In this update:

1. 2025 Milestone Celebration
2. What’s On in Season 2025
3. New Ticketing arrangements for 2025
4. Applause for Home, I’m Darling
5. VDL Awards
6. Marketing and Sponsorship in 2025
7. More opportunities for involvement

1. 2025 Milestone

         It’s time to celebrate a milestone!

In 2025, Mordialloc Theatre Company will reach its 80^th birthday. We could not let this milestone go by without a celebration to recognise the help and support you have given us over the years by inviting you to join us for drinks and nibbles. We will also be launching our 2025 Season with an introduction to each season’s play by its director.

When: Saturday 15^th February 2025

Time:  3pm to 5pm

Where: Shirley Burke Theatre Foyer, Parkers Rd, Parkdale

RSVP to mordialloctheatre@gmail.com before 31 December

(Note: Places are limited)

2. What’s On in Season 2025

We are delighted to announce the line-up for our 2025 season of plays. We are excited to be heading towards the new year with a program of plays that we are sure will delight, challenge, and entertain our patrons.

Bookings are now open for all plays, either online at https://mordialloctheatre.com.au/ or by calling 9556 4440. Note that there is now a subscriber special offer for the purchase of tickets to multiple shows. Details are explained in Item 3 below.

Show 1 (27 February – 8 March):  

Sherlock Holmes is dead. Or so it is assumed. The world knows the great detective went over the falls at Reichenbach with his nemesis Professor Moriarty. But as Holmes’ body was never retrieved, a number of frauds, fakes, and charlatans have come forward since to lay claim to his identity, and it falls to Dr. Watson to disprove them. Then a telegram arrives informing Watson that three men, each claiming to be Holmes, have been committed to a remote asylum off the coast of Scotland. Now Watson must discover if one of the mad men is the real Sherlock Holmes.

Show 2 (22 – 31 May)

In a small English coastal cottage, former nuclear scientists Hazel and her husband Robin are enjoying a quiet retirement, despite living just outside the exclusion zone of a dangerously crumbling nuclear power plant. She practices her yoga, while he tends to his cows and, bar the rolling blackouts, their lives seem mostly untouched by the chaos outside – until a visit from an old friend and colleague with hidden intentions shakes their peaceful existence, forcing them to confront their secret jealousies and their past and future.

Show 3 (24 July – 2 August)

It is 1925, and the social season is in full swing. Wealthy, debonair young man-about-London, Lord Arthur Savile, is on top of the world. He is doted on by his elderly, aristocratic relatives, and engaged to Sybil Merton, the girl of his dreams. At a party, his palm is read by a fashionable cheiromantist, who foretells that he will commit a murder. Horrified at the potential shame this will bring his bride, Arthur decides that it is his duty to get the murder out of the way, discreetly, before he marries Sybil. But, which of his relatives is the most expendable? Aided by the services of his Jeeves-like butler, Baines, and a seedy German anarchist, with an array of guns, bombs and poisoned chocolates, Lord Arthur sets about his noble task – with increasingly hilarious results.

Show 4 (4 – 13 September)

Following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues, this is the poignant and funny conclusion of Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical Eugene trilogy. Eugene and his brother Stanley are trying to break into the world of professional comedy writing, while coping with their parents’ messy and gut-wrenching split. When their material is broadcast on the radio for the first time, the rest of the family is upset to hear a comedic rendition of their own trials and tribulations. How will Eugene and his brother balance their loyalties to their family and to their art?

Show 5 (13 – 22 November)

Ernestine Ashworth spends her 17th birthday agonizing over her insignificance in the universe. Soon enough it is her 18th birthday. Even sooner, her 41st. Her 70th. Her 101st. Five generations, an infinity of dreams and one cake baked over a century. This poignant and funny Broadway hit, about the extraordinary moments that make up one woman’s ordinary life, explores the highlights and heartbreaks of 100 years in just 90 minutes.

3. Ticketing arrangements for 2025

While we have needed to increase prices by a small amount, we are delighted to announce a subscriber’s special for 2025.

