Noel Hodda Plays By Noel Hodda

This collection of plays by actor/playwright/teacher Noel Hodda brings together for the first time plays produced by various theatre companies from the late 1980sto 2022. Three of the plays (The Secret House; Half Safe; Across The Water)form a loose trilogy centred on a family in rural Australia. The fourth play, In This Light, explores reconciliation and forgiveness via a series of interconnected histories spanning twenty years and two continents. The fifth work, Threat (or Norma, Norm & The Dog), is an as-yet-unproduced series of one-act plays that can be performed in any order or combination. Noel Hodda's plays place universal themes into a distinctly Australian framework. The characters are people who are each at a crossroads in their life, whether they are aware of it or not. Challenges are dealt with via humour, often black, or via avoidance and distraction, but always with a grounding in love. Each play places ordinary people in testing situations, forcing them to confront their humanity and their lost and found dreams. No matter the time or place the plays are set in they are universal and completely resonant and relevant to today.

NOEL HODDA is a NIDA graduate. He has worked extensively in theatre, film, television, and radio for over forty years as a writer, actor, and teacher. Produced plays include The Secret House (Griffin, Playbox & Hole In The Wall Theatre Companies; National Theatre Drama School), Half Safe (Riverina Theatre Company; Griffin Theatre Company), Photographs (Charles Sturt University School of Performing Arts), Across The Water (Valley Artists, Hunter Valley), The Sculpture Garden (Valley Artists, Hunter Valley), In This Light(Flight Path Theatre) and On The Public Record (University of Wollongong Faculty of Creative Arts). His one act play Norma was made into a short film directed by the writer. He has directed for the Griffin Theatre Company, Charles Sturt University and in the Corporate field, and taught acting, voice and improvisation at Charles Sturt University School of Performing Arts. He was writer in residence both there and at The University of Wollongong Faculty of Creative Arts.