Wrapping up 2025!

A YEAR OF COURAGE, CREATIVITY AND COMMUNITY

From Jodie Wainwright, CEO, Milk Crate Theatre

As we wrap up an extraordinary year at Milk Crate Theatre, I’m taking a moment to reflect on the transformation, triumphs, and deep community connection that have shaped us.

This year brought exciting growth as we welcomed Felicity Nicol and Olivia Aleksoski—two brilliant creatives who joined our core team alongside myself, Jessica Pantano, Laura Hurstfield, and Dale Hollingsworth. Their arrival has already brought wonderful fresh momentum and vision to our work.

We also farewelled Margot Politis and Jessica Saras, whose long-standing dedication helped shape Milk Crate through pivotal years. Their contributions leave a lasting legacy, and we remain deeply grateful for their dedication and care.

Across all our programs, we had the privilege of collaborating with an extraordinary group of professional and community artists. Their creativity, resilience, and resonant stories enriched every project this year—reaching audiences through both live performance and digital works. Milk Crate Theatre is, at its heart, a collective endeavour, and this year’s achievements are a testament to their talent.

One of our proudest milestones was presenting COLLECTIVE at the Sydney Opera House, where four community artists took centre stage to share original works. We also deepened our creative exploration at the Ozanam Learning Centre, Woolloomooloo, where participants developed powerful new stories through song. Beyond this, our partnership with Improv Theatre Sydney resulted in an unforgettable show—THE MANGO BANGO BUNCH—a riot of humour, invention, and ensemble brilliance.

In addition to our ongoing workshop programs in Woolloomooloo for adults and children, and La Perouse for young people. We expanded our workshop streams into South Maroubra and Fairfield, grew our youth program in Surry Hills and Penshurst and launched our first regional youth program in Lithgow in partnership with LINC, extending creative opportunities to new communities.

Our film projects also shone. OUT OF THE BOX, created by the HopeSt crew, became a finalist in the SF3 Film Festival. A MAN CALLED LUCKY, made by our OLC ensemble, took home Best Satire at A Night of Shorts—an extraordinary achievement for a team creating bold work on their own terms.

Nationally, the CREATING IMPACT project reached a defining moment: we published the shared Framework, secured funding to pilot the model with 10 organisations across Australia and were recognised as runners-up in the SIMNA Awards for Outstanding Collaboration in Social Impact Measurement. This recognition affirms the national momentum we're helping to build around valuing community-engaged arts.

We were also honoured at the Sydney Business Awards, winning Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion, and celebrating Jessica Pantano, who received the award for Outstanding Employee—followed by her taking out the NSW Outstanding Employee 2025 title at the state awards. Her contribution to Milk Crate and our community is nothing short of extraordinary.

Looking ahead, 2026 promises to be an incredibly exciting year. We’ve already kicked off development of our next major work—POVERTY PORN: The Musical—and will deliver a huge program of workshops across Sydney for both adults and young people. CREATING IMPACT moves into its pilot phase, and we look forward to collaborating with our community partners to bring bold, inclusive, and resonant stories to life across every corner of our city and beyond.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Whether you joined us in a workshop, supported a project, partnered on an initiative, or cheered our artists from the audience—your presence matters. You help us build a world where creativity is not a privilege, but a right.

Warmly,

Jodie Wainwright

CEO, Milk Crate Theatre

P.S. If you’re looking to gift something extra this festive season, consider supporting our work. Your donation helps us continue creating bold, inclusive projects and providing opportunities for artists and young people to tell their stories. [Donate here]