Do you remember the first time you experienced the magic of a live theatre show? Ask any playwright, actor or theatre maker and it’s often their early exposure to the theatre that had a profound effect on them.
Each year NORPA puts together an exciting program of shows that inspire, educate and engage with young people of all ages. We connect with pre-schools, primary, high schools and home-schoolers across the region.
We offer student group prices (teachers complimentary), provide teacher resources specific to each show, and organise additional activities such as workshops, opportunities to meet the cast and educational visits to NORPA.
For more information please download our Theatre for Schools flyer and booking form, or contact our Education Coordinator or Box Office.
Performances
The 91 Storey Treehouse
Friday 6 March, 10:00am & 12:00pm
On demand workshops can be booked with this performance
Andy and Terry’s Treehouse has reached an amazing 91 Stories! It’s now more fantastically dangerous than ever, with a deserted desert island, a whirlpool, and a giant spider!
But Andy, Terry and Jill have no idea they’re about to face their biggest challenge yet! Mr Big Nose has sent his grandchildren to the Treehouse, and they don’t want to just sit quietly. Can Andy, Terry & Jill master this extreme babysitting challenge? What does mysterious fortune teller Madam Know- It-All really want? And will the Big Red Button really destroy the world?
The team behind the 13-, 26-, 52- and 78-Storey Treehouses Live on Stage return with a fantastical trip through this wild, weird and wonderful world for children 6-12 and their adults. Just beware of the Fortune Teller…
Animal Farm
Wednesday 6 May, 11am
On demand workshops can be booked with this performance
Animal Farm, one of the most enduring political commentaries returns in a multi-award winning, critically-acclaimed theatre production. George Orwell’s intensely powerful fairy tale allegorizes and satirizes communist governments while illustrating with stunning simplicity how greed and power corrupts with devastating consequences to all who yield.
Revolution has taken place at Manor Farm. The pigs have assumed control and all the animals, fueled by enthusiastic camaraderie and guided by a set of self-imposed rules, are promised a better life free from the self-serving greed of humans. However, it is not long until the rules that promised equality and freedom become the shackles that bind the animals once again.
Created by shake & stir and directed by Michael Futcher, Animal Farm promises to be one of the most shocking, relevant and wickedly funny theatre events of 2020.
Playlist
Thursday 14 May, 11am
Followed by workshop at 12:40pm
Playlist is Beyoncé meets the women’s marches meets Australian Idol. It’s full of suburban dreams and pop star fantasies.
Five incredible young women talk about their favourite female pop stars and how these narratives inspire and shape their personal worlds in this genre-defying dance theatre work.
The extraordinary cast represent a unique and powerful cross section of emerging artists in contemporary Australia, featuring Ebube Uba, a Nigerian-Australian actor and dancer; Neda Taha, a Tongan-Iraqi-Australian hip hop dancer; May Tran a Vietnamese-Australian slam poet; comedic actor Tasha O’Brien; and Croatian- Australian pop star Mara Knezevic.
Created by PYT Fairfield (Jump First, Ask Later), one of Australia’s most celebrated makers of brave and transformative new work that reflects the cultural diversity of contemporary Australia.
Bell Shakespeare’s
The Comedy of Errors
Wednesday 23 September, 11am
Shipwrecked and separated 25 years earlier, two sets of long-lost twins miraculously find themselves in the same city on the same day. What could possibly go wrong?
The Comedy of Errors is a hilarious romp of swapped identities, misguided love, mistaken imprisonment and chaotic mishaps, leading to an unbelievably crazy day for bumbling twins.
At the heart of this tale of comedic misfortune is an old man searching for his lost children who has found himself in the fight of his life…to save his life. As far-fetched coincidences unfold, chaotic hilarity ensues and a man’s life could be saved — if only everything would go to plan.
Directed by Janine Watson (Romeo and Juliet, Ensemble Theatre’s Unqualified) this is a beautiful story about reunion, wrapped up in an evening of entertainment and laughter.
After a day of mistaken identity leading to unfair thrashings, wrongful arrests and false charges of infidelity, robbery, madness and even demonic possession, can the twins possibly reunite and live happily ever after?
Flow
Thursday 27 November, 11am
On demand workshops can be booked with this performance
Flow is a yarn about country, Yaegl country. It’s an urban tale of finding identity in music and hip hop. It’s a personal story of family pride, friendship and defining moments. It’s an ancient story about the water that flows through this country.
Mitch King is a Yaegl and Bundjalung man – he is a teacher, a hip hop artist, a dancer and community man. In Flow he explores our connection to water and the relationship we have to the rivers of this place throughout history, from the ancestors to the present. Join Mitch as he takes us deeper into country to discover childhood stories and the power of music, family and connection.
This is a work for everyone who wants to know more about where they live.
Workshops
We believe no one has more energy and imagination than kids. Many of the companies visiting NORPA also offer workshops for school aged children and our community. We also offer On Demand Workshops that can be tailored to performances.
For more information please download our Theatre for Schools workshops flyer and booking form, or contact our Education Coordinator or Box Office.
The Comedy of Errors – Workshops
Bell Shakespeare
Friday 14 August
In-school workshops available
Lismore City Hall workshop 2:00–3:15pm
Audition 3:45–4:45pm
Regional Access Workshop
Regional students booked in to see The Comedy of Errors at NORPA are eligible to participate in Bell Shakespeare’s complimentary Regional Access Workshops.
Designed to prepare students for the production, these practical, 75-minute workshops guide students through the plot, key characters, themes, scene work, design, and insights into the production itself.
John Bell Scholarship
Students from regional schools across Australia are eligible to audition for the John Bell Scholarship. A life-changing opportunity for budding performers, three students will be selected to spend one incredible week training with Bell Shakespeare.
Auditions take the form of 15-minute masterclasses with a Bell Shakespeare artist, workshopping text and receiving feedback on performance.
Three students will receive one week of training and ongoing mentorship from Bell Shakespeare. They will undertake acting masterclasses with Bell Shakespeare artists, observe rehearsals, see live theatre and perform their winning monologue for John Bell, Artistic Director Peter Evans and a Bell Shakespeare cast.
For more information visit: https://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/learning/scholarships/john-bell-scholarship/
Playlist – Workshops
PYT Fairfield
Thursday 14 May, 12:40pm (following 11am performance)
Making PLAYLIST: How PYT makes new Australian Work.
Working to develop text, dance moves and engaging in PYT’s unique conversational practice, the students will make their very own mini-version of Playlist, led by the cast and creatives of the performance. Students will be encouraged to reflect on the performance and their own responses to identity, intersectional feminism, and female empowerment in contemporary Australia; these conversations evolve into a dance theatre presentation.
Duration: 90 mins
Suitable for ages 14+
education partner
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