Melbourne Theatre Company
Encyclopedia
The Melbourne Theatre Company (popularly known as MTC) is a theatre company based in Melbourne
. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, and has its own theatre, The MTC Theatre – which houses the 500-seat Sumner Theatre and the 150-seat Lawler Studio – located in Melbourne's Arts Precinct in Southbank
. Despite being recognised as Victoria's State theatre company, it is a department of the University of Melbourne
. Currently, it offers a Mainstage Season of ten to twelve plays each year, a Studio Season and an Education Season in the smaller Lawler Studio, and affiliate writers programs. It has a current subscriber base of 21,000 people and plays to a quarter of a million people annually .
's Colombe, opened on 31 August 1953, starring Zoe Caldwell
(who was later to have considerable success on Broadway
), George Fairfax, and Alex Scott.
Over the years, MTC has championed Australian writing, introducing the works of writers such as Alan Seymour, Vance Palmer, Patrick White
, Alan Hopgood
, Alexander Buzo
, David Williamson
, John Romeril
, Jim McNeil, Alma De Groen, John Powers, Matt Cameron, Ron Elisha
, Justin Fleming
, Janis Bolodis, Hannie Rayson
, Louis Nowra
, Michael Gurr, Jack Davis, Michael Gow
and Joanna Murray-Smith
(to mention only a few) to mainstream Melbourne audiences. The first Australian play produced by the company, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
by Ray Lawler
, in 1955 was quickly recognised as an Australian classic.
Lawler had by that time succeeded Sumner as Director of the company, taking it through the 1955 and 1956 seasons. When Lawler left to perform The Doll in London, he handed the directorship to Wal Cherry
, who oversaw the company from 1956 until 1959. Cherry's experimental and daring approach to theatre did much to broaden the tastes of Melbourne theatre-goers, though the company suffered at the box-office. In 1959, John Sumner returned and subsequently steered the company through twenty-eight years of growth and prosperity, watching it become, by the time he retired in 1987, the largest theatre company in Australia. Since then the company has had two artistic directors: Roger Hodgman (1987–1999), who steered MTC through the financially troublesome period of the late eighties and nineties, and Simon Phillips
, who has been Artistic Director from 2000. In July 2010, Phillips announced his resignation from the company, effective at the conclusion of the 2011 Season. In February 2011, Brett Sheehy was named as Phillips' successor . Due to his current position as head of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Sheehy will commence his position MTC until 2012, when he will begin programming the 2013 Season. In the interim, Robyn Nevin
, Pamela Rabe
, and Aidan Fennessy have been appointed to program the 2012 Season.
The Melbourne Theatre Company has performed in many venues in its history, including the Russell Street Theatre, the Melbourne Athenaeum, St Martins Theatre, the Merlyn and Beckett Theatres at the CUB Malthouse
, and the Playhouse and Fairfax Studio of the Victorian Arts Centre
.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, and has its own theatre, The MTC Theatre – which houses the 500-seat Sumner Theatre and the 150-seat Lawler Studio – located in Melbourne's Arts Precinct in Southbank
Southbank, Victoria
Southbank is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located direct south of the Yarra River opposite Melbourne's Hoddle Grid. The northernmost area is considered part of the Central Business District and Central Activities District of the city. Its Local Government Area are the...
. Despite being recognised as Victoria's State theatre company, it is a department of the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
. Currently, it offers a Mainstage Season of ten to twelve plays each year, a Studio Season and an Education Season in the smaller Lawler Studio, and affiliate writers programs. It has a current subscriber base of 21,000 people and plays to a quarter of a million people annually .
History
The Melbourne Theatre Company was founded in 1953 by John Sumner as the Union Theatre Repertory Company, based at the Union Theatre of the University of Melbourne's Student Union building. Sumner's original idea was to present a season of plays over those months when the Union Theatre was not being used by student drama societies. It was Australia's first professional repertory theatre, presenting a new play every two weeks during the season. Later, that became three weekly repertory. The first play, Jean AnouilhJean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
's Colombe, opened on 31 August 1953, starring Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell, OBE is an Australian-born actress.-Early life:She was born as Ada Caldwell in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in the suburb of Balwyn in Yongala Street. Her father, Edgar, was a plumber and her mother, Zoe, was a taxi dancer. Caldwell's mother, Zoe, had a Peugeot of 1950 vintage...
(who was later to have considerable success on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
), George Fairfax, and Alex Scott.
Over the years, MTC has championed Australian writing, introducing the works of writers such as Alan Seymour, Vance Palmer, Patrick White
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
, Alan Hopgood
Alan Hopgood
Alan Hopgood is an Australian actor and writer.He is a graduate of the University of Melbourne. Hopgood's first very successful play was And the Big Men Fly in 1963. It was adapted for TV by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1973...
, Alexander Buzo
Alex Buzo
Alex Buzo was an Australian playwright and author who wrote 88 works.-Early life:Buzo was born in Sydney in 1944 to an Albanian-born father and an Australian mother...
, David Williamson
David Williamson
David Keith Williamson AO is one of Australia's best-known playwrights. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.-Biography:...
