Brisbane Arts Theatre refers to both an independent theatre company in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia and the building in which it resides. __TOC__

Theatre company history

Brisbane Arts Theatre was founded in 1936 as Brisbane Amateur Theatres by Jean Trundle and Vic Hardgraves. The company's name was changed in 1947. Its early seasons up until the early 1960s consisted of five productions, each with three-night seasons in venues such as All Saint's Hall, Princess Theatre, Theatre Royal and Albert Hall. It also presented 12 to 14 performances of an annual junior

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play and three one-act plays throughout its season at various venues, including the Brisbane branch of the

Royal Over-Seas League The Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) is a not-for-profit members' organisation with international headquarters in its clubhouse in central London, England. Founded by Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1910 as the Over-Seas Club, it was given a Royal Charter ...

. Brisbane Arts Theatre's first production in its new venue on Petrie Terrace was '' The Multi-Coloured Umbrella'' by Armidale playwright

Barbara Mary Vernon Barbara Mary Vernon (25 July 1916 – 16 April 1978) was an Australian playwright, screenwriter, editor and radio announcer. Her plays included ''The Passionate Pianist'' and ''The Multi-Coloured Umbrella''. She was the head writer and s ...

, which opened on 16 September 1961. Its first full season in its new home included nine plays of up to 20 performances each. During the rebuilding of the venue (see below) between 1964 and 1965, the company persisted with its seasons off-site. Following the completion of the rebuilt venue, ten plays per season were performed, each consisting of 19 performances over a five-week duration. In 1965, an annual children's theatre season was added with the first production featuring

Carol Burns Carol Ann Burns (29 October 1947 – 22 December 2015) was an Australian actress, theatre director and patron of the arts, with a career spanning 50 years. She worked extensively in theatre and television serials, as well as telemovies and min ...

as Gretel in ''Hansel and Gretel''. The company was funded only by box office revenue until government funding began in the form of a small annual

Queensland state government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

grant in 1969, which ceased in the 1990s under the Goss Labor government. It has since again operated solely on performance and theatre bar revenue and theatre workshop tuition fees. In recent years, the theatre's annual seasons have consisted of five to seven productions each from its mainhouse and children's theatre divisions. Its recent high-grossing productions have included the stage debuts of three plays based on novels by John Birmingham, adapted by Simon Bedak (

He Died with a Felafel in His Hand ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'' is a purportedly non-fiction autobiographical novel by Australian author John Birmingham about his experiences as a share housing tenant, first published in 1994 by The Yellow Press (). The story consists ...

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco ''The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco'' is a 1997 sequel novel by John Birmingham. It involves several prominent characters from the first novel, ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'', primarily Taylor the Cabbie, Jabba the Hutt, Thunderbird Ron, Brain ...

and How to Be a Man), a once-reprised production of We Will Rock You, and productions of

Avenue Q ''Avenue Q'' is a musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and book by Jeff Whitty. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show's format is a parody of PBS' ...

in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017 (including a regional Queensland tour) and 2018. The company claims to be "Brisbane's home of Avenue Q."

Venue history

Brisbane Arts Theatre was the first theatre company in Brisbane to operate its own theatre premises. The venue is located at 210 Petrie Terrace, in the suburb of Petrie Terrace. With 152 seats, it is sold as 149 in the stalls and gallery combined and features a small courtyard and a bar. The property, formerly Dan's, a second-hand shop, was purchased in June 1959 for £6,000 and redeveloped as a theatre. Initially reported to seat 220, it opened in September 1961 with a single-level, raked 144-seat auditorium and a 10 ft-deep stage. The first floor accommodated the costume department and office. The theatre was officially opened by Premier of Queensland Frank Nicklin on 22 September.Brisbane Arts Theatre (1987). ''The First Fifty Years 1936-1986''. . At around 3am on 31 May 1964, the theatre was heavily damaged by fire, caused by an electrical fault in the toilet block. Upon initial assessment of the damage, the theatre director and insurance representatives agreed that the building could be repaired within a matter of weeks; however, smouldering materials ignited a second blaze at 8.30am, which resulted in extensive damage throughout. The

Commonwealth Trading Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

loaned £12,000 for the rebuilding of the theatre based on a new design by the initial architect, John Dalton. It included the addition of a

dress circle An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

, increased stalls capacity, a 25 ft deep stage and two dressing rooms under the stage. The theatre reopened on 25 June 1965, the reconstruction totalling £20,000. The venue's architectural shape served as the inspiration behind the company's new logo in 2014. In the late 1960s, the adjoining cottage–a deceased estate–was purchased for £6,000 and later, in August 1971, a two-storey building at 222 Petrie Terrace was added to the complex for $16,000. The cottage, at number 206, was renamed after Cor Boogaart, a workshop manager for the theatre for 27 years. The property at number 222 housed the theatre's wardrobe department and rehearsal space until its sale in 2011. Cor Boogart Cottage, having previously been used as a rehearsal venue, now houses the wardrobe division and

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

workshop downstairs. The previous two rehearsal venues were renovated between 1976 and 1978 at the same time as the construction of the theatre's current

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

and bar. The Cor Boogaart Cottage was again refurbished following the sale of 222 in May 2011. Brisbane Arts Theatre also owns and operates a

registered training organisation A registered training organisation (RTO), in Australia, is an organisation providing Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses to students, resulting in qualifications or statements of attainment that are recognised and accepted by indust ...

, offering accredited certificates in live production and technical services.

Theatre for sale

As of 12 July 2022, the iconic Brisbane Arts Theatre at 210 Petrie Terrace is up for sale, following financial difficulties.

Notable people

Performers at the theatre include: *

Roslyn Atkinson Roslyn Gay Atkinson (born 30 November 1948 in Brisbane, Queensland) is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, who served for 20 years from 1998 until her retirement in 2018. In 2002 she also became the Chairperson of the Queenslan ...

, later the judge in the trial of

Daniel Morcombe Daniel James Morcombe (19 December 1989 – 7 December 2003) was an Australian boy who was abducted from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland on 7 December 2003 when he was 13 years old. Eight years later, Brett Peter Cowan (born 18 September 1969), a ...

's killer *

Bunney Brooke Dorothy Cronin (9 January 1920 – 2 April 2000), professionally known as Bunney Brooke, was an Australian actress, creator, producer, director, designer, playwright and casting agent, best known for her being one of the early faces of Aust ...

* Dale Camilleri * Michael Caton * Penny Downie *

Jennifer Flowers Jennifer Flowers (''nee'' Jepson) is an American ice hockey administrator. In June 2019, Flowers was named the vice-president and women's commissioner of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Early life Flowers was born to parents Mik ...

* Wayne Goss, whose government cut the annual grant to the company *

Judith McGrath Judith McGrath (21 April 1947 – 20 October 2017) was an Australian actress. McGrath was known for her television roles, including soap opera's ''Prisoner'' (1979–84), as Deputy Governor/Officer Colleen "Poface" Powell, ''A Country Pract ...

* Barry Otto * John Stanton * Ian Thomson, actor and director * Kate Wilson

References

External links