The New Theatre, formerly Workers' Art Club and New Theatre League, is a community theatre company in the
Inner West
The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River ...
Sydney suburb of
Newtown, Australia. Its origins are in the international New Theatre movement of the 1920s, and it is the oldest theatre company in continuous production in
New South Wales
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, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
Background
New Theatre in Australia was inspired by similar movements abroad: the Workers' Theatre Movement in the 1920s in the UK, and the
New Theatre League in the United States. They were all affiliated with the Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, and the plays were in the agitprop
Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', " propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...
style of theatre favoured by the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. Themes usually related to the class struggle. Referred to as workers' theatre in the early days, groups subsequently formed in other cities around Australia, with Workers' Theatre Groups in Melbourne and Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
[ and similar groups in ]Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, and Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
. Some disbanded and then got re-established, but only Sydney's New Theatre is still in existence ().
Themes explored in the productions were mostly related to exploitation of labour, exploitation of the working class, sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...
, racism in Australia
Racism in Australia comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in Australia, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and actions (including ...
, and against war. It has been estimated that the total number of plays produced by all of the New Theatres was over 400.[
]
History
The Workers' Art Club was established in July 1932, with George Finey as president. Its aims were reported as "to give the worker an opportunity of intellectual and cultural development free from financial embarrassment", presenting the arts in its diverse forms: "music, drawing, painting, literature, drama and craftsmanship, embracing practically every profession and trade in the community". It was then located at 273 Pitt Street, Sydney
Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, New South Wales, Waterloo, although today's street ...
.
The first play presented by the Club in 1932 was ''Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
''. In November 1934, it staged a play called ''November'', about the Russian Revolution, at premises at 36 Pitt Street.
In 1936, Workers' Art Club became the New Theatre League[ (NTL) analogous to the newly-established New Theatre in ]Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. Both theatres staged first Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...
' play ''Waiting for Lefty
''Waiting for Lefty'' is a 1935 play by the American playwright Clifford Odets; it was his first play to be produced. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor ...
'',[ with the purpose of raising money for strikers,][ to great acclaim. With the rise of ]Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
in Germany, then prepared to stage his play ''Till the Day I Die
''Till the Day I Die'' is a play by Clifford Odets performed on Broadway in 1935.
Description
The play is a seven-scene drama written by Clifford Odets. It was originally written as a piece to accompany ''Waiting for Lefty''.
Productions
It w ...
''.[ After the German ]Consul General
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
complained to the Commonwealth Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
, the play was banned by Frank Chaffey
Captain Frank Augustus Chaffey (31 March 1888 – 9 July 1940) was an Australian politician.
He was born at Moonbi to farmer William Adolphus Chaffey and Amelia, ''née'' Chad. He was educated at Nemingha and Tamworth before attending H ...
, then Chief Secretary, but the theatre defied the ban and staged the play in private premises. Its slogan was then "Art is a weapon".[ When the play moved to Melbourne's New Theatre, it proved hugely popular and attracted new adherents to the theatre.][
Prior to the war it staged performances with a pacifist message, but as it became inevitable, the theatre continued to stage performances through World War II, including taking performances to soldiers' camps. Its revue ''I'd Rather Be Left'' was a scathing attack on the "Phoney War", as it strived to make the war an anti- Fascist one.][
It started being known simply as the New Theatre during the early 1950s. In the late 1950s, the theatre co-hosted the Mary Gilmore Award for the best new full-length play, along with the ]May Day
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...
Committees of Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Sydney and Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
.
Locations
As the Workers' Art Club and New Theatre League, performances were staged at 36 Pitt Street
Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...
from 1932 to 1943.
From 1943 to 1953, the New Theatre League and then New Theatre had its home at 167 Castlereagh Street
Castlereagh Street is a major street located in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs in a north-to-south, in a one way direction only.
Description
Castlereagh Street's northern terminus is at the ...
.
From 1954 to 1962, the New Theatre staged its productions at the Waterside Workers' Federation Hall in Sussex Street.
Rented premises at 8 St Peters Lane in Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. ...
was the theatre's home from 1963 to 1973,[ when, after raising enough money to have its own theatre built, it moved to its current location at 542 King Street, Newtown.]
