Chalkface

Play by Ange Betzein | Directed by Samantha Stone

6 - 21 March 2026

Chalkface is set in the fictional Victorian primary school of West Vale, where we meet Pat Novitsky, who returns from the summer holidays with her closest teacher friend Sue’s ashes. After years of dedication to the school, not one of her colleagues found time to attend Sue’s funeral, and Pat is feeling very jaded. We then meet Anna Park, who is a newly qualified teacher with a degree in Neuroplasticity. She is young, bright-eyed, energetic and has a therapy guinea pig.

Throughout the play, we start to see that not all is as it should be with the maintenance of the school and the office manager, Cheryl Filch, who spends a lot of her time near the shredder and keeping the stationery cupboard under strict lock and key. The Principal, Douglas Housten, seems out of touch with the other teachers and more interested in corporate babble speak and saving money than connecting with the young students in his care. Denise and Steve, the two other teachers, are dealing with their own issues too.

Book Week arrives, and things escalate from here…into an explosive ending.

Chalkface is a dark comedy with adult themes and coarse language and is not suitable for children.