If you purchase 3 or more tickets, in one transaction, to 3 or more different plays, you will pay just $25 per ticket, a saving of $7 per ticket. If you choose this option, which would also make a wonderful gift for the theatre lover, simply call 9556 4440 to make your bookings. This option is not available through on-line booking.
Other ticket prices for 2025 ar

Full price        $32 
Concession.   $30
Groups 10+    $30
Under 16yrs   $28

Bookings at https://mordialloctheatre.com.au/ or call 9556 4440.

4. Plaudits for Home, I’m Darling

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Home, I’m Darling for an outstanding production. Audiences of nearly 1,200 enthusiastically showed their appreciation for the excellent acting, as well as the stunning 1950s set, costumes, and props. Some of the comments included:

“One of your best productions for sure. Every actor in it was excellent.”

“Congratulations to everyone involved with Home, I’m Darling! I saw it this afternoon and it was just delightful! Well done to Susan Rundle for an amazing production! And well done to Lisa Upson, Bella Kennedy, Paul Wanis and the rest of the cast! You were all brilliant and a joy to watch! Loved the music too!”

“Just saw it today. What a fabulous play and players. Very clever dialogue and delivered so well. A big congratulations from me. The standard was on par with what you might see at the city MTC.”

5. 2025 VDL Awards

The Victorian Drama League Annual Awards Night was held last Sunday, 1 December. Our nominated play was the comedy, Minnie and Liraz.

Two of our cast members received nominations. Congratulations to Rob Coulson who received a nomination for Best Actor, and to John Murphy who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

6. Marketing and Sponsorship

Rising production costs and venue hire costs now mean that ticket sales alone are not always sufficient to meet these demands. Many other theatre companies are in a similar position.

At the recent meeting of our Board of Management, a decision was made to investigate strategies for marketing and sponsorship of our company.

To this end, a working party has been formed to recommend the best policies and strategies to employ.

We, therefore, extend an invitation to any friends of our company who may have some expertise in this area to volunteer and join the working party, even if it is to just provide advice. If you are able to help, simply write to us at mordialloctheatre@gmail.com . Your support would be greatly appreciated.

7. Other Opportunities for Involvement

1. Set-Building

Our company is renowned in theatre circles for the quality of our sets. For each production we are allocated four days to build our sets, going from bare stage to finished setting, be it house, farm, interior, exterior, abstract or highly detailed.

Basic home handyman skills are all that is required but not essential, and both males and females are welcome. Even if you are able to help for only one of those four days, this can make a significant difference to the workload. Lunch is provided, and anyone who assists on a show in any capacity will get a free ticket for that show. Best of all, the set build is a great deal of fun and a great opportunity to put some of your creative skills to use for a worthy cause.

If you would like to join us, or seek more information, please contact Martin Gibbs on

0411 645 003, or Michael Kakogiannis on 0438 564 290.

1. Front-of-House Staff

Our pre-show sherries, and our coffee & tea at interval are greatly appreciated by our patrons and it is an important part of the theatre experience our company delivers.

We need at least three people to run Front of House for each performance. FOH duties include greeting patrons as they arrive, preparing glasses of sherry pre-show, washing up glasses during the first act and organising the tea and coffee for interval, and cleaning up and washing mugs during the second act. The kitchen at the theatre is well organised with a fast dishwasher, so it is not arduous. If you would like to be involved, please contact Corinne Gibbs on 0413 229 656 or email mandcgibbs@tpg.com.au

1. Brochure Distribution

We are excited to be heading towards the new year with a program of plays that we are sure will delight, challenge, and entertain our patrons.

It is now vitally important that we reach as wide an audience as possible. One proven way of doing this is by letterboxing the local community around Parkdale, Mentone, Mordialloc and bayside generally.

This requires volunteers on the ground, so we are appealing to all our members to come forward and contribute a couple of hours of their time. We have several thousand brochures that need to be delivered to homes around bayside.

You can do it alone or in the company of a friend. Two or three hours of your time will help us reach hundreds of potential patrons in the surrounding suburbs.

To volunteer, call Martin on 0411 645 003. He will allocate you an area and arrange collection of your brochures.

Finally, we wish you all a joyous festive season and peace and happiness in the New Year.

We look forward to greeting you once again at the Shirley Burke Theatre in 2025.

Michael Kakogiannis

President,

For the Board of Management