WORLD PREMIERE: I HATE MEN As Read By Men Newcastle Fringe Festival
Stoddart Entertainment Group (SEG) today announces the director and cast for the world premiere of I HATE MEN As Read By Men, a provocative new stage adaptation of French feminist Pauline Harmange’s essays, presented as part of the Newcastle Fringe Festival in March 2026.
Once banned in France for being “too radical,” Harmange’s essays are brought to life as a live, high-voltage theatrical experience – part lecture, part pub yarn, part cultural cleanse. The work confronts audiences with provocation, audacity, and challenge, inviting them to enter a conversation rather than passively observe.
Helming the production is multi-award-winning director, dramaturg, writer, and performer Brittanie Shipway, whose career spans critically acclaimed productions, new Australian writing, and musical theatre development.
Shipway’s recent production of Barbra: The Greatest Star sold out at The Hayes Theatre to rave reviews, and her acclaimed acting credits include Hermia in Bell Shakespeare’s The Lovers and Margaret Whitlam in the new Australian musical The Dismissal.
Shipway:
This work is bold, funny and uncomfortable. I’m also really interested in seeing how audiences change the energy of each performance; it will feel incredibly different night to night. And that’s what theatre should be: IT’S ALIIIIIVE!.
She is joined by a stellar cast: Haydan Hawkins (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Miss Saigon, Into the Woods, The Unlisted), Jordan Shea (award-winning writer and performer with credits at Belvoir, QTC, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company), and Tana Laga’aia (RENT national tour, Jesus Christ Superstar, Barbra: The Greatest Star).
Together, they bring fearless skill, wit, and energy to a daring new work in development, engaging with Harmange’s writing not as a provocation to resolve, but as a conversation to dive headfirst into.
Endorsed by Harmange herself, the production features iconic feminist rock anthems, sharp ideas, and razor-edge humour, designed to make audiences laugh, squirm, and think long after the final song.
Produced by Stoddart Entertainment Group, with Daniel Stoddart as Executive Producer and Taylor Tran as Associate Producer, the show is part of SEG’s 2026 season of fearless, perspective-shifting theatre.
I HATE MEN As Read By Men plays Newcastle Fringe Festival, 20–22 March 2026 at the Islington Barracks Hotel, with further development and touring planned beyond the festival.
Season Details
Venue: Islington Barracks Hotel
Date: 20–22 March 2026
For more information click HERE
