March 2024
Come to the CTC AGM on Thursday, 14 March at our Etty Street headquarters (7pm start) and consider joining our committee! Stay tuned for our next production, Qubit, scheduled for later in 2024.
September 2023
Coming to Castlemaine soon! A theatrical version of the Dylan Thomas play for voices; “Under Milk Wood“. We have assembled a large cast for the many characters of this poetic piece, and will perform over two weekends in October and November. Tickets on sale soon.
May 2023
We are very proud to announce our new CTC Code of Conduct 2023. We have been working on it for a number of years, and it’s going to act as a guide to keep everyone safe and happy who works with our organisation. Thank you to Clare Shamier and the Committee for all your hard work on this project!
April 2023
Our contemporary take on the Shakespearian classic, Romeo and Juliet, will hit the stage in May! A wonderful team of actors and creators has been working hard to bring this tragedy to Castlemaine audiences and tickets are on sale now!
September 2022
Our next production is in the works! Peter Panto or One Flew Over the Second Star on the Right will be performed in November 2022 – see here for more information about the show and click here to book tickets. To apply to become a Front of House Volunteer, click here.
NEW! Short film showcasing our recent production of local short plays: “Walk With Us: Untold Castlemaine”
July 10 2022 – Production Management Workshop
Castlemaine Theatre Company is offering a workshop, free for CTC members, to outline the essential work of a Production Manager.
This is the perfect opportunity to learn how this vital person works behind the scenes — planning, organising and delegating– to bring all the elements of a theatre show together on the stage. If you are interested in any aspect of backstage work, this will be an interesting and valuable workshop for you. PLUS the skills used in Production Management are very transferable to any sort of management role, including life in general!
WHEN: Sunday 10 July at 10.30am – 12.30pm
WHERE: CTC’s Etty Street Studio (Old Castlemaine Secondary Senior Campus, 35 Etty St, Engineering Block, First Floor)
HOW MUCH: Free for CTC members (click below to join, it’s $25 & $15 for an annual membership)
BECOME A MEMBER: Membership & Donations – Castlemaine Theatre Company
BOOKINGS: Email us and request a spot at the workshop: castlemainetheatreco@gmail.com
January 2022
Creating together as writers, directors, cast and crew, CTC kicks off the New Year with a theatrical journey through the streets of Castlemaine, stopping in 5 locations to partake of punchy scenes that give three cheers to the people, past and present, who’ve made Castlemaine a more compassionate and caring community.
We know we’re in troubling times but for this performance, let’ turn our gaze away from what’s wonky to see what’s working. Like a cactus flower blooming in the desert we’re starting 2022 with a feel-good show!
We are looking for directors, actors and crew to be involved; email castlemainetheatreco@gmail.com to register your interest!
September 2021
The Tempest, An Audio Project, is heading to the airwaves of MainFM and will be broadcast in 4 parts starting on September 22. We are also hosting an exclusive listening event which will be a unique experience, read about it here.
Coming soon is an original piece of work that is currently in development, called Walk With Us: Untold Castlemaine. It will be a celebration of our town and we hope you will get involved!
2020 Vision: A New Home for the CTC
We are moving into new premises at 35 Etty Street, Castlemaine! As of April 2020 we are thrilled to call the old Castlemaine Secondary College Drama Studio at the Etty Street Campus, our HOME! Yes, we have been almost ten years in the wilderness, a wandering troup of players…our garages have been filled with sets and props and archives, and finally we can put everything in one place AND have the wonderful studio to rehearse in. We are leasing the rooms from Castlemaine Hotrods, who have taken over custodianship of half of the old campus, and will be sharing it with other amazing local creatives.
