The Company had its beginnings in 2016 when three theatre practitioners came together to conduct a play writing workshop in the Nambucca Valley, which is on the NSW Mid North Coast, approximately halfway between Sydney and Brisbane. Held over three weekends, the workshop’s aim was to teach emerging writers the possibilities that writing for performance presented.
The workshop presenters were Carrolline Rhodes, Anne Joyce and Helen Kirkpatrick. Carrolline is a multi-award winning writer across a range of genres. She has twice won the Noosa Arts Theatre One-Act Play Competition, as well as Coffs Harbour’s Jean Stone Award and her monologues have been selected by the Mad Women Monologue Competition. Her scripts have been performed in Noosa, Murwillumbah, Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Valley, Newcastle and Melbourne. Anne has a Licentiate Diploma of the Royal Academy (L.R.A.M) as a Performer in Speech and Drama and is an award winning professional actor, playwright and director who has worked in theatre across the world and is well known on the NSW Mid North Coast theatre scene. Helen Kirkpatrick has been acting in amateur theatre since her youth and has won many acting awards.
At the conclusion of the 2016 workshop, Carrolline, Anne and Helen decided there was enough material for a production and this resulted in the ‘3Wyz Wimmin’ (3WW) becoming the area’s newest theatre company.
The Nambucca Valley is fortunate that many of the wooden halls that date from the early days of European settlement still serve their communities and from the time of formation, the 3WW decided to bring theatre to the people by performing in these halls. They were also committed to using local playwrights’ scripts. Collections of six or seven monologues, with unforgettable characters that required no scenery and few props, took to the road in a variety of productions. Most of those in the audience had never been exposed to this kind of theatre, and they loved it. Most performances were sold out before the hall doors opened and locals loved being able to meander down the road to an evening’s entertainment – especially with the knowledge they would be served a country cooks’ supper. It is from these early days that the 3WW began to attract a fan base, with audiences travelling from way beyond the halls’ local catchment areas. As well as fans, the Company also attracted other practitioners and it grew from 3Wyz Wimmin to the Wyz Wimmin & Friends Theatre Company Incorporated (WW&Fs). It also began performing over a wider geographical area and in established theatres.
In 2024, WW&Fs staged a two-act comedy in Nambucca Heads’ cultural centre and audiences loved it. Set in a fictional retirement resort said to be located somewhere in the Nambucca Valley, a review described it as funny, quirky and wonderfully performed, and as the founders of the Company, Carrolline, Anne and Helen feel this review has validated what they have strived for — highly polished performances that regional audiences can identify with. (Please note that most of the photographs on these pages were taken by Adrian Oxbrow during rehearsals.)
We believe the WW&Fs has a unique vision.
- Supporting — and celebrating — Australian playwrights.
- Recognising the worth of regional narratives.
We look forward to the Company developing further and to welcoming script submissions from playwrights in other regions.
