|
Of humble beginnings...
In late 1976, Hoopla Theatre Foundation was conceived by three enterprising
luminaries of the Melbourne theatre world - Carrillo Gantner, actor
and former
General Manager of the Melbourne Theatre Company, Graeme Blundell
and
Garrie Hutchinson, both from the Australian Performing Group at
the Pram
Factory.
Hoopla! burst into life at the Grant Street Theatre with premiere
productions
of Alma de Groen's Chidley and Dorothy Hewett's The Golden
Oldies.
In 1977, Hoopla! found a home at the Playbox Theatre in Exhibition
Street,
Melbourne. The name change soon followed. The primary policy of
the Playbox
Theatre Company was to focus on new Australiana theatre writing,
while also
introducing audiences to some of the most stimulating new writers
from
overseas whose work had not yet been produced in this country.
Few companies have been born of such a spirit of individuality,
non-conformity
and originality. Defying financial logic, Playbox Theatre Company
produced
season after season of exciting, fresh works introducing more new
Australian
writers to the theatre-going public than any other company in the
country, as
well as doing the first Australian productions of writers like Sam
Shepherd.
The old Playbox building contained two theatres - Downstairs with
300 seats
catering for larger shows and Upstairs, an 80 seat venue in which
the company
could pursue creative challenge in an intimate atmosphere. This
environment
fostered adventurous and daring theatre with the chance to experiment
and
take great artistic risks.
By 1984 the company's reputation had grown to the point where seven
Playbox
shows were on tour around Australia in the one year. Then in February
of that
year, with audiences doubling annually, with a recently refurbished
main theatre
and a well earned reputation as the leader in contemporary Australian
drama,
the Playbox theatre was destroyed by fire.
After the flames...
Adversity nurtures a special breed of commitment. This instance
was certainly
no exception. The company began looking for a new home and scheduled
productions went ahead first at St. Martin's Theatre, later in 1984
at The Studio
Victorian Arts Centre and occasionally at other venues around Melbourne
such
as The Universal Theatre in Fitzroy and LaMama in Carlton.
In 1986 Playbox Theatre Company became the recipient of an extraordinary
gift - John Elliot, head of Elders IXL which owned Carlton and United
Breweries
Ltd, donated the late 19th century Barrett Brothers & Burston
malting house in
Sturt St South Melbourne, to be converted into a two theatre complex.
The CUB Malthouse, redeveloped under the supervision of theatre
designer
John Beckett, had its first production in March 1990 and opened
officially in
August of that year.
|
