All The World's A Stage.

I have written and raved about the Shepherd's Purse Theatre Company before; in many ways they defy description. They are situated in the vibrant arts hub town of Tyalgum, just 20 minutes out of Murwillumbah in the Tweed Valley, on the far north coast of NSW. Their cast consists of professional actors from Brisbane and the Gold Coast and a remarkable array of local residents. What they have delivered over the last few years would stand proudly on any professional theatre stage in any capital city.

Founded in 2015, the company has steadily built a reputation for artistic excellence, immersive storytelling, and deep community integration. Their work is defined by a commitment to celebrating classic texts—particularly Shakespeare—in ways that feel both intimate and expansive, placing audience and performer in shared environments that transcend traditional staging. Their work has won many acting and performance awards, but mostly notably they are the only arts organisation to ever receive the NSW Government Community Service Award—an honour presented to the company in December 2024, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the cultural life of the region (this award is typically reserved for individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary service in areas such as disaster recovery, lifelong community work).

This year marks their tenth year of producing strong productions. Every production is immersive and begins on various areas around their theatre, followed by a large banquet meal, then more action in their Elizabethan style theatre in the grounds of Flutterbies Cafe in Tyalgum. This is the third year I have visited them to see their productions and every year there seem to be more incredible delights in what they achieve. As this is their anniversary they put together a series of scenes from Shakespeare under the rather obvious title of All the World's a Stage. Yet there was nothing obvious about their style, presentation and mammoth boldness which makes Shakespeare, as they always do, hugely accessible to an audience, deeply moving and often incredibly funny.

This year was particularly marked by the remarkable work of costume designer Dian Johansson, a leading costume artist probably most famous for the dress first lady Sonia McMahon wore with a slit up the side which became the social talk of the late sixties. Ms Johansson produces incredible work and bedecks the actors in ravishing but always appropriate costumes, often so stylish and original they leave one almost breathless. The costumes offset a super production that started a little too slowly and a little too long and plot heavy (for being outside in a cold night) from one of Shakespeare's less loved plays, The Merry Wives of Windsor, but things improved rapidly as the energy and charm picked up with a scene and song from Much Ado About Nothing, and then we were off for a night of total delight.

Many of the scenes from the plays were sewn together into a clever patchwork; for example, the nun from Measure for Measure is suddenly Portia from Merchant of Venice in what was the total highlight of the night, when actor Amy Stockow took the words and made three and half minutes seem like moments from the theatre gods. Ms Stockow is major young star and one of the major Shakespeare companies should quickly begin to knock on her door. Earlier Stockow had delivered a peachy Juliet with a ribald, raunchy Romeo in Bowen Gow. It would be a thrill to watch these two deliver the whole show.  

There were joyous moments from their award-winning production of Shakespeare in Love (which segued seamlessly into Romeo and Juliet), a delightful bit of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead which led into a perfect moment from Hamlet - performed with panache by Brad Sims and another remarkable young star in the making with the clever witty work of Reuben Valentine. Their little piece was an absolute highlight.

On we went from moment to moment until it was capped off by the rarely performed A Winter's Tale, where the extraordinarily talented director Solar Chapel stepped in as Leontes, with the much-acclaimed Shakespearean veteran Francesca Savige mysteriously bedecked as Hermione, in a warm-hearted finale to one terrific night of theatre.

One also must mention the clever use of another bard veteran in Petrie Porter as Puck, our ever-present narrator. A special guest fresh from a season as Glinda in the national tour of Wicked, Jordan Malone sang many of Patrick Doyle's melodies which were given as a special gift to this company that is becoming one of the great theatre treasures of Australia.

Les Solomon

Photographer: Matthew Langa