HATCH HISTORY

Once upon an Indian Ocean shore, a large flatback turtle nested among the scrubby dunes in the remote Western Australian Pilbara town of Port Hedland. Fifty eggs and fifty days later, her hatchlings popped out and ran like the clappers for their happy place among the waves.

Just down the road, some slightly theatrical folk were hatching a plan of their own to one day create a happy place for young people in their town to find a space and a voice through performance.  

Over several years, the idea of Hedland Amateur Theatre began to take shape. In 2017, deciding to 'Be Brave', a school based team staged Melted - a Musical. 225 students and 30 staff members  participated in this locally written take on the iconic Frozen at a local primary school and Olaf the snowman melted into Falo the tata lizard. It was a hit for kids, parents and community.

In 2018, Melted migrated to the main stage of the Matt Dann Theatre & Cinema in Port Hedland, drawing in students from all over town and new adult faces encouraging our young people. Backed by the Roy Hill Community Foundation, the second iteration of Melted led to a hugely successful staging of a rambunctious pantomine, The Wizard of Odd in 2019 as a production with the Town of Port Hedland.

In spring, 2020, with turtles once more emerging from the sea for a new nesting season, September 21 was the day that we officially became HATch.

Now with major ongoing sponsorship from the RHCF, Town of Port Hedland and the Matt Dann Theatre and Cinema, HATch is planning annual shows and showcases, small performances and workshops that will accommodate young people and adults. 

There are so many voices and faces in this story to be thanked. So thank you. While many people have had the opportunity to experience the joy, hard work and meaning to come of the past few production years, HATch looks forward to engaging new faces, voices, talents and minds as we move forward.

Our aim is to encourage the people of a remote town to bury their fears, dig up their talents, 

trust in the guidance around them, and to be the bravest of brave hatchlings in a big, big world.

And we want them to bring joy.