La Boite Theatre 1925 to 2003: an Historical Survey of Its Transformation from an Amateur Repertory Society to an Established Professional Company
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LA BOITE THEATRE 1925 TO 2003: AN HISTORICAL SURVEY OF ITS TRANSFORMATION FROM AN AMATEUR REPERTORY SOCIETY TO AN ESTABLISHED PROFESSIONAL COMPANY Christine Anne Wilmington Comans Bachelor of Arts, Diploma in Education, The University of Queensland Master of Education, The University of Melbourne A thesis submitted to Queensland University of Technology in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology 2006 KEYWORDS Australian theatre history Brisbane Repertory Theatre Brisbane theatre history La Boite Theatre Company ABBREVIATIONS AD Artistic Director AETT Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust AGM Annual General Meeting ANZTR Australian and New Zealand Theatre Record BAT Brisbane Arts Theatre BCAE Brisbane College of Advanced Education BCC Brisbane City Council BRTS Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society BRT Brisbane Repertory Theatre ECDP Early Childhood Drama Project GM General Manager MAD Managing Artistic Director NARPACA Northern Australian Regional Performing Arts Centres Association NIDA National Institute of Dramatic Art QPAC Queensland Performing Arts Centre QTC Queensland Theatre Company QUT Queensland University of Technology RQTC Royal Queensland Theatre Company TYP Theatre for Young People UQ University of Queensland UQFL University of Queensland Fryer Library DEFINITIONS Pro-am theatre The term ‘pro-am theatre’ usually refers to a professionally managed theatre company that provides artistic and administrative leadership and support for amateur participants. It is dependent on volunteer workers for its functioning and is governed by a Council or Board all of whom serve in a voluntary capacity. For its ongoing financial viability pro-am theatre is generally reliant on Federal and State Government funding bodies plus box office profit. During La Boite’s time as a pro-am theatre, full- time professional staff comprised at least an artistic director and, generally, a separate business manager, and often had in addition a production manager, a youth theatre director, a publicity officer and a secretary, with part-time staff hired as necessary. Constituency The term ‘constituency’ is used throughout this study to refer to all those with a vested interest in BRTS/BRT/La Boite, including paid up members, active participants, employees, audiences, theatre critics, theatre supporters and the theatre industry. i ABSTRACT This study addresses the central question of how Brisbane’s La Boite Theatre negotiated its transformation from an amateur repertory society to an established professional company and, despite set-backs and crises, survived, changed and developed in an unbroken line of theatrical activity from its genesis in1925 to 2003. To answer the question, La Boite’s history is surveyed within its three status modes of amateur, ‘pro-am’, and professional. Effective artistic and organizational leadership and a set of key manifestations of effective leadership are identified as crucial to the company’s successful transformational journey. Such a transformation is a distinctive achievement in Australian repertory theatre history and, in exploring it, this study makes an original and important contribution to the history of Australian theatre organizations, very few of which have been the subject of scholarly research. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Keywords i Abstract ii Table of Contents iii List of Appendices ix Statement of Original Authorship ix Acknowledgements ix CHAPTER ONE Introduction to the Study Preamble 1 Overview of the Study 3 • The research problem 4 • Significance of the study 5 • Current research in the field 6 • Personal interest in the study 7 • Ethical Clearance 7 Research Design and Methodology • Research activity overview 8 Theoretical Perspectives • Historiography 8 • Postmodern historiography – an informing paradigm 9 • Hermeneutics 12 Qualitative Research Methods • Archival research – data collection 13 • Interviews - oral accounts as data 15 Structure of the Study 17 CHAPTER TWO Literature Review Introduction 19 Major Published Works 19 Minor Published Works 29 CHAPTER THREE The Sisley and Stable Era 1925-45 Introduction 37 PART ONE The Establishment of the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society • Co-founders - the artist and the academic 38 • Guided by ‘Repertory’ rules 40 • First seasons of “safe but unimpeachable” plays 41 iii Stable’s Leadership • Building membership a priority 43 • Dynamic evolution through affordable innovations 44 • Involvement in early ABC Radio Drama 44 • Crippling venue costs puts ‘a home of our own’ on the agenda 45 • Artistic excesses tempered by sound management 46 • Moves towards a ‘house