Occasional Combustible Disaster: a love letter to the community

Source: Upstage at the Playhouse

A hilarious and heartbreaking new play, Occasional Combustible Disaster, will lead an explosive UpStage at the Playhouse season at Civic Theatre’s Playhouse as a red-hot team of creatives come together to examine the fallout inevitable in all nuclear families.

The play is a debut outing for Medowieborn and bred playwright and producer Daniel Cottier, who has spent the majority of their career behind the curtain.

Cottier has penned a touching look at the perfect small-town family and what happens when mental health and gender diversity grow into a new generation.

“I wrote this play for folks who feel out of place in the spaces that they grew up in. It’s about returning to a place that formed you and attempting to do your part to make it a little better,” said Cottier.

The story follows Freddy Ambit, who has been told over and over that he has his whole life ahead of him. In two days he finishes his HSC and turns 18, but before that he needs to make a choice: turn himself over to the police to be tried as a minor or live with the guilt of a deadly secret for the rest of his life. The surprise return of his non-binary sibling and the constant bickering of his mother and father about schoolies, bananas and Lapland can’t distract Freddy from the searing hot fuse burning down in his mind.

This production marked the directorial debut of Sydney Theatre Award winner BROCKMAN, who will be leading an exciting creative team of queer and non-binary artists and technicians.

Occasional Combustible Disaster is presented by UpStage at the Playhouse, an exciting initiative developed by the Civic Theatre Newcastle. The program aims to connect with the vibrancy and talent of our local theatre community by supporting and presenting new and reimagined works, produced and performed by locals.

Now entering its third year, UpStage at the Playhouse continues to build on its growing reputation as Newcastle’s home for bold, original, and local theatre.

WHAT | Occasional Combustible Disaster

WHEN | 12-21 March

WHERE | Civic Theatre Newcastle

TICKETS & INFO | www.civictheatrenewcastle.com.au/upstage