Productions

Hear ye, Hear ye Singlebrook have decided they no longer need a town crier! Daniel is outraged when Quentin Wordsworth is fired as town crier but nobody else seems to care all they want to do is stare at their phone screens….until the internet is mysteriously cut off. Featuring a great soundtrack of music that punctuates an original and highly relevant script the 2024 Aspire production brings over 150 young creatives from Maitland Newcastle’s Catholic schools to the stage of the Civic Theatre as they show us the chaos that ensues as a town goes offline and young people bring back the art of town crying!

ASPIRE’s 2023 production follows Captain Lucy Dastoor and her swashbuckling crew as they hunt for the lost treasure of Andreas against the backdrop of an over-taxed community under the control of a greedy Governor. To find it they’ll have to sail through storms, fight off the villainous Cutthroat Crowe and defeat the fabled Kraken as well as proving to everyone around them that women can make some of the very best pirates. This fun filled adventure is designed to entertain and excite with a host of popular music that punctuates the storyline throughout as well as some sea shanties thrown in for good measure!

Welcome to a world where lollies and socks are currency, where young people have made a government and where a huge mountain of dirty laundry has become home to many. This is a world without parents, without rules, where children can do whatever they want and at the beginning it seemed really great but now all they really all want are their parents back!

When a group of friends finds a covered-up well Molly can’t help but wish for that pair of sneakers she’s had her eye on. Little does she know her wish is about to wake up a host of creatures at the bottom of the well, called the Well Dwellers, all determined to grant her wish and those of everyone around her. The Cost of Wishes reminds us to be careful what we wish for as chaos ensues when wishes are granted regardless of their effects on others.

Munch the magpie is desperate to be leader of the flock, but it seems as if everyone else is always selected ahead of her. So, when members of the flock start to disappear, will Munch have what it takes to save her friends?

Featuring a host of colourful characters of both the avian and human variety, ASPIRE’s 2020 production The Pecking Order explores the concept of leadership and encourages the audience to embrace uniqueness. It is an original show, scripted with input from students, which will appeal to the young, and young at heart as it taps into what twitchers have long observed and often pondered; the ability of flocks of birds to change formation and direction at lightning speed.

The story masterfully unfolds as you take in the highs and lows of kookaburras, magpies, cockatoos, budgies, peacocks, lorikeets, owls, ducks, and minor birds sorting out their “pecking order”. In the end, once the ingenuity of our feathered friends becomes unearthed, it may lead you to question why we aren’t looking to the natural world more for instruction on how to navigate these often politically turbulent times.

What differentiates a daredevil from a hero? Do girls really run the world? Can a video blog be both self-promotional and really make a difference?

It’s a new year. A time to make a list, a list of what you’d like to achieve, how you’d like to change, even questions you’d like answered. But remember that a lot can change in a year, people change, we get a little bit older and sometimes even a little bit smarter. By the end of the year, the list of what you thought you wanted, can look very different.

Dark Matter explores what’s really going on under the surface for the staff and students of St Albert’s Secondary College as they enter a lock down and nobody seems to really know why. It is a production that gives an honest representation of our school communities and the types of characters you might meet within them.

Lock down theories ran from alien invasions, a parent arriving and not signing in at reception, zombies being defeated by the librarian, to the cleaners taking over the school – the audience did not know where to look or what to expect next.

The show featured an original composition by Tim Hansen called ‘The Moment’ along with songs by Michael Jackson, Meg Mac and Gwen Stefani.

George and Mavis Smith is an interesting older couple but are also the local hoarders.  Their house and yard are full of artefacts and they have a story about everything in their possession, how they come to it and why it’s important. Even though the neighbourhood are unsure of whether these stories are true or greatly embellished, they are well known and respected and provide the street with a contact source of amusement and gossip. The local children, in particular, adore them.

As a young man George Smith was a famous archaeologist, although now he spends much time in his garden tinkering with his artefacts and caring for his wife, who despite her claims to the contrary, is ailing and largely housebound.

Sarah Parker is a single mum who adores her three children Sean, a local footy hero and twins Chris and Temarah. Sarah is a learning assistant in the local school and she is kind and caring, she never wants to speak ill of anyone. Sean is a great support to his mum and is well known for being something of a golden boy and the street hunk.

