Therry Theatre’s August 2025 production of Come From Away with David Gauci (centre) as the town mayor. Photo credit: Andrew Trimmings
The sold-out 2025 season of Therry’s Come from Away musical was a landmark moment in South Australian and Adelaide community theatre. The professional standard of this show, with excellence across a large ensemble, was an indicator of the depth of talent in Adelaide. Come from Away brought home that Adelaide community theatre has firmly removed the shackles and prejudice from the “amateur” descriptor. Many theatre goers would be astonished at the standard of community music theatre companies in Adelaide. Come from Away’s director David Sinclair represents the thread of talent that has taken Adelaide community theatre up a notch. David Gauci, who anchored the Come from Away cast in the role of the grand Gander mayor, was another part of that thread. Gauci, director/producer of Davine Productions, with its bold ventures into music theatre like A New Brain, promoted the talents of Dee Farnell, Daniel Hamilton, Kate Anolak, Josh Kerr, Trevor Anderson and Eloise Quinn-Valentine who were prominent in Come from Away. Others in the ensemble were Brady Lloyd, Michelle Nightingale, Michelle Tan, Katie Packer, Lisa Simonetti, Claire McEvoy and Stephen Tongun. The ensemble was flawless as it would be with the vast experience of the players across community and professional theatre in it. Standing ovation well deserved.
Musical director and choreographer
Peter Johns, Musical Director, led a Celtic band that underpinned the pace and heart of the production. Go and see whatever show Johns is musical director of. His attention to the score and musicianship is an asset to theatre in this state.
Likewise, experienced choreographer Linda Williams cannot put a foot wrong. This is an unconventional show where performers are not necessarily dancers and wrangling chairs is part of the action. Her choreography contributed to the energy of the production and was perfectly integrated into the action and musical numbers.
Another shelf added to Therry’s trophy cabinet
Come From Away won the 2025 Adelaide Critics Circle award for best Community theatre group and the Theatre Association of South Australia (TASA) Best Musical. Peter Johns, David Sinclair and Linda Williams won the Community theatre Critics Circle Award / Creative and Technical for Excellence in direction, choreography and musical direction.
Therry Theatre
And other local Adelaide theatre gems from 2025
Peter and the ‘Woolf’ a triumph at Holden Street Theatres as Martha plays Martha
Congratulations to the multi-award-winning outstanding cast of Edward Albee’s classic, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
Raw, emotional and beautifully acted by Martha Lott (who’s character is Martha in the play), the exceptional Brant Eustice, Chris Asimos and Jessica Corrie. Director Peter Goërs also designed the set that was so good it told its own back story. (It looked like he had lived there for years!). Theatre at its best or, as we say at The Fabula Files, FAB.
All four actors were nominated in the Critics Circle Awards and Jessica Corrie won their Performer in a Supporting Role.
This was another in a series of plays by Martha Lott’s Holden Street Theatre Company with director in residence Peter Goërs. Peter’s last play for 2025 was Harvey in November. In 2026 he will be acting and directing for The Repertory Theatre Company (The Rep). More about this in our newsletter.
Holden Street Theatres
Quick change from Martha to Anna in St Jude’s ‘Neighbourhood Watch’
Another Adelaide actor who owned her role as Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild several years ago, Julie Quick was the standout as the Hungarian firebrand Anna in Neighbourhood Watch directed by Lesley Reed for the stalwart St Jude’s Players at Brighton.
St Jude’s Players
Image: Richard Parkhill
Hamilton Smith in the mother of all roles she was born to play at The Rep
Penni was nominated for the 2025 Community Theatre Individual award for Excellence in the Arts by the Adelaide Critics Circle. Mother and Son by Geoffrey Atherden was directed by Jude Hines who never misses with comedy. Patrick Clements, playing son Arthur was the perfect foil for Hamilton-Smith’s character played with her usual impeccable comic timing.
