Twelfth Night Theatre
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The Twelfth Night Theatre is an established Australian entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills, in Brisbane, Queensland. Entertainers such as Rowena Wallace, Sigrid Thornton, Judith McGrath, Jon English and Penny Downie have performed there. The Twelfth Night Complex includes the main theatre and a smaller basement area which in recent years has been used as a dinner theatre.
Originally located on Wickham Terrace, Twelfth Night Theatre was relocated to its present location following the demolition of its former building due to road extensions in 1971. Joan Whalley was the artistic director of Twelfth Night Theatre. The land was sold in 1966 by Brian and Marjorie Johnstone, who also owned the adjacent Johnstone Gallery.
Funds for the purchase were raised by the theatre, the Johnstones and the Myer family. The location of the new theatre next door to the Johnstone Gallery was part of the Johnstones' attempt to create a cultural enclave embracing both performing and visual arts for Brisbane.
A notable example of productions hosted at the theatre include Aristophanes' Lysistrata, held between 24 April and 27 April, 1962, with the set and costumes designed by Quentin Hole.
The 1967 program for the gallery included plans for a modern theatre, which was to be linked to the gallery by gardens. The Johnstones anticipated a joint audience, and encouraged gallery clients to also become members of the theatre.
Prior to the commencement of the building of the theatre, a production of Undermilkwood by Dylan Thomas was staged in a tent on the site of the future theatre.
Construction work commenced at the new site on 14 November, 1969. In 1970, Johnstone Gallery openings were changed from the traditional Sundays to Friday evenings, due to the unexpectedly prompt completion of the theatre. Nonetheless, the theatre did not open until February 1971. The Johnstones were delighted, as Brian wrote to Sidney Nolan:
"...with the new half-million dollar theatre next door, the establishment is now nicely rounded off, so perhaps one of these days Marjorie and I will be able to play ladies and gentlemen of the art world!" [1]
The Twelfth Night Theatre Club made headlines when it opened just before the theatre on 12 February 1951. It was noted that the theatre club's "12 to 12 licence was the first granted under provisions written into the liquor acts in a review last March". [2] There was also significance for women in these new provisions, as suggested in "Sylvia's Woman to Woman" column:
"The official opening of the Twelfth Night Theatre Club on Tuesday night was the most exciting event of the week. It's cosy and intimate and snugly positioned in the basement of the soon-to-be completed Twelfth Night Theatre complex at Bowen Hills... It's a club where women share equal status with men (at least we've made it in one field, girls) and it's the first place I've been in where I've been able to front up to the bar, order a drink from Barman Eddy, pay for it myself and still feel feminine..." [3]
The Johnstones had loaned "magnificent pictures and sculptures" to the Club premises as an indication of their support. [4]
Twelfth Night Theatre opened with two productions: A Flea In Her Ear by Georges Feydeau and The Rose and the Ring based on the work of William Makepeace Thackeray .
In June 1972, however, Marjorie's failing health forced her resignation from the Twelfth Night Theatre Committee. Despite this, she continued to support the theatre and its work, as evidenced in the 1994 memorial to her by later owner Gail Wiltshire.
The building of Twelfth Night Theatre at Bowen Hills was an enormous undertaking. Due to the cost of the new building, Twelfth Night Theatre Company was initially established as an amateur theatre company under foundation artistic director Rhoda Felgate in 1936, was forced to turn professional in a bid to gain financial support from both the Queensland and federal governments. However, sufficient funding was not forthcoming and as a result the theatre was sold to the State Government. The government later sold the theatre to recoup monies spent and, as Gail Wiltshire, the current owner wrote:
"When I moved into Twelfth Night Theatre in 1977, the challenges were enormous, almost impossible - a debt of $1.3 million, a vandalised theatre. I kept thinking of the women in my past - the long sea journey, the dray, the babies buried in small wooden coffins, the house with a mud floor. Nothing was too difficult. But then I had an immediate source of inspiration - Marjorie Johnstone. How I loved that amazing woman. She gave me courage. She pulled no punches about human nature. There are the good ones and the duds. Sometimes bastards. She was right.'"[citation needed]
The Twelfth Night Theatre continues as a contemporary theatre, and has recently run various British comedies. Currently Stagedoor Dinner Theatre has successfully run dinner theatre shows in the basement theatre for some five years.
[edit] References
- ^ Letter from Brian Johnstone to Sidney Nolan, 24 March 1971: The Johnstone Gallery Archive: Sidney Nolan Correspondence File: RBHARC 7/3/69
- ^ "Up to midnight club drinking", The Johnstone Gallery Archive: Scrapbook 1971: RBHARC 7/1/14, p.22
- ^ The Johnstone Gallery Archive: Scrapbook 1970: RBHARC 7/1/13, p.148
- ^ Letter to Brian Johnstone from T.C. Bray, 26 January 1971: The Johnstone Gallery Archive: Scrapbook 1971: RBHARC 7/1/14, p.26
[edit] External links
- Twelfth Night Theatre website Official theatre website.
- Johnstone Gallery Archive Provides a comprehensive history of the theatre using primary sources from the time.
