“We explore universal themes from our unique perspectives and aim to find the fantastical in the mundane. We make work which is evocative and challenging, but also poetic and funny. We like to make people think and laugh.”
About
The Strangeways Ensemble is Merrigong’s permanent company of neuro-diverse actors and musicians and Wollongong’s only professional theatre ensemble.
We explore universal themes from our unique perspectives and aim to find the fantastical in the mundane. We make work which is evocative and challenging, but also poetic and funny. We like to make people think and laugh.
We have been making and touring original theatre work since 2014. We take our ideas and develop them into shows with our creative team during our weekly Friday sessions and intensive weeklong workshops. It can take us up to three years to make a major new work.
Praise for the Ensemble
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...a joyous piece of theatre here that showcases diversity, teamwork and a collaborative spirit.
- Weekend Notes -
They are a go-getting bunch and Trash Talk is a wildly successful, thumping, sprawling and brawling show which is collectively created to entertain and educate. I had the best time in their company”
- Reviews by Judith -
...thought-provoking and powerful in its concepts. It had drama, comedy, emotion and an intriguing use of technology. I highly recommend this show.
- The Illawarra Flame -
The show is a meditative experience...it’s textually spare, relying much more on the power of metaphor. It’s a rare opportunity to reflect and examine, too seldom offered in the theatre, let alone life at large.
- Crikey
Coming Soon
The Seven
21 – 29 Nov 2025
by The Strangeways Ensemble
In 1964, a group of seven friends are on their way home from seeing The Beatles concert in Sydney, when an incident on the train forces them to get off at Helensburgh station. Missing the last train, they decide to try and hitch a ride. In the morning light, it becomes clear that none of them made it back.
After a short-lived investigation into their disappearance, the case is closed, and their story becomes local legend. Until 2024, when a grisly discovery at the Helensburgh Tunnel forces the re-opening of the 60-year-old case, and old grudges and conspiracy theories that have circled the mystery for years, are brought to the fore.
For more than a decade, members of The Strangeways Ensemble have created genre-bending theatre like Trash Talk and Something That Happened, infused with trademark humour, gravity and insight. Now their latest work, The Seven takes a witty approach to horror and conspiracy tropes to create an original, home-grown mystery that explores notions of visibility and the unknown.
Members
MALCOLM ALLISONMalcolm Allison (Devisor / Performer) was in The Man Who Dreamt the Stars, Merrigong’s first production in association with The Disability Trust, The Outside Man, Trash Talk and The Strangeways Cabaret. He can imitate many famous voices, animals and bird sound. He has written many jokes, poems and songs, really can be funny, and truly has been told that he should be on the screen. | |
ETHAN ARNOLDEthan Arnold (Devisor / Performer) joined the Strangeways Ensemble for Trash Talk and also performs in The Strangeways Cabaret. He has performed in The Disability Trust Altogether Drama projects since 2016. Ethan is passionate about drama, and writing, as he is able to express his creative side. | |
JORDAN BOWATERJordan Bowater (Devisor / Performer) joined the Strangeways Ensemble for Trash Talk and also performs in The Strangeways Cabaret as the show’s MC. His interest outside of theatre is music – he plays a myriad of instruments. | |
ETHAN GREENEthan Green (Devisor / Performer) has performed in The Outside Man, Trash Talk and The Strangeways Cabaret for Merrigong Theatre Company. He performed in musicals while at Holy Spirit College, performs in Altogether Drama performances with The Disability Trust and loves dancing, songwriting and being in front of an audience! | |
RACHEL HEADRachel Ann Head (Devisor / Performer) started drama when she was 21 years old. Rachel really loves acting and singing and started her performance career with The Disability Trust, in particular playing Cinderella. She has since performed in The Outside Man, Trash Talk and The Strangeways Cabaret for Merrigong Theatre Company. | |
PHILLIP PRENTICEPhillip Prentice (Devisor / Performer) was in The Man Who Dreamt the Stars, Merrigong’s first production in association with The Disability Trust, The Outside Man, Trash Talk and The Strangeways Cabaret. He has been in many Altogether Drama productions including Cinderella and Four Play, as well as A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Workshop Theatre. Phillip is well known as the “gentle giant”. | |
CHRISTIAN TAGLIAFERROChristian Tagliaferro (Devisor / Performer) completed his HSC Drama subject before studying drama as part of his BA at UOW. He has performed in The Outside Man, Trash Talk and The Strangeways Cabaret for Merrigong Theatre Company. He has performed as part of The Disability Trust’s Altogether Drama group, and with the Phoenix Theatre, most recently Wendy Richardson’s The Last Voyage of the Gracie Anne and Windy Gully. |
The Strangeways Cabaret
The Strangeways Cabaret is the ensemble’s joyful celebration of new performance works – part game show, part vaudevillian caper, this rollicking, rough and ready event takes audiences on an antics-fuelled ride that packs a surprising emotional punch.
