Canberra Repertory Society

President's Welcome

We’ve put (most of) the champagne glasses away after celebrating in high style Rep’s 75th Birthday in 2007. But that doesn’t mean the party’s over! Where families are involved, there’ll always be celebrations—be they grudging, confrontational, knees-up, macabre, refined or insane. There now! Don’t you feel at home already?!

First up, Felix and Oscar grudgingly form a family unit—of sorts. Neil Simon says it all in the title of his hilarious comedy — The Odd Couple. Who better to direct this great start to the year but a long-time member of Rep’s family, the award-winning Liz Bradley.

Coinciding with Anzac Day is a family at odds in Alan Seymour’s iconic Australian play The One Day of the Year. Duncan Ley is well known to Theatre 3 audiences through productions of his own plays through his own company, New Century. I’m delighted to welcome him directing his first Rep production.

Don’t miss this year’s frolicking knees-up at The Playhouse, Rep’s 34th Old Time Music Hall. Lots of your old favourites— and plenty of new ones—in Rep’s Music Hall family (under the enthusiastic eye of Julie McElhone) will collaborate to concoct for you a confection of convivial cacophony!

To help snap you out of Canberra’s winter gloom, Catherine Hill returns to Theatre 3 to direct Elizabeth Coleman’s It’s my Party (and I’ll die if I want to). After this side-splitting black comedy, you may never want to see a Salada cracker again!

For our penultimate family celebration, Tony Turner will direct George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Whether it’s Mrs Higgins’ despairing of son Henry’s social niceties (or lack of them), Arthur Doolittle’s sidestepping of family responsibilities or Eliza’s declaring “I’m a good girl, I am!”, Pygmalion will bring to life GBS’s wonderful insight into just who has control over whom in this world.

To cap off a year-long party, Jim McMullen will direct the madcap romp that is Cosi. Come and be beguiled, as the patients in a mental institution take on the insanely ambitious idea of producing Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte. Louis Nowra’s Cosi has been described as being about madness, illusion, sanity and life. Sounds a lot like family at times to me!

Do take up my invitation and join in the family fun at Rep in 2008!

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

Naoné Carrel, President