Melbourne Little Theatre was a theatre company in Melbourne, Australia, founded by

Brett Randall Brett Randall (15 September 1884 – c. 1 July 1963) was a British-born Australian actor and theatre director. He was the co-founder of the Melbourne Little Theatre, which became St Martins Youth Arts Centre. Biography Randall was born in England, ...

and Hal Percy in 1931. Randall and Percy staged their first production,

Miles Malleson William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles i ...

's ''The Fanatics'', at the central hall of His Majesty's Theatre in December 1931. In 1934 they purchased a disused church, "St Chad's" in Martin Street,

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Sto ...

which, renamed "The Little Theatre", served as their home for nearly 20 years. In 1948 Melbourne Little Theatre and the College of Adult Education (CAE) founded Everyman Theatres Pty Ltd, a professional company to bring theatre to Victorian country centres. Their first production was

Benn Levy Benn Wolfe Levy (7 March 1900 – 7 December 1973) was a Labour Party Member of Parliament in the House of Commons (1945–1950), and a successful playwright. He was educated at Repton School and University College, Oxford and served in uniform ...

's '' Springtime for Henry'', directed by Randall. In May 1951

Irene Mitchell Irene Gladys Mitchell (24 November 1905 – 1995) was an Australian actor and theatre director, prominent in the little theatre movement in Melbourne. Career Mitchell was the eldest daughter of (James) Herbert Mitchell (1886–1971) and Annie Maud ...

directed their production of

's version of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

's comedy, ''

The Miser ''The Miser'' (french: L'Avare; ; also known by the longer name ''L'Avare ou L'École du Mensonge,'' meaning The Miser, or the School for Lies) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September ...

'' its first Australian production. This may have been their last production. The company built its own theatre in South Yarra in the 1950s, and evolved into the professional St Martin's Theatre Company, before closing in 1974.

was director and producer for many of its productions. Its theatre later became the

St Martins Youth Arts Centre St Martins Youth Arts Centre is a youth-focused performing arts centre in South Yarra in inner Melbourne. It is a non-profit organisation that makes contemporary theatre works for adult audiences and runs weekly drama workshops for young people. ...

References

{{authority control Theatre companies in Australia Theatre in Melbourne