Liam McNally
Melton’s first community theatre group has got up and running this year, and is preparing for its first stage production, ‘I Love You, Your Perfect, Now Change’.
Melton Performing Arts (MPA) is a non-profit organisation which aims to prioritise the community above all else while bringing drama, music, dance and all forms of performance art to Melton.
MPA President Dominic Wolfram has been living in Melton since 2015, but it wasn’t until 2017, when he was age 27 that he got involved in theatre.
“I was roped into a musical in Mt Macedon, and I really enjoyed the experience,” he said.
“I just wasn’t exposed to it, I didn’t know what community theatre was. Having experienced it for the first time, I wish I could have done it earlier.”
Mr Wolfram said he began doing more shows and picked up some piano skills, and began to notice a need for performing arts locally.
“The more I did the more I realised that it was lacking here,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people in Melton and what stops a lot of people from doing it is you have to travel. You can’t get it in Melton.”
Mr Wolfram said he finds community theatre especially inspiring.
“Community theatre needs to reach out more to the wider community,” he said.
“I see a kind of passion you don’t see in professional theatre because you’re seeing people push themselves to do something they’ve never done before… and to me that’s more exciting.”
MPA’s upcoming show is a musical exploration of dating, relationships, love and marriage. The comedy will have some raunchy moments and strong language, and the story is told through individual vignettes rather than a traditional story arc – all scored by a live band.
About 20 people are working on the show together, and Mr Wolfram said its been very challenging, but very rewarding.
“We all agree that although it’s really challenging it’s exciting to be establishing this kind of thing in Melton… Everyone involved is challenging themselves, even council who is accommodating us in new ways,” he said.
Following the show MAP is keen to hear from more community members interested in joining the shows in any capacity, or trying out their acting workshops.
Details: meltonpa.org.au/
