Community
28 October, 2025
Halloween opening for latest MITS production
Their new stage show, Phantomime, tells the story of a group of actors preparing to perform a play beset with troubles.
It was a case of life imitating art at the rehearsals of the Mount Isa Theatrical Society’s final production of the year.
Their new stage show, Phantomime, tells the story of a group of actors preparing to perform a play beset with backstage troubles.
But behind the scenes in Mount Isa, MITS director Jenelle Robartson was facing her own woes as she tried to find a replacement for one of her actors, who had pulled out just days from opening night.
In a moment of combined inspiration and desperation, she decided to cast herself in the role of Miss Ursulla, a no-nonsense deputy school principal.
“That’s just the nature of community theatre,” she said.
“Sometimes we have to improvise a little.
“The director understands what is required for all the roles and when it is only a small part, at least we don’t have to start all over from scratch with someone else.”
Phantomime, written by English playwright Jonathan Goodson, is a comedy set behind the scenes in a troubled theatrical show.
However, there is an otherworldly twist in this show: the theatre is haunted by the ghost of a former actor who can only be released to the afterlife when a suitable pantomime performance has been staged.
That pantomime is called Sleeping Beauty Goes to the Dogs, where a canine bite, rather than a royal kiss, wakes the princess from her slumber.
“Phantomime is a play within a play,” Jenelle explained.
“Whenever actors do a show that is about actors, there are always parallels that we see in real life.
“Whether it's newcomers feeling nervous about being on stage or conflict about different ideas that should be included in a production – these things are all included in this play.
“I love pantomimes and we really wanted to do something like that, but sometimes those kinds of shows can just be targeted at the youth.
“There is a bit of an edge to the comedy in this show, so we think it will appeal to an adult audience.
“It also opens on Halloween, which we thought was appropriate given the show is a kind of ghost story.”
First-time performer Jay Underwood drew the short straw among the dozen Phantomine actors when she was handed the role of a circus bear, which requires her to swelter on stage in a full animal costume for about a third of the play’s total running time.
Jay said she remained excited for opening night despite heat wave warnings filtering across the North West.
“During the scenes when I am not onstage, I am pretty quick to get out of this bear suit, so I don’t have to suffer all the time,” she explained.
“It is very hot inside the costume – but I didn’t really think about that when I was given the role.
“The hardest part was learning how to exaggerate all my movements – the suit is so thick that everything I do has to be very over the top so the audience can understand what I am doing.”
This year saw the purple MITS theatre on Transmission Street celebrate an impressive seven decades in the city.
Jenelle said the theatre had marked the year by presenting a diverse range of new shows, which had seen solid audience numbers.
“We began the year with experimental theatre and then we had a focus on producing locally written shows,” she said.
“We thought Phantomine would be a light-hearted way to end our 70th birthday celebrations.”
Phantomime will run from 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights between October 31 and November 15.
Tickets can be purchased at: https://events.humanitix.com/phantomine2025