2026
Contents
- Introduction from the President
- The Flood
- Spectrum Productions
- The Everlasting Set
- Front of House
- Annual General Meeting 2025
- Host Shows and More at Spectrum
- Social Events
- Theatre Tech
- Other Thanks and Recognition
Introduction from the President
Looking at everything that’s happened in 2025 at Spectrum Theatre has been an eye-opener: so much has happened!
2025 has been a massive and eventful year for Spectrum Theatre, with some unprecedented challenges, but also amazing successes: we had three successful shows, Finley Award nominations, and lots of social events that have been so well-attended and enjoyable. It’s been wonderful to have so many new members join the theatre, and to also have many who have returned to the theatre after a while away.
There’s an incredible community feel to our theatre, and it has been such a pleasure to see friendships blossom, and I’m incredibly grateful to all those that have given so much of their time to our theatre. I’m also delighted to see our space being utilised by other community groups and organisations, and it’s been a delight to host so many other performers here too.
It goes without that saying that I’m enormously thankful to all those that have contributed to the theatre, and to all the people that have attended the shows and events we’ve had here. I’d also like to take a moment of appreciation for our sponsors, and to our wonderful neighbours upstairs at UWA Albany. A very special thanks goes to the City of Albany, whose continued support of Spectrum Theatre allows all this to happen, and particularly to the wonderful people at the City of Albany Property and Leases Team.
Last, but by no means least, thank you to the members of the 2025 Committee: Billie Whitbred, Jen Croston, Peter Cook, Lin Lattimer, Laura Leach, Nelson Blake, Maddi Sharpe, and Luke Simpson — the brains behind the whole operation! I cannot thank you enough for your support, tireless dedication, and immeasurable contributions to the theatre over 2025.
Here’s to an equally successful 2026!
— Tiger Bird, President
The Flood
There’s no way we couldn’t do our year in review without mentioning one of the biggest events Spectrum Theatre has faced – a huge storm in Albany that resulted in flash flooding! Unfortunately, Spectrum Theatre was one of the many buildings in Albany that got flooded – although we were also very lucky that the flooding was restricted to the bottom level of our auditorium and the “ginnel” (as we call it), it did unfortunately result in us losing so many of our set-pieces, costumes, and props that were irreparably damaged.
The flooding would have certainly been a lot more serious were it not for so many people being at the theatre at the time watching a screening of our previous production, Class of ’77!
A huge thank-you has to go out to everybody that was there on the night and worked together to manage all the rain and flood-water as best we could, and do to everyone who stepped up in the weeks and months that followed to help us repair the damage, and try and save as much as we could from all our costumes, props, and set pieces that were in storage (on the positive side, it also gave us the much needed impetus to do a clear out of the ginnel area that was desperately needed!).
We really can’t overstate the amount of work and hours spent in the aftermath of the flood (and much of it is still going!), nor can we overstate our immense gratitude and appreciation to every single person — and there are too many to name! — that stepped in to help in so many different ways: it really made such a huge difference.
We also want to send out our enormous gratitude to UWA Albany, City of Albany, and Carpet Court Albany for all their wonderful support during and after the “Great Flood”!
Spectrum Productions
One Actually
We kicked off 2025 with One Actually, a performance of four one-act plays, featuring two plays by Bruce Kane (Prince Charming’s Complaint and Ruby of Elsinore), a play by Henry Arthur Jones (Her Tongue) and a play by Barbara Yates Rothwell (Ham Sandwich), and each play was directed by Jen Croston, Tiger Bird, Laura Leach, and Lin Lattimer respectively.
Nights of one-act plays can sometimes be difficult to pull off, but One Actually was a huge success – and special mentions have to go out to the cast, many of whom were playing multiple (and very different) characters across the plays!
Blithe Spirit
Not another séance!
Our second Spectrum production for 2025 was Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, which was directed by Laura Leach. Blithe was another success for Spectrum Theatre, with a very unique Premiere Night that a featured a séance or two too many, but provided plenty of laughter nonetheless! A very special mention has to go out to life-member Eve Wilkinson, who was on hand as prompt, and to Peter Cook on lighting and sound, for their incredible abilities to keep up that night!
To boot, rehearsals took place in the aftermath of the flood surrounded by rescued boxes of costumes and props, and in a very short time before show-time, the director got COVID, we lost our beloved theatre dog, and the lead actor had to pull out just weeks before opening – but the show must go on, and it did, delighting the audiences that came to see it!
