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Why Charlie Lloyd-Byrnes chose Castlemaine over the VCA

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The Nugget
March 06, 2026

★ Why Charlie Lloyd-Byrnes chose Castlemaine over the VCA ★

Charlie Lloyd-Byrnes

Charlie Lloyd-Byrnes walked away from the most prestigious drama school in the country for a creative life in Castlemaine.

Which makes him almost suspiciously well-suited to star in Castlemaine: The Musical. Luckily for us, that’s exactly what he’s doing.

In the production, Charlie plays Jake — one half of a city couple who relocate in search of cold-pressed coffee, hot saunas and a shinier version of themselves. Instead, they encounter the slower, slightly absurd process of becoming locals.

Charlie knows what it is to arrive here with a backstory. Jake’s arc — figuring out how to belong in a small town — isn’t much of a stretch.

He moved to Castlemaine in December 2022 to be closer to his dad after dropping out of the Victorian College of the Arts during COVID.

“During that COVID period of my life, I felt quite disheartened about what was being asked of me as a human, as an artist,” he says. “I made the difficult decision to step away from being in a creative pursuit.”

The time away became a period of experimentation. He explored tattooing, jewellery making, painting and writing. The detour clarified things.

“I found myself longing to perform again,” he says, this time with a clearer sense of what it would require, emotionally, physically and practically, to do it well and sustainably.

He even re-auditioned for the VCA.

“I re-auditioned to go back last year and decided to decline that offer when I realised there were opportunities here in Castlemaine to involve me in community, in theatre, which is what I was hoping to do post-study anyway.”

In other words, he already had the prize: fulfilling creative work and a community to do it in.

“Castlemaine has such a creative community — very welcoming, very encouraging, with lots of fantastic opportunities.”

Those opportunities have arrived quickly. Charlie has been cast in the first project of Castlemaine’s newly established The Ravens Theatre Company — an independent professional theatre company created to produce classic works and open doors for local artists.

He also teaches acting with Castlemaine Theatre Company’s Youth Theatre Lab, and ballet and contemporary dance at Movement Zone.

That dance background is part of what makes him so compelling to watch on stage. Charlie started dancing at three and trained in classical ballet from seven through to seventeen. Audiences who saw him as Lysander in Castlemaine Theatre Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream will remember the physicality he brought to the role — the sense that he always knew exactly where he was on stage, and who he was sharing it with.

“My physicality was the most common feedback I got from playing Lysander,” he says. “I certainly wouldn’t have the awareness or adaptability of my body without my classical training.”

That training eventually led him towards physical theatre. With Castlemaine: The Musical, another element has been added.

“To bring in this other element of song and voice and singing in the musical feels really special,” he says.

Charlie has always liked to push himself. He was first accepted to the VCA for dance but chose acting because it “felt more like a risk”.

“I also had a fear of losing my passion for dance if I had to do it every day.”

Singing is the newest part of the mix.

“Only in the last couple of years have I started to feel confident enough to sing in front of other people,” he says. “It started around the campfire, or in a friend’s living room. Then I went to the open mic night at Shedshaker and made some friends there — who are actually part of the band for Castlemaine: The Musical.”

He’s built an equally fulfilling offstage life here, too.

“Being asked to tattoo my friends at their wedding, or being asked to come over and sing for people — even just those little things about being in the community here are really special.”

As for what he hopes audiences take away from Castlemaine: The Musical?

“I’d really love to hear people laughing,” he says. “And I’d love to encourage a greater appreciation for this community.”

❀ Gabirra Gallery comin’ at ya ❀

Biiiig congrats to Gabirra, a brand new First Nations artist gallery and studio that has opened on Mostyn St.

Gosh it's pretty. Go have a browse and let the art take you away.

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