style’ - the ‘one producer’ policy 47 • Serious venue-related debt increases as war approaches 48 Effects of World War Two 48 PART TWO A Commitment to the Australian Play – the rhetoric and the reality • The influence of Stable and Sisley 50 • The first Australian productions 51 • Stable’s public commitment to the Australian play 52 • Australian premiere of Vance Palmer’s Christine 53 The In Beauty It Is Finished Controversy • BRTS Australian Playwriting Competition 54 • The controversial dramatic content of the winning play 54 • Dann’s recollection of “the public shindy” 56 • The media savaging and Stable’s defence 56 • A box office success and serious critical response 58 • Reflection on BRTS’s first controversy 60 An Ongoing Commitment to Dann’s Plays 61 Other Productions of Australian Plays to 1945 64 Non-Australian Repertoire 1925 – 1945 64 PART THREE Sisley’s Artistic Leadership Professional Background 66 ‘A tall and striking woman’ – Her Dominant Artistic Presence 68 Her Sudden Death - The End of an Era 70 Conclusion 72 CHAPTER FOUR The Babette Stephens Era 1946-1968 Introduction 73 Stephens’ Emergence as a Powerful New Presence 73 PART ONE Stephens’ Organizational Leadership Background to seeking ‘a home of our own’ 75 • BRT’s purchase of the Hale and Sexton Street properties 77 • Stephens appointed in new role of ‘Theatre Director’ 78 • The 1967 opening of La Boite’s first theatre-in-the-round 79 • The significance of the first La Boite 82 La Boite’s Theatrical Life 1967 to 1972 83 Other Organizational Achievements 84 PART TWO Stephens’ Artistic Leadership • Early tensions about the non-programming of Australian plays 85 • Stephens’ English-dominated repertoire 86 • The two producer ‘policy’ 88 • Babette Stephens – Theatre Director 1960 to 1968 89 • Membership increase 91 • Gloria Birdwood-Smith’s ‘fall from grace’ 92 Stephens’ Resignation 94 Conclusion 94 iv CHAPTER FIVE The Blocksidges and Billinghurst Era 1969 – 1979 Introduction 96 PART ONE President Bruce Blocksidge’s Leadership Role • The decision to build a new theatre-in-the-round 97 • Queensland Government support 98 • La Boite Theatre opening and first seasons 99 Steps Towards Administrative Professionalization • First Executive Officer appointment 101 • A developing entrepreneurialism 102 PART TWO Jennifer Blocksidge’s Artistic Leadership Her Role as Artistic ‘Change Agent’ 103 First Challenges to BRT Orthodoxies • Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming – a sign of things to come 105 • The return of the Australian play 106 Blocksidge’s 1973 Season - Confirmation of her Programming Intentions 107 Declaring Her Hand on Artistic Policy and the Amateur/Professional Debate 108 Steps Towards Artistic Professionalism • Professional directors 110 • The emergence of the Early Childhood Drama Project – BRT’s first professional ‘wing’ 111 Consolidation of Her Artistic Policy • Problems of rights and casting 113 • Innovation and experimentation: successes and failures 114 The Transition from ‘Amateur’ to Professional Artistic Direction 117 PART THREE Rick Billinghurst - First Professional Director • BRT’s first ‘outsider’ 119 • Theatrical background 120 • How the position was advertised 121 Billinghurst’s Organizational Leadership • ‘Tooling up’ to market ‘La Boite Theatre’ 121 • Introduction of a Subscription Scheme 123 • Success in ‘selling the product’ 123 • Asserting his authority – administrative restructuring 124 • The Energy Wheel 127 Billinghurst’s Artistic Leadership • Artistic policy 129 • The Floating World - his La Boite directorial debut 130 • His groundbreaking season of Australian plays 130 • La Boite’s pro-am status supports risk-taking policy 133 • Risky, innovative theatre of 1978 134 A Major Review of All Activities 139 Artistic Policy Issues and Recommendations • Serious debate on becoming a professional company 140 • Recommendations on new works and a future professional company 142 Administrative Policy Issues and Recommendations 143 • Financial issues and recommendations 144 Billinghurst’s Last Hurrah 144 Conclusion 146 CHAPTER SIX The Blaylock, Ross, Bridges & Routh Eras 1979-1985 Introduction 148 PART ONE Malcolm Blaylock 1979-1982 149 v His Ideological Position on Theatre 150 Blaylock’s Organizational Leadership • The Australia Council funding crisis 151 A ‘Professional Community Theatre’ Emerges 154 Issues with ECDP 157 Blaylock’s Artistic Leadership • His Risky 1980 Program of Australian Plays 159 • The Oz Music Theatre Season ’82 161 Negative Responses to Blaylock’s Artistic Program • Police presence at political plays 162 • Outraged public response to Traitors and Roses in Due Season 163 Blaylock’s Legacy 164 PART TWO Andrew Ross 1982-1983 Introduction 165 The Professional Agenda 166 The Demise of ECDP 171 Ross’s 1983 Season 174 • First professional mainhouse productions 174 • First commissioned work in 1983 season 175 • Professional