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The New Theatre, Newtown - a volunteer-based community theatre formed "to give the worker an opportunity" usually reserved for the rich art industry (newtheatre.org.au)

submitted 11 hours ago by eureka@aussie.zone to c/sydney@aussie.zone

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cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/29657761

Some selected quotes from the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Theatre,_Sydney

The New Theatre in Sydney is the oldest theatre company in continuous production in New South Wales.

Themes explored in the productions were mostly related to exploitation of the working class, sexism, racism in Australia, and against war.

[In 1936, both Sydney's New Theatre League and Melbourne's New Theatre] staged first Clifford Odets' play Waiting for Lefty, with the purpose of raising money for strikers, to great acclaim. With the rise of Nazism in Germany, then prepared to stage his play Till the Day I Die. After the German Consul General complained to the Commonwealth Government, the play was banned by Frank Chaffey, then Chief Secretary, but the theatre defied the ban and staged the play in private premises.

The Introduction page of their own wiki site gives a history of their various locations, as well as other cities which started similar projects, and their historical affiliations:

Sydney New Theatre is the sole survivor of similar groups which operated in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and Lithgow. At Easter 1939 Sydney played host to the first New Theatre League Conference (attended by Melbourne and Newcastle).

In the 1930s the organisation was affiliated with New Theatre USA, the British Drama League (BDL), the Workers' Educational Association (WEA), the Australian Youth Council, the Central Cultural Council of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), and 15 trade unions.

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[–] eureka@aussie.zone 1 points 11 hours ago

crossposted from comments

Currently playing is Perfect Arrangement (4 February- 7 March 2026)

PRESENTED AS PART OF MARDI GRAS+

“If I stay, it’s giving up the belief that things should be better”

It’s 1950s America, and a new colour has been added to the Red Scare: lavender. The Lavender Scare saw LGBTQ+ people interrogated, outed, and dismissed from government service in a sweeping campaign of fear and moral panic.

Enter Bob and Norma, two U.S. State Department employees tasked with identifying and reporting “sexual deviants” within their ranks. There’s just one problem: both Bob and Norma are gay, and are married to each other’s partners as a carefully constructed ruse.

Inspired by the early stirrings of the American gay rights movement, this madcap, classic-sitcom setup gradually gives way to sharp, provocative drama, as two “All-American” couples find themselves staring down the closet door — and the cost of keeping it shut.

Topher Payne explores themes of fear and the weaponisation of identity – themes that feel just as relevant today.

“Usually, a playwright has to choose between writing a laugh-out-loud comedy and a very serious drama. Topher Payne has written both with Perfect Arrangement.” Theatre Mania