Angus and Harmony Travers are the outwardly perfect family. However behind the façade Harmony is worried about their teenage daughter Roberta (Bobbi) who is starting to rebel, whilst their other daughter Emily can’t seem to stop getting into mischief.

Phil and Karen Clarke and their only daughter Toni are having an extensive renovation done to their house by Barb the Builder. The chaos of the build doesn’t bother them too much as they both work full time and feel stretched and time poor. Toni keeps herself busy spending time discussing saving the planet with best friend Sean or sharing stories with Mr and Mrs Smith with whom she has a close relationship.

The 2016 ASPIRE production There’s something strange about Marvin McRae, took audiences on an adventure with the spirited Marvin McRae and his imaginary friend on his quest to be normal.

For the first time in ASPIRE’s five years, the entire story and script were completely original, written by Artistic Director, Anna Kerrigan. Anna has been inspired by the students who surround her and thus created a story of wild imagination.

Add to this that the script was punctuated by a host of popular tracks ranging from Pat Benatar’s classic anthem, Love is a Battlefield to Coldplay’s beautifully haunting Shiver, all performed by the ASPIRE band and vocal ensemble comprised solely of young musicians. All the while transporting the audience from the classroom to the bush, under the water and back in time. It was a roller coaster the audience didn’t want to get off…with a giant chicken how could you go wrong?!

The 2015 ASPIRE production ‘Stranger than Fiction’, staged at the Civic Theatre in July, was a huge success. It’s always a pleasure to see the finished production performed in such a beautiful venue by our talented cast. They really did work so hard for the six months leading up to the show learning parts, choreography and music and pulling it all together into a production.

Things are not always as they seem…and in the production, Stranger Than Fiction, we discover what can happen when reality meets imagination. We meet a selection of ordinary people, and see a snapshot of their lives before we delve inside their heads. Stranger Than Fiction sees them daring to dream, asking the question, ”What if?”.

Drawing on the tradition of Absurdism, the world is ‘made strange’ for the individuals we first meet in Act One, all of whom are seeking a better life in one way or another. Act Two sees the inner lives of the characters brought to the stage in an imaginary world that is both bizarre and beautiful, frightening and strange.

This was a complicated show in every aspect. The storyline was involved and non-linear which makes it a more challenging piece for cast members to wrap their heads around. There were a lot of technical elements and the excitement of pyrotechnics to work with as well – which is something you can’t rehearse until production week in the Civic Theatre! Our cast did a fabulous job of pulling all the theatrical threads together.

A travelling circus sets up for its grand opening in the forest. The Ringmaster is faced with dilemmas when his stage crew expresses a desire to become clowns and his star performers are in the midst of a messy love triangle. The Ringmaster sends the clowns and lovers into the forest to consider their options.

However, in the forest, all is not well. Oberon, King of the Elves and Titania, Queen of the Fairies, are arguing. Chaos is set in motion when Oberon uses a magic flower casting a love spell onto Titania, whilst Puck mistakenly casts the same spell on Lysander. Nearby the stage crew rehearses the funniest Romeo and Juliet you’ll ever see.

Mischievous elves play with more magic and turn one of the stage crew into Bobby Bottom, a donkey, with whom Titania promptly falls in love. Our lovers, under the magic flower’s spell, fall in and out of love, and fight, before all’s well that ends well. Characters return to their normal state and partners and are now ready to watch the premier performance of Romeo and Juliet… the Comedy.

‘Why on Earth would Grandma have this?’

Treasured introduces us to three young children playing in their grandmother’s attic.  Through objects they find there, stories unfold about three of their ancestors set across different decades of the twentieth century, namely the 1920s, the 1940s and the 1960s.

Treasured is about family and relationships and their influence upon us particularly in providing us with strength and hope in the future.  It also depicts development in media, communication and women’s rights.

THIS IS ME takes the audience members on a journey where they meet unique characters and explore the elements of identity and stereotypes. You may recognise some stereotypes that are associated with young people being challenged.

You’ll recognise characters from your own school yard or from your own home and some that may not be so easily recognisable.

THIS IS ME has given the performers an opportunity to explore elements of their own identities whilst discovering an entertaining way to develop their characters.