Projects
St Marys Kid
A coming of age story. A family get together. A time capsule.
Forty-two years ago St Marys was the inspiration for a rock musical – St Marys Kid. The show explored what it meant to be a young person in the area, and went on to travel to theatres in Bankstown and Haymarket.
Q Theatre has been working on projects inspired by St Marys Kid, kicking off a multi-year project in the St Marys community that seeks to amplify existing local arts and culture and build bridges between generations living in the area.
Hometowns
In 2020 Q Theatre brought together an ensemble of young artists to train, connect, and create new work in the lead up to a larger project designed to engage with the location of St Marys.
In response to the current health crisis, we reworked the ensemble into a 6-week online course focusing on the theme of Hometowns. The course, run by Bernadette Fam, used Google Classrooms to share materials, and Zoom to enable all participants to gather ‘face to face’ on a weekly basis. The participants learnt and shared a range of skills including creative writing, sound production, spoken word, animation and interactivity.
Jack of Clubs – All Might
All Might is a song from a new musical Jack of Clubs by Nicholas Christo and Paul Smith, commissioned by Q Theatre and inspired by St Marys Kid.
Originally envisioned as part of a live community choir event, this online version (below) was produced as a socially distanced alternative into which local singers could take part.
Acknowledgements: St Marys Kid was originally created by Kevin Bennett, David Mason-Cox and Max Iffland. Cast included Greg Apps, Doreen Warbruton, Chris Rannaste, Frank Lippovic, Terry CArlan, Leanne Kerr, Pat Parker & Kven Bennett WITH Pam Donnellan, Tracy Gledhill, Ann Grossman, Angela Monteleone, Tracey Moore, Fiona Press, Francene Reddan, Pam Rinner, Sue Ruck, Katrina Samuel, Sonja Stranden, Mark Dulger, Stephen Cunningham, Noel Evans, David Hoey, Robert Jenkins, Drew Keating, Colin McDonal, Stephen Moore, Chris Smith, Robert Tompsett, Phil Walcott, John Walker & Bradley Warnemide. Direction by Max Iffland, design by Anthony Babbicci, musical direction by Kevin Bennett & Robert Mason-Cox, choreography by Andrea Kelland & Fae Casham, stage direction by Trevor Connell. The sound technician was Nick Knezevic, state manager was Ian Bretiner, assistant stage managers were Peter Douglas, Walter Martinelli, Cheryl Pike, Thomas King and Robert Jones. Set construction was by Anthony Babbicci, Ken Graham, Leone Sharp and Ann Grossman. Photography was by Trevor Connell. Drums and percussion were Gary Habgood, guitars were Richards Evans & Kevin Bennett, horns and percussion were Richard Greenber and bass was David Mason-Cox. St Marys Kid was first produced by Q Theatre in association with The Youth Theatre Workshop in January 1977 and was developed as part of the first Festival of Sydney.
St Marys Kid - Hometowns
View the final worksSt Marys Kid -
Jack of Clubs: All Might
Watch the Video NowFind out more about All Might here.
More information about St Marys Kid and tickets for the event will be released a little closer to the event dates.
If you’d like to be notified when they’re available, please send and an email to melissa.cannon@penrith.city and we’ll keep you up to date.
PEOPLE IN THE PARK
A love story. A bite to eat. A portable theatre project.
There’s a park in Kingswood. It’s not far from the station. It’s the sort of park with a swing set and shops across the road. There’s more to this park than meets the eye though. Take a second look.
Hosted around the Q Theatre caravan, People in the Park is a two-week program of performance and cultural activities. There’s food, workshops and a love story written by Tasnim Hossain inspired by the Village Café Project. You can expect an intimate experience of theatre under the stars. We’re hoping the weather is just right, but will have back-ups if it’s looking over-cast.
More information about People in the Park and tickets for the event will be released a little closer to the event dates.
If you’d like to be notified when they’re available, please send and an email to melissa.cannon@penrith.city and we’ll keep you up to date.