The Universal Theatre was a theatre at 13 Victoria Street, Fitzroy in Melbourne, Australia which operated from the late 1970s to the late 1990s. It was established as part of the Universal Workshop in the mid-1970s by colourful barrister John Weller. The Universal Workshop was a former factory containing the theatre, a cinema and studios. The Universal Theatre opened as a professional venue in May 1979 with

Robyn Archer Robyn Archer, AO, CdOAL (born 1948) is an Australian singer, writer, stage director, artistic director, and public advocate of the arts, in Australia and internationally. Life Archer was born Robyn Smith in Prospect, South Australia. She beg ...

's cabaret ''A Star is Torn'', which played for five weeks. The theatre gained an early reputation for lively alternative performance including theatre, visual theatre, music and comedy. During the 1980s, the 320-seat theatre and small cinema were converted into a 450-seat main theatre and the 150-seat Universal 2. Long-running productions included ''

Wogs Out of Work ''Wogs Out of Work'' is an Australian play which was written by Nick Giannopoulos, Simon Palomares, and Maria Portesi. It debuted in 1987 at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and was enormously successful, touring for a number of yea ...

'' and ''

Torch Song Trilogy ''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: ''International Stud'', ''Fugue in a Nursery'', and ''Widows and Children First!'' The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag ...

''. The building was redeveloped into apartments in the mid-2000s.

References

{{coord missing, Victoria (Australia) Former theatres in Melbourne Cinemas in Melbourne Former cinemas