A very special mention has to go out to Luka Fumagalli, who took over the role of Charles Condomine at very short notice and managed the very impressive feat of learning all the lines for a leading role and was able to go on stage and perform the role without a script in such a small space of time – it was mind-blowing to witness! Credit and congratulations must also go to out to the cast and crew that managed to take such big and unexpected challenges in their stride, and did so by supporting one another so brilliantly, even at the most difficult and frustrating of times: it really was an example of the Spectrum Theatre spirit at its best!
A Composite Arrangement
We closed off 2025 with a debut, original work by Aaron Murray, A Composite Arrangement. Aaron also made his directorial debut with the play, being mentored in the role by co-director, Maddi Sharpe.
A romantic comedy-drama with five characters, A Composite Arrangement is set on the Greek island of Mykonos, bringing summer holiday vibes to the Spectrum Theatre stage, although in typical Albany fashion, the weather outside couldn’t have been more different most nights!
Directors Aaron Murray and Maddi Sharpe put forward A Composite Arrangement for nomination at the Independent Theatre Association’s Finley Awards, and Aaron Murray received a nomination for Breakthrough in a Play, and Emily Little – who played Lilly – received a nomination for Best Youth in a Play!
Audiences left the performances of A Composite Arrangement full of praise, so a huge congratulations and thanks go out to everyone involved for bringing Aaron’s debut play to fruition, and especially to the cast that did such an incredible job of bringing these characters to life!
(Spectrum Theatre did receive another Finley nomination, but you’ll have to read on to find out about that…!).
The Allotment – Rehearsals Begin!
There’s no rest for the wicked at Spectrum Theatre – no sooner had the production for A Composite Arrangement finished had the auditions for Spectrum Theatre’s next production began!
Lin Lattimer wasted no time finding her cast the next Spectrum Theatre production The Allotment by Gillian Plowman, which will also feature a special pre-feature performance of That’s Showbiz! by Barbara Yates Rothwell (who also wrote Ham Sandwich in One Actually).
The Allotment/That’s Showbiz! is particularly noteworthy for featuring an all-woman roster of fantastic and uniquely different characters. Rehearsals have already begun, and you’ll be able to find out all about them when the show premieres on Friday, 27th February, 2026, running Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons until the 14th March.
Watch this space for more updates!
The Everlasting Set
Whilst we’re on the subject of rehearsals for The Allotment, we couldn’t finish without mentioning that the set for A Composite Arrangement will soon be dismantled and coming down for a new set. This is a bit of a bittersweet event for Spectrum Theatre – as the set that was used for A Composite Arrangement was also used for And Then There Were None, One Actually, and Blithe Spirit as well!
Our everlasting and highly versatile set was created by local theatre legends Peter Cook and Findlay MacNish, who will also be dismantling and rebuilding the set ready for The Allotment. Spectrum Theatre are beyond grateful for their incredible work, and for creating a set that has come to feel as much a part of Spectrum Theatre’s interior as the stage itself!
Front of House
As you may have read above, Spectrum Theatre received a third nomination at this year’s Finley Awards – and it was for Best Front of House during A Composite Arrangement!
Front of House is such a crucial part of the theatre experience, being the first impression and contact audience members have with the production. It also involves countless hours of preparation and wrap-up before and after the show respectively that keep the theatre functioning during production times.
An enormous congratulations, gratitude, and recognition needs to go out to our Front of House volunteers, not just for A Composite Arrangement, but for all the shows we’ve had this year, and years prior. Spectrum Theatre’s Front of House team work incredibly hard to bring the best experience possible for our audience members, built on forty-five years of practice and tradition, and it’s such a joy to see their hard work recognised with a Finley nomination!
Very special mentions go out to Jen Croston and Amanda Hickman, who have taken on the role of managing Front of House this year and have done such an incredible job, and to Laura Leach for always ensuring the kiosk is stocked.
We’re always on the look out for people to join our (Finley-nominated) Front of House team, so if this sounds like the kind of thing you’d like to do, let us know!
AGM
Spectrum Theatre held their AGM at the end of October this year, and in a break with previous years, we held it on a Sunday afternoon so that we could hold a social event and BBQ afterwards.
Not only were all eligible members up for nomination returned, but we also had the pleasure of welcoming Nelson Blake back on to the committee after years away.
A huge thank-you goes to Sandy Wilson (local theatre legend, and Spectrum Theatre life-member) for agreeing to be our Returning Officer again – and a special thanks for her continued support for Spectrum Theatre, and for always helping out with the clean-up after shows, even when she’s there as an audience member!
It was also a very special occasion, as Peter Cook became a life-member after overwhelming committee approval to the suggestion!
Spectrum Theatre would also like to thank Salem Blackwood and Luka Fumagalli who managed to save the day by putting together the brand-new barbeque that we’d only purchased that day, and ran out of time to construct!