, John Romeril
John Romeril
John Henry Romeril is a contemporary Australian playwright.John Romeril was born and grew up in Melbourne where he attended Monash University. His first plays, I Don't Know Who To Feel Sorry For and Chicago, Chicago were written while he was still a student...
, Jim McNeil, Alma De Groen, John Powers, Matt Cameron, Ron Elisha
Ron Elisha
Ron Elisha is an Australian playwright, writer and general practitioner.Born in Jerusalem Ron Elisha's family moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1953. In 1975 he graduated in Medicine from Melbourne University and has practised as a GP since then. His first play, In Duty Bound was staged in 1979...
, Justin Fleming
Justin Fleming
Justin Fleming , born Sydney, Australia is a playwright and author. He has written for theatre, music theatre, television and cinema and his works have been produced and published in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Poland and France...
, Janis Bolodis, Hannie Rayson
Hannie Rayson
-Biography:Rayson was born in Melbourne, Victoria and graduated from the University of Melbourne and the Victorian College of Arts. She has worked as a freelance journalist and editor in addition to her primary career as playwright and screenwriter. Rayson was the co-founder of the community...
, Louis Nowra
Louis Nowra
Louis Nowra is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist.He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights...
, Michael Gurr, Jack Davis, Michael Gow
Michael Gow
Michael Gow is an Australian playwright and director most famed for his 1986 work Away.As a student at Sydney University, Gow acted and directed with the Dramatic Society from 1973-1976. After graduation, Gow went on to act with Nimrod, Thalia and Sydney theatre companies.He has been the Artist...
and Joanna Murray-Smith
Joanna Murray-Smith
Joanna Murray-Smith is a Melbourne based playwright, screenwriter, novelist, librettist and newspaper columnist.-Biography:...
(to mention only a few) to mainstream Melbourne audiences. The first Australian play produced by the company, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is a pioneering Australian play written by Ray Lawler and first performed at the Union Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, on 28 November 1955...
by Ray Lawler
Ray Lawler
Raymond Evenor Lawler is an influential Australian actor, dramatist and producer. His most notable play was his tenth, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll , which had its premiere in Melbourne in 1955. The play changed the direction of Australian drama...
, in 1955 was quickly recognised as an Australian classic.
Lawler had by that time succeeded Sumner as Director of the company, taking it through the 1955 and 1956 seasons. When Lawler left to perform The Doll in London, he handed the directorship to Wal Cherry
Wal Cherry
Wal Cherry was an Australian theatre director, and academic.As the founder and director of the Emerald Hill Theatre Company in Melbourne, Victoria, Cherry gained a reputation in the early 1960s for innovative programming and bold productions, particularly of Australian plays...
, who oversaw the company from 1956 until 1959. Cherry's experimental and daring approach to theatre did much to broaden the tastes of Melbourne theatre-goers, though the company suffered at the box-office. In 1959, John Sumner returned and subsequently steered the company through twenty-eight years of growth and prosperity, watching it become, by the time he retired in 1987, the largest theatre company in Australia. Since then the company has had two artistic directors: Roger Hodgman (1987–1999), who steered MTC through the financially troublesome period of the late eighties and nineties, and Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips is an English jazz, pop and rock drummer.-Career:Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar...
, who has been Artistic Director from 2000. In July 2010, Phillips announced his resignation from the company, effective at the conclusion of the 2011 Season. In February 2011, Brett Sheehy was named as Phillips' successor . Due to his current position as head of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Sheehy will commence his position MTC until 2012, when he will begin programming the 2013 Season. In the interim, Robyn Nevin
Robyn Nevin
Robyn Anne Nevin AM , is an Australian stage and screen actress, and is considered by some as a doyenne of Australian theatre.- Early life :...
, Pamela Rabe
Pamela Rabe
Pamela Rabe is a Canadian / Australian stage, television and film actor. A graduate from the Playhouse Acting School, in Vancouver, Pamela Rabe is one of Australia’s most highly regarded and awarded actors. She is best known for her appearances in the films Cosi, Sirens and Paradise Road...
, and Aidan Fennessy have been appointed to program the 2012 Season.
The Melbourne Theatre Company has performed in many venues in its history, including the Russell Street Theatre, the Melbourne Athenaeum, St Martins Theatre, the Merlyn and Beckett Theatres at the CUB Malthouse
Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne
Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of the Malthouse performing arts complex in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct....
, and the Playhouse and Fairfax Studio of the Victorian Arts Centre
The Arts Centre (Melbourne)
The Victorian Arts Centre is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia....
.
A venue of their own
In 2005 it was announced that the company would have its own theatre on Southbank Boulevard in Southbank. The MTC Theatre opened in January 2009 with a production in the Sumner Theatre, a state-of-the-art 500-seat venue. The MTC Theatre also houses the flexible Lawler Studio for small scale work. In March 2010 the theatre was badly hit during a severe hailstorm, and refurbishments to the venue occurred throughout 2010.External links
- Melbourne Theatre Company
- The Melbourne Theatre Company's new home in Fairfax, from the ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
. - The Melbourne Theatre Company — Australian Performing Arts