THE ONE DAY OF THE YEAR
Event Date: 27/04/2026, 07:30 pm
Sydney | April 27 | Controversial Anzac Day play’s all-star reading to aid the Actors Benevolent
Lambert House Enterprises is proud to announce a gala rehearsed reading presentation of an Australian classic at a special time of the year. This is the third such presentation of Alan Seymour’s celebrated play after similar sold-out performances in 2021 and 2022.
Seven of Australia’s most exciting young talent and experienced veterans of theatre and music come together for one night only: Anzac Day Holiday Monday April 27th at the New Theatre, King St Newtown. All proceeds to the Actors Benevolent Fund. Seymour’s play has remained a relevant and powerful piece of theatre since its controversial premiere in 1960 - when performances by the Adelaide Theatre group resulted in death threats. Similar controversy followed the first professional production in 1961 at the Palace Theatre in Sydney. The play then was staged at London’s Theatre Royal where it was a critical and popular success. Its major revival at London’s Finborough Theatre in 2015 featured an Australian cast led by Fiona Press, Mark Little and James Wright (pictured below) and directed by Wayne Harrison.
The play revolves around the Cook family and the tension created when firebrand son Hughie, challenges his father Alf on his attitude toward Anzac Day. Hughie and his girlfriend plan to document Anzac Day for the university newspaper, focusing on its traditional binge drinking. This year, for the first time in his life, Hughie refuses to attend the dawn service with his dad; he soon becomes torn between outrage at the display on the day and his love of his father.
Well-known stage and theatre veterans Margi De Ferranti, Paul Hanlon and Ritchie Singer will play the senior members of the family with acclaimed young actors Max Fernandez (God’s Cowboy, As You Like It) as Hughie, Nathaniel Savy (God’s Cowboy, Fag/Stag) as the Narrator and sensational singer/actor Georgia Laga’aia (Dear Evan Hansen) as Hughie’s girlfriend, Jan.
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New Theatre 542 King Street Newtown, NSW 2042 Sydney, Australia,
Newton New South Wales,2042
New Theatre 542 King Street Newtown, NSW 2042 Sydney, Australia,
Newton New South Wales,2042
