A performance production company, committed to the artists, right in the heart of Freo.
The Dog / The Cat
by Brendan Cowell & Lally Katz
April 3 - 21
FTC is very excited to welcome back Michael Abercromby (Steve in Last Train To Freo) as a Director of this incredible pair of comedic plays, with JACK RABBIT PRODUCTION presenting their first show with us in Freo.
Sharing man’s best friend with your ex-best friend is hard.
Being in the doghouse with your own cat is harder.
THE DOG / THE CAT by Brendan Cowell & Lally Katz is a purr-fect rom-com double bill about breakups, makeups and the pets caught in the middle of their human’s drama. Whether its negotiating park etiquette, or organising shared custody of a fussy feline, this WA premiere has something for both dog and cat people alike.
And the cast are a ridiculously over-talented bunch ready to knock your little socks, and toe-beans, right off!
Jack Rabbit Productions work between Perth + Sydney, producing high-impact, high-energy shows, that test the boudnaries of our 'polite' theatre framework - in just the way that FTC enjoys.
Praise for Jack Rabbit:
“Let’s hope...JackRabbit Theatre keep producing this special kind
of magical work” — Lisa Thatcher
“JackRabbit are definitely living up to their mission of keeping it loud,
fast and entertaining” — The Buzz From Sydney
Praise for The Dog / The Cat:
“This is a comic play and it is excellent” — Sydney Arts Guide.
'The audience were not just laughing, they were snorting.' — Australian Stage
“Rom-com is much easier to send up than it is to write. Here, Cowell and Katz apply themselves seriously to the form in pungently humorous 40-minute plays that bear each writer's distinctive imprint.” — The Sydney Morning Herald
“Instead of scanning the rom-com category on Netflix and re-watching Clueless, get to the theatre and see The Dog / The Cat; its intimate setting and laughter-filled study of contemporary dating is a winner.” — Aussie Theatre
“The writing in both plays is polished, beguiling and very, very funny.” — Australian Stage
JAMES SWEENEY
An accomplished screen & theatre actor. James graduated WAAPA in 2013, appeared in the AACTA award-winning first season of Total Control (ABC), The Secret Daughter (Ch7), and most recently Totally, Completely, Fine. You may also recognise him from Home & Away, Neighbours, Love Child and Molly.
James has led productions at BSSTC, including As You Like It, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Tartuffe.
James is also an avid writer, co-writing The Pitch (winner of the weekly Comedy award at Fringe World 2020), Good, Die, Young (2018 Sydney Fringe) and The Swell Party.
SIOBHAN DOW-HALL
A WAAPA graduate, Siobhan is a life-long Fremantle resident is thrilled to be performing at Victoria Hall. Recent performance highlights include Playthings, by Scott McArdle for BSSTC, and Susie Conte’s adaption of A Doll’s House for Tempest Theatre.
She is delighted to be working with such fantastic artists on The Dog/The Cat, even though she and Adam Sollis played brother and sister in Foxtel’s Cloudstreet, and this time around they’re playing…not brother and sister!
Siobhan is currently writing her PhD, while teaching at WAAPA and the University of Notre Dame, and is so happy to see all her favourite students in the audience.
ADAM SOLLIS
Born & bred a stone’s throw from Fremantle, he received his high-school education at John Curtin College of the Arts before attending WAAPA, graduating in 2014. Adam's television and film credits include Cloudstreet, Stormworld, Dance Academy: The Movie, Riot [ABC], Home and Away, and most recently The Surfer, starring Nicolas Cage.
Adam’s theatre credits include Tonsils and Tweezers for BSSTC, Once In Royal David's City for QTC/BSSTC, Hit, Necrophilia and WRATH for JackRabbit Productions, Shepherd and Never Closer at Belvoir 25A, and The Effect for FTC.
Adam will be reprising his role in Never Closer in mid 2024 for the Belvoir main stage season.
Cast.
Performing Arts WA Awards.
Congratulations to the many artists nominated for their work on Mary Stuart and thank you PAWA for these nomination
FTC came away with an outstanding EIGHT nomination in total across two shows - Mary Stuart and Last Train To Fremantle. The nominations include recognition for:
BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Performing Lines in association with Fremantle Theatre Company for the Perth Festival, Mary Stuart
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE
Kate Walsh, Mary Stuart
Michael Abercromby, Last Train To Fremantle
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kazimir Sas, Last Train To Fremantle
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITION OR ARRANGING
Rachael Dease, Mary Stuart
OUTSTANDING STAGE DESIGN
Bruce McKinven & Amalia Lambert, Mary Stuart
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Bruce McKinven & Amalia Lambert, Mary Stuart
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Mel Cantwell, Mary Stuart
An incredible effort from all involved in these wonderful shows - which together show FTC's commitment to delivering in the simplest and the grandest venues, alike. At all times, determined to produce for all West Australian audiences, whoever and wherever you might be.
A massive thank you to Iain Grandage and team at the Perth Festival, for his deft touch and their invitation to share in such a grand vision for the Festival and WA.
And a loud applause to Jeremy Smith and his superb team at Performing Lines for delivering the exact brand of excellence in production that you expect from this WA group within the National outfit of absolute guns! Wonderful to work with you and see this many local artists storm the biggest stage in the State - what a result!
Lastly, thank you to our incredible Board and to all of you - our divine audience! - who make it all worthwhile, and for whom all of this toil is devoted. Your coming to see shows, and supporting us with your actions, is literally the only thing that makes real art possible in the country. We are always grateful.
Winner Winner
Our Space
Fremantle Theatre Company is now at home in Freo's own Victoria Hall on High Street . We can now open our doors to our new audience and begin to offer professional arts training from the city centre, for all.
Each of our courses are truly invigorated by the old bones and inviting space of this grand theatre.
The continued residency will allow the company to properly support the development of works with new voices along side the work of more established artists.
The space will make exploration into dance, theatre, music and film far more readily available to the local community and offer a truly sustainable practice for artist keen to work from their own shores, here in WA.
Boasting a newly outfitted Education Space and Rehearsal Room, our Downstairs Ready Room, the Victoria Stage and Hall, as well as company office spaces, the venue will act as an incubator to all of the works that we hope to bring to Fremantle.
Fremantle Theatre Company is pleased to announce that the company won the Excellence in Creative Industries section of the Fremantle Business Awards 2022 presented by the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce on the 15th of September.
The Board would like to thank all our supporters, our audience, our fabulous casts, and crews for their contribution to this success. And a big thank you to the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce for this acknowledgment.
We look forward to bringing you more excellent work in the coming years, starting with Shakespeare in the Park, and Twelfth Night in December/January.