Man With The Iron Neck, which looks at the relationships of members of an Aboriginal family who feel suppressed by the way other Australians treat and refer to them, has been a hit with watchers and reviewers since it premiered at Brisbane's 2018 Festival.

The show is touring regional NSW venues this year, with some, such as a Lismore theatre, also cancelling the show, and others, among them Wyong's Art House Theatre, continuing to promote the show, with the Wyong performance on September 4.

Man With The Iron Neck, which runs for an unbroken 80 minutes, was adapted for the stage by renowned actress Ursula Yovich from a single male actor play by another popular Indigenous performer, Josh Bond, that was staged at Sydney's PACT Centre for Emerging Artists in 2008.

Bond, a former circus performer and acrobat, was trying to make sense of his 19-year-old cousin's suicide seven years earlier. He was woken up when someone knocked on the door of his Sydney house and told him about the cousin's death at a house that was just a few doors away from his venue. The whole household ran up the street in the hope that he was still alive, but that, sadly, was not the case.

Yovich had won awards for her writing, so she had no hesitation in taking Man With The Iron Neck on. She also appeared in the show as mum Rose, a parent of three young people who feature in the story, before retiring from acting after appearing in a Darwin festival staging of the show in August 2019.

The show, staged by theatre company Legs on the Wall, has the three young members of the Aboriginal family interacting with other young people, with one of the two sons, Ash, fascinated by a stunt man, The Great Peters, also known as Man With The Iron Neck, and aiming to perform in the same way, doing things such as jumping from bridges with a rope around his neck and surviving.

Man With The Iron Neck has had people watching intently and has been a popular show at capital city festivals throughout Australia, with Josh Bond and Gavin Robins as co-directors.

The settings include features such as a gum tree and a Hills Hoist clothes line which have the performers doing amazing routines at the top of these items which are well above the stage.

The show also features colourful and engaging projections of the various settings.

Hopefully, Newcastle and Hunter people will eventually get to see it.

ARCHIE Roach: Tell Me Why, A show that was to have been staged at the Civic Theatre on August 13, has been postponed, with presenting company Village Sounds and Play On, saying that: "Unfortunately due to the evolving COVID-19 situation and border closures, we have no choice but to postpone Archie Roach's regional tour to early 2022. We are working as fast as we can to secure new dates and will advise in the next few weeks. All tickets purchased will be honoured for the new dates without need for exchange, and refunds will be available to those who are unable to make the new date once announced. We are so looking forward to bringing Archie's beautiful music to your town."

Archie Roach has lived many lives - from stolen child, teenage alcoholic, seeker, lover, father, musical and lyrical genius, to social advocate and First Nations leader - but it took almost a lifetime to find who he really was.

In recent years he faced the sudden death of his life partner and musical collaborator of 38 years, Ruby Hunter, and went on to survive a debilitating stroke and lung cancer.

Forcibly removed at only two from loving parents, six other siblings and his community, Roach's early years were equally traumatic. He became a teenage alcoholic and drifted into destitution whilst searching for his identity and place.

Tell Me Why, the title of his award winning memoir, published by Simon and Schuster, and its companion album, is an intimate, moving and often confronting account of his resilience and strength of spirit, and also of a great love story. It has also been described as an extraordinary odyssey of love and heartbreak, family and community, survival and renewal - and the healing power of music.

Roach voices the joy, pain and hope he found on his path through his songs to become one of this country's First Nations singer-songwriter and storyteller, beloved and respected by fans worldwide.

ANOTHER show that was to have been staged in March this year, Eireborne, which features 15 world-class Irish dancers, is down to be performed at the Civic Theatre on Saturday, September 4.

The performers, who appeared in Irish shows such as Lord of the Dance and River Dance, have made this a highly-fuelled live rock show, with a fusion of Irish dance, tap rhythms and beats, resulting in a very different experience with a raw and traditional Irish flavour.

A six-piece band will accompany the dancers, performing hits from U2, The Cranberries, Van Morrison, Hozier, The Script, Enya, plus more in a fast-paced 90-minute spectacle.