Ensemble Theatre is bringing students from the West to the leafy North Shore – and changing students’ lives in the process
Every adolescent goes through important milestones in life: first kiss, first heartbreak…first time in a theatre!
For over 11 years, Ensemble’s Dedicated Schools Performances program has been quietly breaking down the barriers that prevent disadvantaged students from accessing the arts.
So when students from Western Sydney filed into the theatre in Kirribilli earlier this year, many were experiencing something entirely new. For these teenagers, it wasn’t just their first visit to the harbourside suburb – it was their first encounter with live professional theatre.
“It was quite interesting to see a real-life movie!” one Cabramatta High School student wrote afterward, capturing the novelty of the experience with endearing candour.
The program, which runs twice yearly at the historic Kirribilli theatre (founded in 1958), provides completely free theatre experiences for students from lower socio-economic schools, mostly located in Western Sydney or regional NSW. But it’s far more than just complimentary tickets.
“Visibility and access are key in the arts,” explains Sophie Kelly, the theatre’s education and community engagement manager. “As the adage goes, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ “Especially now, in a culture saturated with social media, live theatre is a novelty – even though it’s one of the oldest art forms in the world.”
The initiative targets schools using government classifications including the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) and the ranked order for low socio- economic schools funding criteria. Each performance hosts 220 students – the theatre’s maximum capacity – reaching nearly 450 students annually.
Ms Kelly identifies multiple barriers these students face: cost, distance from theatres, lack of transport, no familial exposure to the arts, and a broader cultural undervaluing of theatre compared to sport. The program systematically addresses each obstacle.
The experience begins at 10am when buses arrive from suburbs like Cabramatta, Condell Park and regional centres like Tumut and Maitland. Students gather in the adjacent park, where they’re provided with morning snacks – a small but crucial detail for those who’ve travelled up to two hours on public transport.
After watching the performance, students bombard cast and creatives with questions: “How do you learn your lines?” “How long do you rehearse?” “How did you learn that accent?” They leave clutching packed lunches, ensuring what Ms Kelly calls ‘full stomachs and focused minds’ for their journey home.
The program carefully selects plays that align with the NSW curriculum. The 2025 choices included Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, an HSC English text and Fly Girl, a new Australian work about Deborah Lawrie’s legal battle to become Australia’s first female commercial airline pilot.
The impact is immediate and electric. During The Glass Menagerie, when shy Laura finally shares a kiss with her gentleman caller Jim, the student audience audibly gasped with excitement. Seconds later, when Jim casually reveals he’s engaged to someone else, they groaned in collective anguish.
“It was such a visceral, collective reaction and the actors loved it!” Kelly recalls, laughing. “Adult audiences are much more reserved!”
The students often need reminding that unlike movies, the actors can actually see and hear them in the intimate 220-seat venue – a revelation that delights rather than embarrasses them.
Student feedback reveals the program’s deeper impact. “I walked out of the theatre with a ton of inspiration and enjoyment!” wrote one Cabramatta student. “The ending gave me absolute chills!”
Another reflected: “I seriously admire the talent, skill and hard work that it took to perform on the day.” A Condell Park student admitted: “The play was actually beyond my expectations, way too good.”
Teachers witness transformations that extend beyond the performance. Michael Mitchell, a drama teacher from Tumut High School, observes: “Many of my students wouldn’t see live theatre if it weren’t for companies like Ensemble. It creates engaging learning opportunities and helps students feel more positively toward their education.”
Laura Williams, Head Teacher at Condell Park High School, notes her students were ‘amazed at the different roles played by the characters and their seamless ability to transition from one character to another.’
The program’s success is evident in repeat requests from schools, though Ms Kelly tries to share opportunities across different institutions. Funding comes partially from donors, with remaining costs absorbed by the theatre.
For many participants, this single day opens entirely new worlds. In a society that Ms Kelly notes values sport over arts, the Ensemble’s program quietly insists that every young person, regardless of postcode or family income, deserves to experience the transformative power of live theatre.
For 450 students each year, that insistence becomes reality. And for one brief, magical moment, they’re not students from Cabramatta or Condell Park or Tumut – they’re simply an audience, gasping and groaning together in the dark, discovering that theatre isn’t just ‘like a real-life movie.’
It’s better.