Tropical Arts Annual General Meeting will be on at 1pm, Saturday, 9 May at ARC Community Hall, 52 MacNamara St, Manunda. Financial members who are over 18 can vote at the AGM though everyone is welcome to attend and give their support to keep Tropical Arts going.
Nominations for 2026 Management Committee
Nominated by
Bio Brief
Douglas Robins
President
Micheal Watt Alicia Jamieson
President 2020-2026 Artistic Director 2022-2026 Committee Member 2011-2026
Alicia Jamieson
Secretary
Micheal Watt Doug Robins
Secretary 2011-2026 Producer/ Production Manager 2022-2026
Irene Johnstone
Treasurer
Doug Robins Micheal Watt
Treasurer 2026 Fundraising/ FOH 2015-2025 Committee Member 2015-2020
Angela Bonomi
Committee Member
Alicia Jamieson Micheal Watt
Committee Member 2024-2026 Production Assistant 2024-2026
Kerry Buckland
Committee Member
Alicia Jamieson Doug Robins
Committee Member 2022-2026 Production Assistant 2022-2026
Micheal Watt
Committee Member
Doug Robins Alicia Jamieson
Committee Member 2023-2026 Production photographer -2026
Fujie Sato
Committee Member
Alicia Jamieson Doug Robins
Committee Member 2021-2026 Production Assistant 2021-2026
For more information about the AGM please contact secretary.tropicalarts@gmail.com.
Ahoy there me hearties! Here be a tale of bloodshed and plunder; guile and deception on the high seas. Richard the quartermaster of the Galleon ‘York’ thirsts for power. He will not let anyone stand in his way, by contorting a web of lies, on route to achieve his ultimate goal to become King of the Pirates.
Dates: Thursday 26th – Saturday 28th June
Venue: Tank 3, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns, Queensland
Doors and Bar open at 6pm
Show at 7pm
PG Rating.
Box Office at Tanks Arts Centre entry
Tickets $35/ $27 concession
Companion card available
Tropical Arts gratefully acknowledges the Queensland Government and Arts Queensland for the Queensland Arts Showcase Program funding which has made this production possible. This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
In addition to employing 20 local artists and arts workers, this grant supports participants including people with a disability and diverse cultural identities to gain specialist theatre skilling training. Open workshops early in 2025 offer professional theatre skills, ensemble, and inclusion training. Workshop participants will be invited, without auditions, to join our large cast for the production season at Tank 3, Tanks Arts Centre.
This project is proudly supported by Cairns Regional Council. Tropical Arts’ ‘Richard III’ Shakespeare at the Tanks 2025 production would not be possible but for the generous in-kind contribution made by Cairns Regional Council, and a 3 year Resource and Production agreement
Award winning performer, inclusion specialist and president of Tropical Arts’ Douglas Robins will take up the role of artistic director for this project. In 2020, Doug received the National Aspire Award for People with Disabilities, in Theatre and the Arts.
Tropical Arts will engage a team of professional theatre-makers from our region to train and mentor our large volunteer cast and crew to create a unique performance.
Tropical Arts Open Day
Volunteer sign on – callout for cast and crew Ensemble training workshop II – Richard III story outline
When: Saturday, 1 March, 2025 Time: 11am to 2pm Where: Tank 3, 46-64 Collins Ave, Edge Hill, Cairns cost: no fee to attend (annual membership $20/ individual)
Theatre-skills workshops – Saturdays in March Rehearsals – April to June. Production Season – 25 June (previews) 26-28 June, Tank 3, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns
Become a member of Tropical Arts or renew your membership and you can join our volunteers, cast and crew for this years production. Membership covers voluntary workers insurance. Members receive on-the-job training and mentoring in all aspects of theatre production.
Volunteer sign on – callout for cast and crew Ensemble training workshop II – Richard III story outline
When: Saturday, 1 March, 2025 Time: 11am to 2pm Where: Tank 3, 46-64 Collins Ave, Edge Hill, Cairns cost: no fee to attend (annual membership $20/ individual)
Theatre-skills workshops – Saturdays in March Rehearsals – April to June. Production Season – 25 June (previews) 26-28 June, Tank 3, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns
Become a member of Tropical Arts or renew your membership and you can join our volunteers, cast and crew for this years production. Membership covers voluntary workers insurance. Members receive on-the-job training and mentoring in all aspects of theatre production.
Tropical Arts is supporting Aaron Lee and Avril Duck’s creative development of True Friends. For more information and to go to Tropical Arts facebook event for the True Friends Presentation at Bulmba-ja from 6-7pm on Friday, 15th April at Bulmba-ja, Abbott St, click here.
All welcome to attend our workshops starting at the beginning of February, 2021, Monday evening and Sunday afternoons, at ARC Community Hub, 52 McNamara St, Manunda
Aaron Lee is a 26-year-old Cairns local, first-time playwright who has put his creativity out there after pouring his “heart and soul into this play”.
True Friends invites the audience into a quirky, fresh but recognisable world in which 2 young women become friends and flourish. The play explores the journey of their friendship and takes regular dives into the unremarkable, often invisible tech we use on a daily basis, without thinking. Characters sing when they want to, and the play builds to a frenetic climax with Aaron inserting a play within a play. Borrowing from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and transforming it into something with his unique spin, Aaron Lee takes the comedy to another level of nautical twinsanity.
The True Friends presentation will showcase scenes from the play, read and performed by a Tropical Arts ensemble cast who have come along to the exploration over 6 weeks. We are bursting to share scenes we love and get some audience feedback. A limited number of seats are available, so bookings are essential – please click “Going” on Tropical Arts Facebook page !
2021 marks the 11th year of the Tropical Arts/ARC partnership. Come along and find out how we are creating pathways into theatre.
Tropical Arts latest Shakespeare at the Tanks production featured on the local Channel 9 television news where players can be seen rehearsing, Tropical Arts president provides some words of wisdom on how the performing arts are so good for well being, and emerging Tropical Arts star provides some possibly even wiser, joyful words wanting people to enjoy the show and bring smiles to peoples faces!
Avril Duck (Artistic Director) and Velvet Eldred (President) recently returned from presenting at the 15th National Rural Health Conference. Each biennial conference, the NRHC have a program featuring Arts & Health practitioners from across the country.
Theatre makers based in Cairns, Queensland, with a combined practice experience of 60 years, they both understand the impact that the Arts can have on an individual’s wellbeing and that of the whole community.
Avril’s teaching background and Velvet’s art therapy and counselling background are the pillars of their current arts practice for Tropical Arts. This collaborative theatre organisation has a 10-year reputation of fulfilling a promise to the community to include everyone who wants to be in and find them a place to belong. Their presentation delved into the way they practice and the case studies are lit by beautiful photographs of their 10th annual Shakespeare at the Tanks production.
A series of 3 workshops spread over Wednesday evening’s 20 and 27 February and 6 March 6 – 9 pm, 2019. ARC Hall.
Led by Avril and Velvet, these workshops are a series of play dates to discover ‘what is our style?” You are invited to share any exercises from past training that you loved and explore what you learn’t from it. Avril and Velvet also have “goodies” to play with . We are planning to write up and share some of our processes around creating Shakespeare at the Tanks.
A RADF-funded project. The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and [name of council] to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
