Independent theatre

Place Name - Independent Theatre

Type - Cultural

Description-

Independent Theatre, formerly known as The Independent Theatre Ltd., was an Australian dramatic society founded in 1930 by Dame Doris Fitton in Sydney, Australia. It is also the name given to the building it occupied from 1939 (then known as the Coliseum Theatre), now owned by Wenona School, in North Sydney, cited as Sydney's oldest live theatre venue.

History-

The society was named for London's Independent Theatre Society founded by J. T. Grein and was one of several amateur drama groups of high standard which sprang up in Sydney in the 1930s to fill the gap left by the closure of all but two professional theatres (the last spoken-word theatre to close was The Criterion theatre in 1936, leaving only the Tivoli, which ran vaudeville, and the Theatre Royal, which played musicals and ballets). The range of plays essayed was impressive – from classics to avant-garde pieces, from recent West End and Broadway successes (sometimes the Australian premiere) to offerings from local dramatists. The death of Doris Fitton's co-producer Peter Summerton in 1969 put extra strain on her deteriorating health, and with no-one able or willing to fill her shoes, the Independent closed in 1977.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1990s, in serious disrepair, the theatre, Sydney's oldest, was bought by Rodney Seaborn's Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation, and reopened in 1998. In 2004 it was acquired by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust.

As of 2022 the Independent Theatre operates in North Sydney, in the building opened as the Coliseum Theatre in 1939, run by Wenona School.

Threats-

Climate-related emergencies, political unrest, economic pressures, and public health crises all threaten the viability of drama, dance, opera and other live events, as well as their benefits to society and community wellbeing.

November 25 2024