Daramalan Theatre Company

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Daramalan Theatre Company (DTC) explores theatrical processes and subject matter of particular relevance for younger people, the Daramalan community and the wider society. Its program varies from group devised productions, classic and contemporary scripts, in-house scripted works and musicals. Each is given a fresh treatment that will be of benefit to the participants and audiences.
The underlining rationale is that our arts can be harnessed to focus on the very foundations of what it is to be human beings facing realities that both challenge and reinforce our human and spiritual potential.
The particular content of much of our work draws on a dichotomy between materialist, humanist and spiritual values. There are not many institutions in a position, nor with the resources and expertise, to explore this area in any real depth or even with such daring as demonstrated by Daramalan Theatre Company.
The chosen themes are often spiritual in nature while acknowledging the reality of contemporary experience: ennui, rampant materialism, the abandonment of spiritual values, the reduction of life and existence to commodities, the havoc caused by drugs and addictions, the growing violence between competing belief systems. Focusing on these issues gives greater leverage and support to curricula and pastoral care programs offered within the school. It also gives the wider community a focus for artistic relevance for everyday existence.
These themes are found in Shakespeare as they are in many great works of literature and art. The themes are a constant source of concern and creation for both students and teachers within Daramalan. The school has a very strong, embedded sense of purpose in the area of social justice. This gives rise to developing works that reflect this sense: eg. Alice Is Missing (2001), Cathedral Song (2002), Mack The Knife And Children Of The Bauhaus (2007), Alibrandi (2008), Ich Bin Faust (2010), Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs (2016), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (2016), The Trojan Women (2022), and The Heart (2024)
From the lone guitarist in The Flies (1999) to the full band / orchestra used in Romeo and Juliet (2000) and Peer Gynt (2004), use of live and pre-recorded music in Alice Is Missing, the cabaret band in Mack The Knife And Children Of The Bauhaus and “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”, the band and classical influences in “The Heart” (2024),  Daramalan Theatre Company has used music to enhance the dramatic action of all its work. This has led to some innovative work that opens new doors for development and presentation.
 
The Daramalan Theatre Company has won awards for many participants and productions over the decades of its existence. With the opening of The Joe Woodward Theatre in the Issoudun Performing Arts Centre in 2024, the company moves to another level in the creation and presentation of very significant theatre.
 
Joe Woodward
Artistic Director

Contact

For more information on the Daramalan Theatre Company, please contact joe.woodward@daramalan.act.edu.au

What’s On

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Daramalan Theatre Company presents

ROMEO AND JULIET Written by William Shakespeare
adapted by Tony Allan

Directed and designed by Joe Woodward

The Joe Woodward Theatre, Issoudun Performing Arts Centre, Daramalan

26 and 30 April and 1, 2, 3 May at 7.00pm and 3 May at 1.00pm

Are you ready for a total theatre experience?

DTC’s new theatre production of ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare is a rare Hermetic presentation to create a total theatre experience of drama, music, media, interactive entertainment, food and drink and visual art.

We have a major, and hopefully ground-breaking work in ROMEO AND JULIET to be prepared and presented and then presented on 26 April – 3 May.

Join us in the Nationally recognized state-of-the-art Joe Woodward theatre for a truly total theatre experience. You can book tables of four and be immersed in the space while being able to bring in tapas and drinks from the bar; or you can select theatre seating in rows to give you a little distance. Whatever you choose will still allow the hermetic experience of the space and time to stay with your dreams for many years to come …