Hall Stories

(John O’Callaghan with his brother Bob on saxophone, and his dad on reading materials) This is the first episode of Hall Stories to step outside the format of featuring a specific hall. As Mark Twain once said ‘It’s my podcast and I’ll do what I want!’ The inspiration for this break out episode came when I was interviewing John O’Callaghan for the Port Albert Mechanics Institute Hall Stories proje...

What dance was banned from the Port Albert Mechanics Institute in the 1960’s? Did a hermit really used to live in the roof? Is a Juvenile Fancy Dress Ball just adults dressed up as kids? We prise the hall door open to answer these and many other questions as Hall Stories comes in with the tide to Port Albert. (Thanks to the Wedge Theatre, Sale & the Wellington Shire Council, for making this leg of...

How did a piece of abstract art manage to win first prize at the Omeo Art Show? Why did George Legge disastrously abandon his post when cooking the pig on the spit at the Masonic Installation Ball? How many local blokes met their wives by waiting at the bus stop for the new nurses & teachers to arrive? All these questions & more will be answered in this Omeo High Plains edition of Hall Stories. Ge...

Who’s got the key to the Elmore Hall? Why was there a near riot the night that ‘Gone With The Wind’ screened? If you don’t have any brothers, who partners you at the Catholic Debutante Ball? Why did the paranormal activity team only pick up the sound of kids laughing and town planners reading land titles? Is a shinding the same thing as a shindig? So many questions arose from time in the adjoining...

How many beers did legendary Nurses, Vivien Bullwinkle & Betty Jeffrey, have at the Caramut Pub after stopping to get directions to the hall they supposed to officially open? How was afternoon tea used as a weapon against the Penshurst Tennis team? How did the hall committee lure the author to host one of their trivia nights? Did Strop & Emma really spend their wedding night on a blow up mattress...

Come join me for a tour of the wonderful community of Kaarimba, in Col Grinter’s 1925 open top Chevy, with no brakes. Along the way, you’ll learn how to master making a square chocolate cake; how to power up a vintage air conditioner with a car battery & how to dance the Highland Schottische & hopefully live to to tell the tale. The Complete Perks of Damian Callinan is a reader-supported publicati...

Will BBAC Theatre Production get the rights to stage ‘Wicked’ in the Yando Hall? Will Yando ever forgive Appin for the infamous 1934 Football melee that left half the team in hospital? Will the hall feature in ‘Australian Counrty Wedding’ magazine, despite having drop toilets? All this & more in the Yando edition of Hall Stories. This is a special one. To see photos relating to the stories told in...

The Hall Stories project ventured to Tallygaroopna, Victoria as of part of the 100th birthday celebrations for the hall. I attended the festivities on the Kings Birthday weekend 2024, before returning in July for field research, interviews and to perform the live show. She is an absolute stunner of a hall and as a bonus, there is actually a hall within the hall - an architectural turducken if you...

Hall Stories is a multi faceted project that I am currently trialing with Riverlinks Theatre and the Shepparton Festival . In the basic format of the project, I perform a live show in a hall, combining my skills as a storyteller, stand-up and character actor, to share from my armoury of war stories from my time performing on the front line in halls across the land. Basically, I pull back the curta...