The trailer for Biting the Hand written by Anne Southall
Hobo Playhouse Theatre Company started in 2012 in Chewton, Central Victoria, as a fundraiser for the Clown Doctors.
In those days, an assortment of talented performers were invited to perform in a large dining room and they were paid for their efforts with a bowl of home-made soup, crusty bread and a glass or three of vino.
In 2014, Jeffrey Bryant Jones and Rob Townsend turned Hobo Playhouse into a fully fledged theatre company to present plays with social realism themes in Central Victoria and Melbourne.
The Hobos have tackled issues such as: homelessness, Alzheimer's disease, carers, suicide, mental health, drug and alcohol addiction and youth trauma to name a few.
Several of these plays sold-out performances including Outsiders and Come Back for Light Refreshments After the Service while Red, A Poster of the Cosmos, Tuesdays Are for Bill and The Carer all received strong critical acclaim.
Now based in Maldon, the company has extablished a strong link with La Trobe University to produce an award-winning play called Biting the Hand by Anne Southall. The play has been performed three times at the University's Hard Yards Conference in Bendigo and will return in 2024 as the central focus of an exciting research project.
The Hobos have also completed a series of training films for aspiring teachers at La Trobe Uni, focusing on how to manage youth trauma.
In recent years, the company's educational arm - Hobo Playhouse Actors Studio - has grown significantly with the company running acting courses in Maldon, Castlemaine and Creswick.
These courses include Let's Act (An Introduction to Acting); and Improvisations.
Covid-19 had a significant impact on the company with no full stage productions occuring since 2019. However, the Hobo's have maintained the community educational arm of the company, which has strengthened and grown in the past five years.
The company is also exploring the Therapeutic Theatre genre and hopes to run a small Therapeutic Theatre project in 2026.
In 2025, the Hobo's Artistic Director, Jeffrey Bryant Jones is running a series of 'Improvs and Imagination' workshops at Maldon Neighbourhood Centre. The workshops explore improvisation, storymaking, collaboration and play! They are kindly funded by Adult Community Further Education. For more details about the workshops, see the Actors' Studio page.
Hobo Playhouse is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. As such, we encourage performers of all races and ethnicities, gender identities, sexualities, abilities, and ages to join our classes and workshops.
For further details about the company and/or the acting classes and workshops, please email hoboplayhouse@yahoo.com
WHO ARE THOSE HOBOS ON THE FRONT COVER?
Talented actors Josh Cody, Kirstie Babbage and Tricia Migdoll explore make believe during an 'Improvs and Imagination Workshop'. This was our first workshop after the COVID-19 lockdowns. It was all about re-connecting with each other and magically, it happened.
Matthew Greenaway in A Poster of the Cosmos. Photo: Christine Sayer.
Patti Fawcett (front), Helen Gramberg and Elly Krieg in Biting the Hand 2025.
Elly Krieg
Michelle (Zinny) Zintschenko and Belinda Withrop in Me and My Friend.
The Fab Four: Elly, Peter, David and Sarah were the first students in the Hobo's inaugural Method Acting course, 2016.
Lisa Martin
Juliana Cafarella
Clare Shamier in Breathing Underwater
Adeline Johnson
Peter Bevin and Andrew LeClercq in Red.
Exploring 'The Magic of Fairytales Workshop': Mark, Fran, Josh, Renee, Andre, Loise, Juliana, Ron and Graham.
Working on 'DBAD', a LaTrobe Uni youth project: Rupert, Adeline, Patti and Seb.
Rebecca Morton in Biting the Hand
For all enquiries, please email hoboplayhouse@yahoo.com
We would love to hear from you.
