History of The Bulldog Theatre Company

They say the Australian film industry is a hard nut to crack, and they would be right! After a period of unsuccessful pitches and deals falling through at the last minute, screenwriter Alex Lycos decided to don a different hat for a while, that of a playwrite. Drawing on his own experiences and those of his friends in dealing with the complexities of cross cultural marriages, Alex put pen to paper and created a play titled Oil and Water, which you recognise from it's final production name, Alex and Eve.

Script in hand Alex approached a number of established theatre groups who he thought would have an interest in producing a play involving their communities. However, Alex was met with rejections and heard the words "This will never work as a stage play" more than once. After a while Alex came to the realisation that the only way his work was going to get a chance was to produce it himself!

But where to start?

Alex and Eve featured a large cast and multiple sets, and theatre space isn't cheap! Another play was needed, one with a smaller cast, and fewer locations that could be put on in a small theatre and not break the bank. The recent round of theatre frustrations brought back the memories of his dealings with the Australian film industry, so Alex put pen to paper to work out those frustrations, figuring it was cheaper than therapy! When he finished he realised he had a story with drama, pathos and comedy, Alex had his play, The Negotiating Table.

Realising that this was something he probably couldn’t do alone Alex teamed up with Paul Miskimmon, Helena Stamoulis and Socrates Vithoukas along with other friends and family to get the play up and running. Soonafter a theatre was booked and posters were produced featuring the latest name in theatre, the Bulldog Theatre Company was born.

On the 11th of January 2006 the Negotiating Table had its first performance at the Crypt in Balmain and the Bulldog Theatre Company was officially off and running. Despite the many challenges the fledgling company faced during this first production, a windowless out of the way theatre which doubled as an oven, an actor falling ill (a recurring theme of our productions) and a seating capacity of 45, the play was still a hit with the audiences.

When the adrenalin had died down and the show was finished, the question of what to do next came up. Was this a one off occasion or would the group continue? As luck would have it there was a Romeo and Juliet love story featuring a Greek Orthodox and Lebanese Muslim sitting in the wings. Spurred on by the success of The Negotiating Table, Oil and Water was retitled and work began on the Bulldog Theatre Company's second production Alex and Eve.

Alex and Eve was a much larger production than The Negotiating Table which had featured only 7 characters and two locations, by contrast Alex and Eve would have over 15 characters and more than 5 locations. With the lessons learned from The Negotiating Table, The Crypt was out of the question so a new venue had to be found, The Sidetrack Shed Theatre which both Alex and Helena had performed at previously was chosen for its larger stage, ample parking and location. However this new theatre brought its own challenges such as capacity. With the ability to seat over 150 people would we be able to get enough to come to make the theatre look full or would there be more people on stage than in the audience!

When the opening night came, the audience was full. This boosted the spirits of the entire cast and crew, but then Friday night came and the audience got smaller and then on Saturday night the unthinkable, the show was cancelled due to too few audience members. The following weekend however something happened, the theatre was full again! Word had gotten around about this touching comedy and people were coming in their droves. Alex and Eve finished on a high with sold out shows.

It would be over a year before the Bulldog Theater Company name was seen again as the main members pursued other projects before coming together again to produce Better Man. Originally a feature film script, this was adapted into a screenplay with a much greater focus on the characters and relationships. Again returning to the Sidetrack Shed Theatre the production opened in October 2007 to rave reviews and packed houses.

With a surge in the awareness of the Bulldog Theatre Company name from the success of Better Man it was then decided to bring back Alex and Eve for another run. Since its original run the word of mouth had continued to spread with constant questions of when it would be coming back and in March 2008 Alex and Eve came back for a 2 week sold out run at Sidetrack Shed Theatre, but it wasn’t enough. When the run finished the phone calls and questions didn’t stop so another run was booked at the larger Factory Theatre.

However as is to be expected not all ran smoothly and the original Eve wasn’t available so the scramble started for a replacement, enter Zoe Ventura (Packed to the Rafters), The Factory run was a huge success and even with the greatly increased seating capacity the season was extended to fulfill the audience demand. It was around this time that the audience started asking the question, “What happens next?” Even though the ending was ambiguous there had never been any intentions to continue the story of Alex and Eve but work started on a sequel with the understanding that if it didn’t work, it would be scrapped.

What to do in the meantime though? The company knew a new play would be at least 9-10 months away and didn’t want to lose any of the momentum that had been built up with the success of the previous shows. Another run of Alex and Eve was considered but it would take time away from writing the sequel as Alex would be rehearsing and performing. There was one play though that had already been performed but hadn’t been given a real chance to shine, and so it was that almost three years after it started the company, The Negotiating Table came back.

In October of 2008 with a brand new cast and new director The Negotiating Table opened for a 2 week run at the Sidetrack Shed Theatre, with a much larger stage the play took on a new life and entertained audiences once again with a very successful run.

Meanwhile in the background the sequel to Alex and Eve was being worked on and refined and in early 2009 a 2 week run at the Factory Theatre for Alex and Eve - The Wedding was announced, at the time this was a risky move. Even though Alex and Eve had done well the sequel was untested and there was no guarantee that audiences would come and see it. Our worries were unfounded though when the entire run sold out before opening night and more shows were announced, all of which sold out.

This was topped off with a final sold out show at the Enmore Theatre where we were joined by Sabrina Houssami (Miss World Australia 2006, The Apprentice) and Zoe Carides (Beware of Greeks Bearing Guns).

In October of 2009 the Bulldog Theatre Company embarked on the next stage of its development by taking the original Alex and Eve national with a series of shows as part of the Greek Festival of Adelaide, performing to over 1000 people in a single weekend.

Now entering our 5th year the Bulldog Theatre Company is still going strong and continuing to prosper by sticking to the ideals of telling strong, contemporary stories that all Australians can enjoy.