Theatre & Opera Director, Artistic Producer, Writer
Writer Noëlle Janaczewska
Director Kate Gaul
Performer Jane Phegan
Composer Nate Edmondson
Production Designer Soham Apte
Lighting Designer Becky Russell
Assistant Director Hayden Tonazzi
What’s happening to winter? In hot, bushfire-prone Australia our winters are becoming warmer and shorter. Will climate change eventually erase the season, leaving it to exist only in paintings, fairytales and historical accounts? "The End of Winter" is about loss and resilience. It’s about the places the writer goes in search of the cold weather she loves—places she can reach via public transport and the imagination.
A story of winter written in the heat of summer.
Running Time - 55 minutes without interval
WINNER: BEST ACTOR IN A PRODUCTION: JANE PHEGAN - SYDNEY THEATRE CRITICS AWARDS 2022
SHORTLISTED : NICK ENRIGHT PRIZE FOR PLAYWRIGHTING - NSW PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARDS 2023
SHORTLISTED: AWGIE AWARD FOR PLAYWRIGHTING 2024
BEST IN THEATRE - WEEKLY AWARD ADELAIDE FRINGE 2024
SUSTAINABILITY AWARD, PRESENTED BY VISUALCOM - ADELAIDE FRINGE 2024
- AWARDED TO AN EVENT THAT TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND INVITES THE AUDIENCE TO ENGAGE WITH SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
BROADWAYWORLD AUSTRALIA - ADELAIDE - AWARDS
Best Solo Performance - Jane Phegan
Best New Play - The End of Winter
Best Sound Design - Nate Edmondson
Premiere Season SBW Stables Theatre Feb 2022
National Tour 2023
Adelaide Fringe 2024
Singapore Fringe 2025
"The End of Winter" by Noëlle Janaczewska played Singapore in January 2025. M1 Singapore Fringe Festival brings the best of contemporary, cutting-edge and socially engaged works to the Singapore audience. We are one of seven international productions presented in 2025.
★★★★★ “Australia’s Siren Theatre Co. has set a high bar … Phegan’s performance is phenomenal … a production that leaves one spellbound from start to end,a masterclass in storytelling that knows exactly how to shape the imagination and bring us on a journey that is both personal and universal. A breathtaking work of theatre that feels urgent, important and hits hard, as this one-woman force of nature pores over histories and archives, traveling from place to place to save herself and the winter of her mind.” Bakchormeeboy
"I was surprised by the force of emotion I felt towards the end of the performance, when we properly get to contemplate the end of winter..." Critics Circle Blog
The STAGES podcast Episode 268: ‘The End of Winter’ - Anatomy of a Production February 2022.
STAGES chronicle the evolution of the production. Hearing from the creative personnel - performer, director, designers, playwright - over a 4-week period, the podcast explores how they construct this piece for the theatre.
To the uninitiated, it is a fascinating process as disparate parts collaborate under the guidance of director to create the magic of live performance. The deft conjuring of illusion and the seductive pull of storytelling, transport us to other worlds, and enlighten us through evocative text and passionate craft.
Listen HERE
Supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW
Assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.