Today
The New Theatre in Sydney is the oldest theatre company in continuous production in New South Wales. it is located at 542 King Street, Newtown.
It relies on its performers, directors, designers, and crew working as volunteers.
List of productions
The following productions and performances have taken place in the past.
*1953 - ''Reedy River
The Reedy River is a tributary of the Saluda River, about long, in northwestern South Carolina in the United States. Via the Saluda and Congaree rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean.
The ...
''
*1989 - Windy Gully
*1999 - Summer of the Aliens; Lots more Funny Business; The Removalists; Othello; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Poor Superman; Relative Comfort; A Cheery Soul
*2000 - One Word We
*2001 - Party Time Politics; Charles Dickens' Hard Times; Once in a while the odd thing happens; The Man in the Moon is a Miss; The Club; The Diary of Anne Frank; Cries; Who's Afraid of the Working Class?; Search & Destroy; The Body Ophelia; Les Liaisons Dangereuses; World Premiere: Pandora's Garden
*2002 - Lemon Delicious; Moved Reading of Six Pack; Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde; Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde; Reedy River 2002; In Angel Gear; The Tempest; Abducting Diana; The Castle; Gabriel; Mad Before Midday; One-off moved Playreadings
*2003 - Funny Money, Mother Clap's Molly House, Lemon Delicious, Killing of Sister George, Silence, Dancing at Lughnasa, Assassins, Twelfth Night, African Gothic, Skylight, Blasted, A Room of One's Own, Woman in a Tree on A Hill, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Zoo Story, The Dumb Waiter, The Plough & the Stars, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Speed-the-Plow, Gary's House
*2004 - A Christmas Carol, Into The Woods, Features of a Blown Youth, Navigating, Gagarin Way, La Musica and Savannah Bay, Going to St Ives, Danton's Death, War, Our Town, Richard III, Double Take: Shakespeare Scenework, Another Country, A Twist of Lemon Delicious, Falsettos, Hating Alison Ashley
*2005 - Seven Little Australians, Falling Petals, The Wild Duck, Medea, Continental Drift (Lunch With Ludwig, The Girl on the Sofa, I Was In the House, Waiting for the Rain), The Woman in the Window, Manly Mates, Running up a Dress, The Winslow Boy, Thief River, The Titanic Orchestra, Pelleas and Melisande, The Country, Black Sail White Sail.
*2006 - Thief River, Love Potions, Any Port in a Storm, The Titanic Orchestra, Aba Daba Honeymoon, A Beautiful Life, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Club, Journey's End, Not About Heroes, The Lady of the Camellias
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, Fencelines, The Voysey Inheritance, A Cultural Kebab, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Shakin the Tree, Badjelly the Witch.
*2007 - You're Never Too Old to Play!; Badjelly the Witch; Life After George; Talking to Terrorists; Oh What a Lovely War; Mate!; the Man From Mukinupin; Damages; After the End; Honeymoon Suite; Ghosts; Traitors; Art Is a Weapon; New Theatre 75th Birthday Celebration; Howard's End, Election Night - Saturday 24 November 2007; Morning Tide; Confusions.
*2008 - ''Angels in America
''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award f ...
- Part One: Millennium Approaches'', ''The Real Inspector Hound
''The Real Inspector Hound'' is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit. By chance, th ...
'', ''King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
'', ''Second Childhood'', ''New Directions 2008: Catapult''; Airsick; The Carnivores; Colder Than Here, Kid's Club - Winter, Summer
*2016 - David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...
's adaptation of ''The Cherry Orchard
''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...
'' 26 April - 28 May 2016 with an original musical score by Eliza Scott.
*2017 - Dorothy Hewett's The Chapel Perilous 25 April-27 May.
See also
*New Theatre, Melbourne
The New Theatre in Melbourne, formerly Melbourne Workers' Theatre Group, was one of a number of branches of Australia's New Theatre movement established in the 1930s. This was a radical left theatrical movement which staged performances with ...
References
Further reading
* Milner, Lisa; Deery, Phillip (5 October 2022).
Defying censorship : The New Theatre and Till the Day I die
. Book review. The Commons Social Change Library
External links
*
{{Theatres in Sydney
Amateur theatre companies in Australia
1932 establishments in Australia
Theatre in Sydney
Newtown, New South Wales