Host Shows and More at Spectrum
2025 has seen Spectrum Theatre continue to build a relationship with other community groups, as well as welcoming a vast array of different host shows featuring incredible talent here. Spectrum Theatre is incredibly lucky to have the increasingly rare privilege of being a theatre company with our own venue, particularly one as unique and beautiful as ours, located on the bottom floor of one of Albany’s best-known and recognisable heritage-listed buildings.
As such, it only feels right to view Spectrum Theatre as a community asset, as well as a venue for the Albany’s growing and increasingly renowned creative scene, that is available for use outside of our production dates. Spectrum Theatre continues to build and maintain positive and cooperative relationships with other community and creative groups in the region, which helps benefit us all, and the greater Albany/Kinjarling community.
We’re also immensely proud to be able to host some amazing talent – both local and from elsewhere – and it is always an absolute pleasure to welcome new audience members from that talent to our wonderful venue (we genuinely never get bored of the surprised and impressed gasps as they enter the auditorium for the first time…!).
Devil’s Burlesque
After a few members of the committee and the Spectrum Theatre membership attended (and were delighted by) a performance by Devil’s Burlesque, a wonderful relationship was established, and we’re now so pleased and proud to be able to host the Devil’s Burlesque graduation shows and performances throughout the year!
The nights we spend with Devil’s Burlesque are always fun and mesmerising, and to boot, they are some of the loveliest and easiest to work with people that you could possibly ask for! Spectrum Theatre is very much looking forward to more collaborations and performances in 2026.
You can keep up to date with Devil’s Burlesque on their Facebook page!
Hardy Croucher & ABC Heywire Win
Spectrum Theatre also got treated to more performances from local comedy legend Hardy Croucher this year, with Hardy Croucher bringing his latest stand-up show I Am the Stallion to our venue – which, expectedly, was a huge, sell-out success!
Hardy also organised a wonderful Community Comedy Night for Spectrum Theatre which was also a huge success, but also gave other people the chance to give it a go themselves!
It’s always a pleasure to work with Hardy, and we’re especially proud of Hardy for being an ABC Heywire winner!
Albany Pride Movie Nights
Spectrum Theatre have continued to host the Albany Pride Movie Nights, taking place roughly every two months, bringing an offering of LGBTIQA+ themed movies to the community.
The movie nights continue to be well-attended, maintaining a loyal audience of theatre-goers that get the chance to see movies that mightn’t get shown in Albany otherwise, and to do so in our wonderfully unique and intimate venue too!
Keep an eye on Albany Pride’s social media pages for updates about upcoming movie nights, and all the other things they do.
Albany’s Children’s Theatre
Spectrum are elated to continue our relationship with Albany Children’s Theatre, who we love welcoming into our space. We were delighted to have them here during rehearsals for their amazing production of Little Mermaid Junior, and to be able to provide a place to practice and rehearse for their Christmas Carol Choir, that does an incredible job of spreading some Christmas cheer in the community, and such a wonderful and worthwhile initiative.
You can find out more about Albany Children’s Theatre on their website.
Playback Theatre
It’s been a pleasure to have Playback Theatre at Spectrum on Saturday mornings, bringing the unique form of interactive, improvised theatre and storytelling to Albany.
If you’d like more information about Playback Theatre and/or are interested in getting involved, please reach out to us!
David Rastrick and Anti von Klewitz
Spectrum Theatre were absolutely delighted to welcome back David Rastrick back to the venue, only this time he brought with international violinist Anti von Klewitz — together they put on an incredible and fantastically unique show that delighted all that were in attendance.
We were particularly touched by the lovely words Anti von Klewitz had for our venue and the Front of House team, and although we’ll get to welcome Dave back at our venue in January with Jazztrix, we sincerely hope that we’ll get to see Anti back at Spectrum again too!
You can find out more about David Rastrick here, and more about Anti von Klewitz here.
Aidan Jones
In June, we welcomed comedian Aidan Jones who brought his show Chopin’s Nocturne to Spectrum Theatre during his 2025 tour of Australia. Blending musical insight with humour, Aidan delighted audiences with his magic of his piano playing alongside the characteristic Australian humour for a very unique and unmissable show.
Social Events
Spectrum Theatre has maintained a very active social life this year! We tried to arrange a social event for members (and visitors!) once a month outside of production time, in order to keep our members in the loop and heart of our community here at Spectrum (we are a community theatre, after all!), and to build friendships and connections.
Laura Leach has done an incredible job of arranging and organising social events throughout the year, and it has been an absolute joy to see so many friendships formed and strengthened because of that, and to be able to catch-up with members at these events that do not otherwise have the availability to get involved with Spectrum Theatre otherwise, as well as many first-time visitors to Spectrum who got the opportunity to visit the theatre and meet all of us here.
