Rhoda Mary Felgate (1901 – 1990) was an Australian speech and drama teacher and theatre director. She founded the

Twelfth Night Theatre image:Twelfth Night Theatre.jpg, 250px, Twelfth Night Theatre The Twelfth Night Theatre is an established Australian entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills, Queensland, Bowen Hills, in Brisbane, Queensland. Many notable actors, both internati ...

in Brisbane in 1936.

Life

Felgate was born in Stoke Newington in 1901. Her parents were Alice Maude (born Willson) and her husband Gordon Felgate and they emigrated to Australia while she was still a baby. Her father travelled as a company representative. They made their home in Brisbane in 1910 where she attended

Brisbane Girls Grammar School Brisbane Girls Grammar School is an independent non-denominational secondary day school for girls, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1875, the school is one of eight grammar schools in Quee ...

. The Twelfth Night Players was an amateur group founded by Felgate. It was named "Twelfth Night" because it intended to perform of the twelfth night of every month. Felgate had directed many plays for the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society. A society that was for advanced performers. Felgate believed that, with her teaching skills, she could found a new company for improving amateurs who would perform important plays. When it started performing, the company consisted of only a dozen or more amateur actors. The Twelfth Night company first performed in March 1936 at the Empire Chambers. In the first three years of the company, it staged 21 different plays including works by the British playwrights

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

and

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

. Felgate travelled abroad in 1939 and in 1947. In the 1940s Twelfth Night Theatre performed many plays new to Australia which Felgate was able to source including John Van Druten's '' I Remember Mama'', Shaw's 1939 play In Good King Charles's Golden Days, Krasna's 1944 play

Dear Ruth ''Dear Ruth'' is a successful 1944 Broadway play written by Norman Krasna. It ran for 680 performances. History Krasna wrote a serious play, '' The Man with Blond Hair'', which received a tepid response. He said that Moss Hart suggested he wri ...

and the eponymous

Gas Light ''Gas Light'' is a 1938 thriller play, set in the Victorian era, written by the British novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton. Hamilton's play is a dark tale of a marriage based on deceit and trickery, and a husband committed to driving h ...

In 1948 the company found its first location in a large building on Wickham Terrace where it occupied two floors; the upper for play rehearsal and the lower for teaching. In 1955, Felgate became a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In the following year the company obtained a church hall on Wickham Terrace named ''Gowrie Hall'' which became their small theatre. Felgate appeared in another showing of ''I Remember Mama'' before retiring from the company in 1962. She continued her association as its Patron while

Joan Whalley Joan Agnes Whalley, OAM, (December 1927 – 27 August 2021) was an actress, teacher and artistic director of Twelfth Night Theatre in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia from 1962 to 1976. Early years Whalley was born in December 1927 and went ...

took over as the artistic director of Twelfth Night Theatre. Felgate died in 1990 in Auchenflower, Queensland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Felgate, Rhoda Mary 1901 births 1990 deaths People from Stoke Newington Australian actors Theatre directors People from Brisbane Drama teachers Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire