the stage to life! Being on stage in front of people is one of the most nerve-racking things you can do in life, and for many of our students this will be their first time. For others more familiar with the stage, they will be nervous to try something new or to take a risk. But as we say to them all the time: if you want something, you better make some noise!A VISION IS A CLEAR SOUND IN A NOISY WORLD
Newcastle Premiere
When Doctor Frankenstein's ancient secret book arrives from Transylvania, science nerds Frankie and Irving are whisked into a sci-fi fantasy of time-warped, weirdly scary and lively adventure! To compete in the upcoming Science Fair, Frankie needs a brain for his new monster. To complete the creation, Frankie’s friends, Irving and Helga, sneak into the science lab to grab a monkey brain! Hilarity ensues, as they mistakenly collect the brain of poor Fluffy, a sweet little puppy dog. As a result, a surprising monster is presented to the Science Fair! As the Monster terrifies the entire village, science teacher, Mrs Newton, comes to the rescue. For only she can stop the terrible brain transference! With a cast full of nutty characters, providing frightfully funny laughs, will the villagers be able to return Frankie’s lovable monster and restore order before it’s too late?It’s alive! IT’S ALIVE!!!
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Consider yourself part of the family, and join us for Oliver!, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens’ novel. The streets of Victorian England will come to life on the iconic Civic Theatre stage in Hunter Drama's grand staging of this well-loved classic. Oliver, a malnourished orphan in a workhouse, becomes the neglected apprentice of an undertaker – he escapes, finding acceptance amongst a group of petty thieves and pick-pockets led by the elderly Fagin. When Oliver is captured for a robbery that he didn’t commit, the benevolent viction, Mr Brownlow, takes him in. Fearing the safety of his hideout, Fagin employes the sinister Bill Sikes, and the sympathetic Nancy, to kidnap him back – threatening Oliver’s chances of discovering the true love of a family. Featuring songs such as Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, Where Is Love, Oom Pa Pa, As Long As He Needs Me, and more. Oliver! is one of the few musicals to also win an Academy Award for Best Picture, and is widely hailed as a true theatrical masterpiece by actors and audience members alike.Please sir, I want some more.
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We're all mad here.
Christmas isn't a season, its a feeling.
'Get busy living, or get busy dying.'
'Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.'
But an elderly former witch hunter and her young grandson find out about the evil plan and now they must do everything to stop it and defeat the witches.
With dazzling effects and creative puppetry, Hunter Drama will bring this terrifying tale to life once again.
'Children should never have baths,’ my grandmother said. ‘It's a dangerous habit.'
Always wanted to do a musical but can't commit to the 10 week rehearsal period? Do auditions scare you? Then this is for you!
We have not one but TWO Musical in a Week's for January 2021. Join us during the January 2021 school holidays and have a blast learning performances from the delightful Mary Poppins JR. (High School) or The Jungle Book KIDS (Primary school) during our fun-filled 5 day musical theatre bootcamp, concluding with a performance for family and friends. You will be taken through engaging vocal, dance and acting masterclasses as well as learning in depth character development and the art of story telling through musical theatre. High School Students 11th-15th January 2021, 9am-4pm The 5 day bootcamp beginning on Monday 11th January 2021 concludes with a FREE performance for parents and friends at the Civic Playhouse on Friday 15th January at 6:00pm. Primary School Students 18th-22nd January 2021, 9am-12:30pm The 5 day bootcamp beginning on Monday 18th January 2021 concludes with a FREE in house performance for parents and friends on Friday 22nd January at 1:00pm. Every student receives a production t-shirt and a musical theatre gift bag with all their resources for the week. Upon completion of the program they will also receive a certificate and a professional headshot. Creative Kids Vouchers can also be accepted!