Canberra Repertory Society

President's Welcome

Happy Birthday to Rep! To mark Rep’s 75th birthday, you get the presents! During the year, we’ve been asking Rep members, subscribers and patrons to let us know which of the hundreds of plays that Rep has produced since 1932 they enjoyed the most. It was wonderful to see the lists—and fascinating to see which ones kept coming up. Your choices were spread across a range of theatre genres, so we’ve taken the hint. For 2007, we’ve put together a vintage year, with some classic tastes served alongside some of the newer varieties.

Bounding, falling, stumbling onto the stage—both sides of it—at the beginning of the year is Michael Frayn’s non-stop comedy, Noises Off. It’s one of the plays most often listed as a favourite and will be directed by Cathie Clelland, who brought you last year’s farcical romp Lend me a Tenor.

The second present for you continues Rep’s tradition of introducing Canberra audiences to stunning theatre from around the world. In Elizabeth Rex by Timothy Findley, William Shakespeare, on the night of 22 April 1616, relives a remarkable encounter with the formidable Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I in 1601. Don’t miss this special treat, directed by one of Rep’s former artistic directors, Ross McGregor.

Old Time Music Hall has been cellaring for years, lovingly decanted each year by long-time, but now retired, director Rosemary Hyde. She has passed the baton to her co-director from last year, Julie McElhone—so get ready for a big knees-up to brighten up your mid-winter evenings.

Tony Llewellyn-Jones will be back in town to direct Room to Move, by well-known Australian playwright, Hannie Rayson (Hotel Sorrento, Life after George). A funny, smart gem of a play, this is a humorous examination of what can happen when an unattached young lodger moves in with a widowed mother.

For our penultimate production, Geoffrey Borny will present you with the entertainingly self-centred Bliss family in Hay Fever—right in the middle of Floriade. Noël Coward’s Hay Fever was the production being mounted in 1932 that brought about the Canberra Repertory Society—all because the management of the Arts and Literature Society would not cover the cost of the jazz garters for the Dramatic Committee’s production. This will be true vintage indeed!

To finish off a wonderful birthday party year, come and join long-time Rep actor and director (and first female President!) Corille Fraser who will reprise Oscar Wilde’s stylish look at how searching for an ideal can compromise everyone in An Ideal Husband.

Do you ever intend to get to a piece of theatre in Canberra—and then find that you’ve missed it? You don’t have to miss anything again.

Become a subscriber to Canberra Rep’s 2007 vintage year of productions—you’ll not only get to all the shows you want to see, you’ll save on all your tickets.

Rep in 2007—a wonderful array of theatre to match everyone’s tastes; new and old, classic and modern; comedy and drama—come and join the fun!

And if you see me in the foyer, come and say hi!

Naoné Carrel
President
Canberra Repertory Society