On this day
in 1925, the first show was staged: a one-night season of A. A. Milne’s comedy The Dover Road at the Theatre Royal in Elizabeth Street. The following day
The Brisbane Courier raved:
“Nothing was left to chance. The cast was admirably chosen, and the large audience was held by the splendid acting for two hours and three-quarters. The players, one and all, rose to the occasion, and satisfied the sceptics that the repertory movement in Brisbane has come to stay; it will grow from strength to strength; it will enlarge the communal mind, and prove a great and joyous power in our cultural life.”
I love that
last stretch: “it will enlarge the communal mind and prove a great and joyous
power in our cultural life.”
It’s quite
confronting to lead a theatre company, as I did La Boite between the end of
2008 and the middle of 2014. What do I really believe in? What do I think is
good theatre? Who will I champion? What changes need to be made? How can I best
enlarge the communal mind?
It’s a
phrase that sticks.
I’m honoured
to be part of the huge La Boite clan, and particularly of its family of
artistic directors. I hope I played a useful part, as many have, in enabling
the company to enlarge the communal mind.
Long may she
continue to be "a great and joyous power in our cultural life”, a theatre that invigorates our minds, stirs our
emotions and inspires our better natures, a theatre that enthrals, enlivens and
entertains, a theatre of daring, dash, and distinction.
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