Brisbane Arts Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Brisbane Arts Theatre is the oldest surviving community theatre in Brisbane
, Queensland
, Australia
. It has existed for nearly seventy-five years. It once received funding from the Queensland state government. This ceased under the Goss Labor government. Since then it has operated without any government funding. Though an amateur theatre, Brisbane Arts Theatre has showcased notable Australian performers in the past including Carol Burns
, Michael Caton
, Barry Otto
, Judith McGrath
, Bunny Brooke, Jennifer Flowers, John Stanton, Kate Wilson and many others. It is a well-known theatre due to its continuing a policy of presenting a broad range of theatre styles.
The theatre is located at 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane. It seats 155 people in the stalls and gallery combined. Jean Trundle founded the theatre with her husband Vic Hardgraves in 1936. The park opposite the theatre, overlooking the city centre is named after him. The theatre has a small courtyard and a bar called 'Masks' which is open an hour before productions. The theatre foyer, auditorium and courtyard are actually part of a complex that also owns the adjoining Cor Boogart Cottage which houses the extensive costume collection and hire department on its main level and a rehearsal space downstairs as well as a set construction workshop. The theatre sold an additional space at 222 Petrie Terrace or Hardgraves House in 2011 for financial reasons. It had been used as a rehearsal venue and for housing the costume collection.
Over the years, Brisbane Arts Theatre's late week seasons have included a wide range of dramatic works including Greek and Shakespearean drama, thrillers, musicals, comedies and well-known Australian plays.
Comedies performed at Brisbane Arts Theatre have included "Habeas Corpus
" by Allen Bennett, "A Midsummer Night's Dream
" by William Shakespeare
, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
by Stephen Sondheim
and "What the Butler Saw"
by Joe Orton
.
Brisbane Arts Theatre also has a thriving children's theatre. Most productions are either musicals or pantomimes featuring well-known story book or fairy tale characters. Children's theatre is mainly performed as a Saturday afternoon matinee every week and also as a Tuesdays-Saturday matinee during school holidays. An added feature of the children's theatre is that of characters meeting the children after the show. This has always been a tradition at the Arts Theatre.
It is said that the theatre is haunted by the ghost of Miss Trundle and many people have reported seeing her, often standing or sitting in the gallery watching a production. The theatre workshop is said to haunted by the malevolent spirit of a previous tenant before the theatre's time.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It has existed for nearly seventy-five years. It once received funding from the Queensland state government. This ceased under the Goss Labor government. Since then it has operated without any government funding. Though an amateur theatre, Brisbane Arts Theatre has showcased notable Australian performers in the past including Carol Burns
Carol Burns
.Carol Burns is an Australian actor. She has worked in film, television and theatre in Australia and the United Kingdom.-Career highlights:...
, Michael Caton
Michael Caton
Michael Caton is an Australian television, film and stage actor, and television host, best known for playing Uncle Harry in the Australian television series, The Sullivans, playing Darryl Kerrigan from 1997's low budget hit film The Castle and playing in the popular Packed to the Rafters. He is...
, Barry Otto
Barry Otto
Barry Otto is an Australian actor with a long list of memorable roles on stage and in film. Otto received an AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor in Strictly Ballroom as well as being nominated for Bliss, Cosi and The More Things Change......
, Judith McGrath
Judith McGrath
Judith McGrath is an Australian actress. She spent many of her formative years training at Brisbane Arts Theatre and was a company member of Twelfth Night Theatre under theatre director, Joan Whalley....
, Bunny Brooke, Jennifer Flowers, John Stanton, Kate Wilson and many others. It is a well-known theatre due to its continuing a policy of presenting a broad range of theatre styles.
The theatre is located at 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane. It seats 155 people in the stalls and gallery combined. Jean Trundle founded the theatre with her husband Vic Hardgraves in 1936. The park opposite the theatre, overlooking the city centre is named after him. The theatre has a small courtyard and a bar called 'Masks' which is open an hour before productions. The theatre foyer, auditorium and courtyard are actually part of a complex that also owns the adjoining Cor Boogart Cottage which houses the extensive costume collection and hire department on its main level and a rehearsal space downstairs as well as a set construction workshop. The theatre sold an additional space at 222 Petrie Terrace or Hardgraves House in 2011 for financial reasons. It had been used as a rehearsal venue and for housing the costume collection.
Over the years, Brisbane Arts Theatre's late week seasons have included a wide range of dramatic works including Greek and Shakespearean drama, thrillers, musicals, comedies and well-known Australian plays.
Comedies performed at Brisbane Arts Theatre have included "Habeas Corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
" by Allen Bennett, "A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
" by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
and "What the Butler Saw"
What the Butler Saw (play)
What the Butler Saw is a farce written by English playwright Joe Orton. It premièred at the Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1969. It was Orton's final play and the second to be performed after his death, following Funeral Games the year before....
by Joe Orton
Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...
.
Brisbane Arts Theatre also has a thriving children's theatre. Most productions are either musicals or pantomimes featuring well-known story book or fairy tale characters. Children's theatre is mainly performed as a Saturday afternoon matinee every week and also as a Tuesdays-Saturday matinee during school holidays. An added feature of the children's theatre is that of characters meeting the children after the show. This has always been a tradition at the Arts Theatre.
It is said that the theatre is haunted by the ghost of Miss Trundle and many people have reported seeing her, often standing or sitting in the gallery watching a production. The theatre workshop is said to haunted by the malevolent spirit of a previous tenant before the theatre's time.