Echo Theatre Co
Our patrons are the lifeblood of our theatre – we wouldn’t exist without you…
Echo Theatre Co
Aspiring performers from across the region have access to a professional pathway with The Q’s theatre company, Echo Theatre. Echo has an increased focus on creating from within. Under the guidance of artistic director Jordan Best, Echo produces at least one show each year as part of the subscription season with a view to offering these shows across the wider region. Echo provides a rich creative environment that promotes the amazing wealth of established and developing talent that enriches our cultural landscape.
God of Carnage
2022
The Q and Echo Theatre rounded out 2022 with this darkly comedic gem from Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton.
What happens when two sets of parents meet up to deal with the unruly behaviour of their children? A calm and rational debate between grown-ups about the need to teach kids how to behave properly? Or a hysterical night of name-calling, tantrums, and tears before bedtime?
This is a comedy of manners, without the manners…
“Jordan Best directs this in a fine manner, managing the pace between the slow builds up of tension and the sudden explosions into violent outbursts. All four performers are at the top of their game – Lainie Hart as the wife nursing long-held grudges, Jim Adamik as the one preoccupied with his mobile phone, sublimely dismissive and arrogant, Carolyn Eccles as the most precious of the group, self-confessedly utterly humourless (and all the funnier for it), and Josh Wiseman as the solicitously friendly one, infuriatingly capable of seeing all sides of the argument. There’s not a wrong note in the under 90 minute running time – the quartet plays this material to perfection, bringing out the character’s foibles, aggressions, defensiveness and pretentions in full glorious display..” – Simon Tolhurst
Wolf Lullaby
2021
A small country town…
A horrible crime…
An unimaginable suspect…
The beginning of 2021 saw The Q opening its doors once again with the award winning Australian play by Hillary Bell. Wolf Lullaby asks, when a child commits an act of terrible violence, who is really responsible?
“Wolf Lullaby has enough psychological power to remain imprinted on the psyche of its audience. […] [It] should be priority viewing for anyone interested in experiencing the power of theatre to evoke apparently invisible realities within social and psychological existence.” – City News
Ruthless
2022
How far would you go to get what you want?
All-female camp KILLER cult classic Ruthless! The Musical tells the story of the beautiful and talented 8-year-old Tina Denmark who will do anything to play the lead in her school play…ANYTHING!
When little Tina Denmark, a precocious little triple-threat, gets herself a manager and tries out for the lead in the school play, her and mother’s lives are thrown into a high-camp chaos! One thing leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another, and suddenly there’s death and destruction belting and Fosse all over the place.
A cross between THE BAD SEED and GYPSY with ALL ABOUT EVE- Boutique music theatre at its best.
“Director Jordan Best has assembled a superb cast who obviously relish the opportunity to pull out all stops to cope with the myriad of preposterous revelations and plot twists. ..a delightfully staged production of a rarely seen but wonderfully entertaining musical.” – Australian Arts Review
Belfast Girls
2019
In 2019, Echo staged the professional premier of Belfast Girls by Jaki McCarrick, the story of 5 famine orphans coming to Australia from Belfast in the 1850s. These extraordinary women are part of our history, helping to shape the Australia we know today.
“There is a stark and earthy authenticity to Jordan Best’s premiere production of Belfast Girls for Echo Theatre, the newly formed professional resident company at the Q. […] We see real women, bearing the burden of their poverty and struggle through dreams of escape and good fortune. We see women, true to their nature, fighting, supporting, comforting and confronting their identity during a three-month passage to a new and uncertain future. And we see women, determined to shake off the shackles of expectation and male authority.” – Peter Wilkins, The Canberra Times
Echo Youth
Launched in 2022, Echo Youth provides opportunities for our regions young artists to work with and learn from our established local artists.