Curated and performed by the ensemble members, the cabaret also plays host to a live cabaret band and invites local guest artists who are neuro-diverse or having a disability to perform in the show.
First performed in 2021, the cabaret has since played The Spiegeltent in 2022 and 2023 and will be touring to Bathurst and Queanbeyan in 2026.
For more information, please contact Anne-Louise Rentell on arentell@merrigong.com.au
Workshops
The Strangeways Ensemble are committed to sharing their skills and engaging with communities to support people of all ages to develop their confidence and talents through our unique workshops. We offer these workshops to everyone: people with and without a disability, Disability Services, Support Units in schools, community groups and local businesses. Choose from the workshop options below or contact us for something tailor-made.
FIND YOUR STRANGE WORKSHOPS
Get Up on the Dance Floor: Physically prepare yourself for performance with some of the ensemble’s favourite warmups before busting your moves to your favourite tunes.
The Eye(brow)s Have It: Eyebrow gymnastics, vocal impressions, original jokes, anything goes when it comes to showing off what makes you stand out from the crowd. This workshop is a safe space to share your one-of-a-kind performance skills.
A Funny Thing Happened: Do you have a story to tell? It can be “funny ha-ha” or “funny strange”. It can be true or totally made up. This workshop helps you turn your tale into a poem, song, monologue, or double act ready for music, lights, action.
Hit it!: Percussion workshop – find your own rhythm or groove or accompany a fellow artist on their dance routine, song or story.
Sing Song: Singing and song-writing workshop where you are the creator working closely with guest artists to put your improvised lyrics to music on the spot
Find Your Light: Take the above and turn it into an act or work with what you have and our team to develop it further. Who knows, you may get a chance to perform as our guest in a future Strangeways Cabaret!
For more information, please contact Anne-Louise Rentell on arentell@merrigong.com.au
Praise for The Strangeways Ensemble Workshops:
“To say yesterday was a major hit with the team is an understatement. Everyone was still talking about it today and I imagine for team day years to come. It’s a real gift to share your talents, but to also help others feel brave and safe to have fun and get outside their comfort zone. I think everyone learned a lot from you all and the biggest request is that I organise our next team event around your performances so the whole team can see you in action.”
– Evelyn Ireland, Senior Manager, Trusted Clinical Services
Previous Productions
The Shadow and The Light - A COVID-19 experiment on Zoom
Artist Statement
“Since April 2020, The Strangeways Ensemble has been meeting online every Friday in lieu of our weekly workshops in the Bob Peet Studio at IPAC. It has been a very different space in which to work, but one which has inspired reflective and personal responses to the situation we all currently find ourselves in. When Ethan Arnold shared his poem, The Shadow and The Light, it resonated with all of us so we devised a way to present and share it through the medium of zoom.”
– Anne-Louise Rentell
“This poem wasn’t actually written as my response for COVID-19, in fact I’ve written this poem years ago as something else, and I forgotten all about it until Anne-Louise brought it up while discussing this experiment with Zoom. So I rewritten it, cut some things out and here we have the poem that you heard.
I think it’s interesting to share during this time because even though it was meant to be something else, I put in a lot of the feelings that I had when I was younger, and now I feel like I’m falling back into that place that I was in with how the world is turning out, I can sum up by saying that one person brought me out of my shell and after that, I seen many others helping me keep out of it and I feel that I owe them.”
– Ethan Arnold
Behind the Scenes
News
Memories of Merrigong – Rachel Head
Wednesday February 17, 2021
Memories of Merrigong – Anne-Louise Rentell
Monday August 24, 2020