The arts being first to lose their place in education is a tale as old as time, happening at institutions across the globe.
In the past decade, the University of Newcastle itself has seen the abolition of the Bachelor of Fine Arts and outright demolition of the Drama Theatre.
Newcastle playwright Carl Caufield, himself having lectured in film and drama, has distilled his firsthand experiences into his latest script, titled Creativity, and which follows a music faculty as they see the powers-that-be cutting courses, driving staff to insanity, and unable to see the impact of the arts.
While it functions perfectly well as a comedy, with goofy wordplay and biting corporate satire, it is the subtle infusion of true historical content that makes it particularly delicious.
It's like a secret we didn't know we were allowed to talk about now spelled out in two acts and an intermission.
The play asks whether classical music has a place in modern education, with innovation hubs, robo-teachers, and cash-gauging enrolment off-chains serving the vision of the university more than the work of Scarlatti and Mozart.
Dr. Richard Fenchurch (Michael Byrne) finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place when he's appointed acting head of music, having to rein in his acerbic colleague Dr. Lucy Golding (Louise Chapman), who can't restrain herself from cussing out all who work in the chancellery.
Byrne and particularly Chapman do well to portray airy types with an artistic background, struggling to reconcile the cold stoicism of bureaucracy with their need to express.
It is Melinda Smith, however, who is armed with the best material.
She plays Sally Swaines, a pandering marketing consultant looking to speak fluent TikTok and appeal to the youth, as well as the new Vice-Chancellor's personal assistant, whose robotic mannerisms are a cheeky stab at Alex Zelinsky himself.
Smith's moments set the entire production ablaze, as she handles a silly diorama for the Mozart Hub, an innovation utopia, and later pitches the university's "NOW!" campaign with a high-octane slideshow in the second act.
The campaign seeks to promote collaboration in the digital age and to reject stuffy traditionalist practices like classical repertoire.
Much like the staff, the audience is unamused with this tack, and a scene with Chapman's mother Janet (Nola Wallace), who has dementia, being soothed by music regularly reminds us of whose side we're on, and unwaveringly so.
Still, some valid points are raised - yes, opera lacks audiences these days; yes, music isn't a direct qualification for the workplace; yes, there is a bottom line to preserve.
Creativity deals primarily with the danger of erasing history and context, meaning not only the impact of old masters on modern expression, but also the careless dismissal of tireless staff looking to inspire a new generation.
Former vice-chancellor Nicholas Saunders famously cut over 400 staff, a fifth of the University of Newcastle's employees, in his seven-year tenure.
When the good fight becomes too much, do we choose to follow our dreams or submit to reality?