The Rep
‘Merrily We Roll Along’ another terrific ensemble and faultless musical direction from G&S Society of South Australia
Another example of the excellence, in 2025 was the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of South Australia’s Merrily We Roll Along, a faultless handling of one of Stephen Sondheim’s trickier musicals. Directed by Matt Smith, the show showed just one of Nichalas Munday’s many talents in the main role of Franklin Shepard, with Dean Martino-Williams as Charley Kringas and Serena Cann as Mary Flynn. Matthew Rumley conducted and Lucy Newman choreographed it.
If you see any of these names in a theatre season in 2026 book asap. The Fabula Files will also be keeping a lookout to advise our newsletter subscribers.
G&S Society
‘Hansard’, by Simon Woods an Australian premiere with lashings of British banter
Director, Sally Putnam perfectly cast the very elegant and experienced duo, Anita Zamberlan Canala and Andrew Clark to bring this intensely dramatic, heartbreaking story to life. The underlying tensions and resentment was in contrast to the authentic, cosy Cotswolds cottage set by Bob Peet and Andrew Phillips dressed with great detail by Louise Lapan. Also worth a gong was Almost Maine by John Cariani, directed by Ben Proeve. Ben has come up through the Hills Youth Theatre programme and has discovered some terrific young actors who were all given a chance to shine in this quirky play. The Stirling Players are to be commended as the only theatre group sponsoring such a youth project.
Awards: Theatre Association of South Australia (TASA) Best Play and Andrew Clark, Outstanding Performer in a Stage Play.
The Stirling Players
A first-time director not gun shy about presenting the raw the rauchy and the violence and turning it into a hit
We had seen a film of the Broadway Bonnie and Clyde a few weeks before the Marie Clarke Musical Company’s version. The musical by Ivan Menchell (book), Don Black (lyrics) and Frank Wildhorn (music) is a complex show with varying styles of American music (jazz, blues, gospel) a large cast, unconventional choreography, tricky accents, violent action and a sprinkling of raunchy sex.
We needn’t have worried about the contrast. This was an absolute cracker from the opening tableau to the last scene when our protagonists are bullet-riddled and silent.
First time director, Lucy Trewin, musical director Serena Cann and choreographer Deborah Proeve landed an exhilarating hit.
Recent Elder Conservatorium Bachelor of Music graduate Ava-Rose Askew and Kristian Latella were powerhouse leads supported by a terrific cast. We’ll be following this creative team and look forward to their next show.
Ava-Rose Askew won The Theatre Association of South Australia’s ‘Outstanding Performance in a Musical’ . We are hoping she stays in Adelaide and look forward to her next leading role.
Marie Clarke Musical
Another Australian premiere was chalked up by Blue Sky Theatre Alan Ayckbourne’s poignant comedy
Arrivals and Departures in July /August by artistic director David Simms Blue Sky Theatre that had also found an inside home at the comfortable Domain Theatre, Marion Cultural Centre. Blue Sky’s Arrivals and Departures play handled the inventive storytelling device and a large cast of quirky characters . It brought actor/director Nick Fagan back on stage in the lead role. He directed some of the best and grittiest plays Hangmen, Cyprus Avenue, Festen and Hand to God that we have seen in this town. He’ll be succeeding Peter Goërs as Director in Residence for Holden Street Theatre Company next year. In the other Arrivals and Departures lead role, Emily Currie played against character as a serious fraught army type. She recently directed the hilarious Explorers Club for Stirling Players. Follow Currie for her direction and acting. Sign up to Blue Sky’s mailing list for Simms’ very popular outdoor play season every summer.
Blue Sky Theatre
Image: Richard Parkhill
Director David Sinclair’s emotional tribute to a family member in this psychological drama about dementia
Sinclair moves seamlessly between drama, comedy and music theatre and has the experience and depth of knowledge to cast well and choose the most interesting and challenging shows. The Other Place by Sharr White was a dream cast of some of Adelaide’s finest.
Robyn Brooks, Scott Nell, Tegan Gully-Crispe and Brendan Cooney. The inbuilt tension and confusion in the story was palpable and the reveal was deeply emotional. This was State Theatre standard. There should not have been an empty seat in the theatre for the season. Congratulations to all at The Adelaide Repertory Theatre (The Rep).