2018
2018 saw numerous CTC actors feature in a music video for The Chris Harold Trio’s track ‘Breaking Bad’. The actors, directed by CTC President Kate Stones include past CTC President, Ken MacLeod, Michael Treloar (As You Like It, Arsenic and Old Lace), Clare Shamier (As You Like It, Gallipoli The Musical), Yen Kong (Monkey and the Monk), Kirstie Babbage (Dirty Work at the Crossroads, Let’s Kill Agatha Christie), and Morgan Kurrajong (Monkey and the Monk, Let’s Kill Agatha Christie). Featuring Deb Hall AKA Miss Evie AKA The GoGo Gorilla. We had so much fun with this vid, hope it comes across in the finished product! Here it is!
2017
We are proud to present the first CTC documentary, It’s not the Destination but the Journey: The Making of Monkey and the Monk, produced and directed by Karen McMullen:
‘It’s not the destination but the journey: the making of Monkey and the Monk’ was accepted into the 2017 Auckland International Film Festival. The film tracks our 2015 production, and provides a heart warming document of the history of the CTC. The Monkey and the Monk project was supported by The Regional Arts Fund and Mount Alexander Shire Council.
We are back in the Phee Broadway Theatre! The CTC is very excited to announce that our 2018 production of As You Like It will be staged at Castlemaine’s one and only Phee Broadway Theatre. See the Summer 2018 Headliner (CTC newsletter) for the details.
PREVIOUS POSTS on this issue:
Ongoing Community Lock Out at The Phee Broadway Theatre
As of August 2017, negotiations with the Mount Alexander Shire Council have opened up, and the Council have declared their intention to have the Theatre once again available to community groups. The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, however we are cautiously hopeful that we may be back in the venue in 2018.
In April 2017 our two Shire Cultural Development Officers resigned from the Mount Alexander Shire Council. This came at a time when we were on the point of resolving the problem of community accessibility, after 2 years of negotiations. The executive team have rejected the outgoing CODs proposal and currently are offering no alternative solutions. Read an article outlining the issues here
What’s happening with the Phee
and here’s a radio interview with CTC President Kate Stones and Suzanne Donnisthorpe on her show ‘Hearsay’, Main FM on 4 May 2017
The Arts written out of The Council Draft Plan – TIME TO SPEAK UP!
The Mount Alexander Shire Council have published a Draft Council Plan for 2017-21. Despite many local artists and arts workers reporting at the community consultation events, the draft contains NO MENTION OF THE ARTS anywhere in the document. This is shocking given the Council’s spruking of Mount Alexander as a cultural destination where arts play a key role in our community connectedness, our identity and out economy. We need to speak up about this. Council are offering their draft up for public comment until May 24 2017. PLEASE SUMBIT A RESPONSE! Here’s where to find the draft and make your submission:
https://www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/Consultation_Have_Your_Say
Here’s my submission, feel free to use it as a basis for yours:
KS_Draft Council Plan submission
In Feb 2016 Matt Sheehan, artistic director of local musical theatre company 3’s A Crowd, submitted a petition/proposal to the Mount Alexander Shire Council, signed by the CTC committee and other concerned locals.
3aC Phee Broadway letter_ Final_MS-1
In 2015 MASC announced that from now on all hirers of the Phee Broadway Theatre would have to pay $50 an hour on top of the original booking fee for a duty technician to be present at the theatre at all times during the booking. This has effectively locked the CTC and many other community groups out of the venue. It seems that after having publicly stated 12 months ago that “90% of the usage of the Phee Broadway Theatre was for ‘lecture style performances'” MASC is now taking steps to turn that fiction into fact, with the Theatre apparently being handed over to the Goldfields Library, seeing as they don’t have to pay any hire fees or pay the new duty technician fee.
Please write to the Councillors if you are concerned about this issue. If you don’t think it’s that important, please read my letter to the Council (above) and understand why this is such an important issue for our community.
Don’t let Council dumb down our energy and creativity and agency! Do you want to be ‘lectured’ at, ‘lecture-style’? Or do you want a chance to witness and participate in the drama of life!?
https://www.mountalexander.
Kate Stones
0431 998 707