We really look forward to more social events in the New Year, so make sure you keep in touch with us via our social media and website, and through our regular Members’ Newsletter.
Karaoke Nights
As part of our social events calendar, we brought back Spectrum Karaoke Nights – and they’ve been a huge success! People have gotten up to sing-a-long to classic hits and deep cuts across a wide array of genres and styles, with long-term karaoke enthusiasts and first-timers alike taking to the stage.
Enormous gratitude goes out to Salem Blackwood who has revolutionised the karaoke experience and will now be managing and organising our karaoke nights with Laura, and to Luke Simpson for all his technical knowhow into making it all work effectively (and just as importantly, sound great!).
We’ll keep you updated with when the next karaoke nights are on – and if you haven’t come along to one yet, it’s a fun, social night full of laughter, and most importantly, without judgment!
Christmas Party
For our December social event, we had a combined get-together Barbeque and Finley Award Nominations viewing party! A huge thank you to everyone who came along, and to Melenna Cooper, and Eve Wilkinson for all their invaluable help prepping and cooking on the barbeque – you made our lives so much easier!
It was a lovely event that started in the afternoon sun, and it was amazing to be able to watch the Finley nominations be announced together (did we mention that Spectrum Theatre got three nominations?).
New Years’ Eve Get Together
Spectrum Theatre also held a New Year’s Eve get-together for anyone who hadn’t already made plans! Thank you once again to everyone for all their help with the barbeque and setting up the tech alongside Luke Simpson, and for everyone who came along and celebrated the New Year with us.
All those who were there had a fabulous time, and we got to watch the New Years’ fireworks over the harbour and to see in the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026.
Theatre Tech
As often is the case with technology, the time had come for Spectrum Theatre to upgrade its equipment so that we could continue to perform and put on productions in the years ahead. Much of our technology that had served us well over the years found itself put into retirement, and replaced with newer technology that will allow us to do more way into the future.
Thank you again to committee member and Tech Manager Luke Simpson (of Plantagenet Production Services), for his incredible expertise and organising — not only are these upgrades invaluable, but they also make the operation and designing of sound and lighting much more streamlined and easier to do, which will allow more of our members to upskill and learn how to use the systems in place.
Other Thanks and Recognition
Tom & Ann
Tom & Ann have been incredibly generous to Spectrum Theatre, by coming along to our special Premiere Night events for both Blithe Spirit and A Composite Arrangement, photographing audience members on the red carpet for audience keepsakes. We’re incredibly grateful to them for lending us their skills, and for their continued support of Spectrum Theatre in general. You can visit their website here.
Roger Guinery
Roger Guinery has trodden the boards at Spectrum Theatre, but is perhaps also well-known in the Albany community as the host of 100.9 Art Magazine with Roger, which is broadcast on Great Southern FM (100.9FM) on Sundays from 12.30pm to 1pm. Roger is a huge supporter of the local art and creative scene in Albany, as well as curating the Voices of the South, an annual anthology of local contemporary writing.
He’s also always been willing and happy to come down to Spectrum Theatre to interview directors, cast, and crew about upcoming productions to help us plug the show and make it a success. We’re genuinely grateful to Roger for all he continues to do for Spectrum, and for the local art and creative scene.
You can find out more about Great Southern FM here.
Sponsors
Our sponsors really do help us achieve great things: a huge thank you to Scott Leary MLA, Last Jar Wholefoods, Great Southern Grammar, Best Electrical and Gas, Albany Retravision, and Paperbark Merchants.
Albany Retravision
We also give our immense gratitude to Albany Retravision who kindly donated a desktop dishwasher to the theatre, which has been an absolute godsend to us, and made the clean-up after shows so much easier! Thank you again, Albany Retravision!
Mister Money
We’d like to express our sincere gratitude to Mister Money on North Road, who have been an absolute godsend for allowing us to borrow furniture and set pieces for our productions. Not only is this a massive saving for each production’s budget, but it also saves much needed storage space and time!
Depression Support Network Albany
Thank you to Depression Support Network Albany for their continued support of Spectrum Theatre, and for the borrowing of costumes and props as we need them for the production. We’d also like to send our personal thanks to them for all the incredible work they do in Albany.
To our long-time, new and returning members
We simply couldn’t do it without our members! Thank you to all our members for their continued support of Spectrum Theatre — to the members who have been with us for a long time, to all the members that have joined for the first time, and to all the members that have returned to Spectrum after time away.
Our members are what help create our very special theatre family and community, and becoming a member is a very important way of ensuring our theatre’s survival. We’re incredibly grateful to you all!