Initiated by local Illawarra artists Michelle Fry and Zachary Hanlon in 2023, Ashworks continues in it’s third year to provide opportunities to budding artists in writing and creating some of their very first theatre works.

Selected based on an initial pitching process, the four shows in Ashworks: Lost Souls focus on stories of self-discovery, love and human connection. With the tumultuous state of the world we live in, we hope these journeys of personal change and soul-searching reach you and bring you some comfort that we are all Lost Souls - together.

Producer: Zachary Hanlon (they/them)
Lighting Design / Operator: Zachary Hanlon (they/them)
Sound Design: Arden Dickerson, Michael Ianni, Madison Lopez, Jack Robbie, Ani Roberts & Alexandria Walker
Set: Steen, Arden Dickerson, Zachary Hanlon (they/them), Michael Ianni, Beck Jackson Calway, Madison Lopez & Ani Roberts
Publicity: Nick Kilpatrick (they/them) & Zachary Hanlon (they/them)
Posters: Arden Dickson, Beck Jackson Calway, Madison Lopez, Jack Robbie & Ani Roberts

About the Show: What if the history of literature as we know it was… different? What if one night, Shakespeare decided that Hamlet belonged in King Lear’s world, that Puck grew up in Fair Verona, or that the true star-crossed lovers were Romeo and Helena?

At The Phoenix Theatre where we lay our scene, join Shakespeare himself as he takes the stage at teh Tavern’s first ever poetry night! Here, he’ll make like Robin to combine Romeo and Juliet with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and puppet his characters around to explore an alternate fate. This feel-good tale will encapsulate love, heartbreak, comedy and classic tunes, spanning across both an Elizabethan and modern context.

Writer / Director: Madison Lopez

Featuring: Kerth Caro, Andrew Relf, Bayley Summerfield, Sienna Pallone & Jessica Romeo

About the Show: In a supermarket aisle, in the woods, between a can of soup and another identical can of soup, three strangers meet. Through a winding series of strange words and hopeful glances, they attempt to traverse the infinite space between one person and another. Sugar & Bones is an absurdist comedy about friendship, love and loneliness. It is a play where three people try - and successfully fail - to understand how any one person could come to understand anyone else.

Writer / Director: Jack Robbie
Assistant Director / Photographer: Vivienne Tennant
Stage / Costumes: Beck Jackson Calway

Featuring: Hayley Bannerman, Grace Wallace-Mitchell & Jack Robbie

About the Show: WAIT… What was that bump in the night? Obviously an opportunity to prove how brave you truly are! At least that’s what Oscar things… The only way to display your masculinity is by telling a genuine and TRUE ghost story where you are the hero! But what do you do if you habe no ghost? You get one!

Oscar has a clear goal in life. he mist conquer his fears, embrace discomfort, see growth and therefore become an alpha! For Oscar there’s nothing more embarrassing than when his friends, Lily and Dale, agree that Oscar can’t handle something.. Especially something that Dale can’t handle himself... Join Oscar as he takes you through the journey of proving his masculinity without a care in the world for anyone who gets in his way whether it be his friends or a ghoul.

Writer / Director: Arden Dickerson

Featuring: Finn Allenby, Sydney Madsen, Michael Conrecode & Lana Page

About the Show: “In the very centre of Australia there is an emu farm called the Eridunda Roadhouse. now to the west a bit, there is an unnamed Camel Farm.”

Michael finds himself stranded in an unlikely situation, surrounded by ghosts, without food, and where do these camels keep coming from? Came Farm faces grief in the landscape of the Australian outback. Michael experiences hope, devastation, mild discomfort, and a little bit of fun in his journey home from the unnamed Camel Farm.

Writer: Michael Ianni
Director: Ani Roberts
Dramaturgy: Irelish Barker

Featuring: Michael Ianni