The show must go on
Avalon Theatre set for encore performance as restoration begins
Everything old is new again. At least, that’s the plan for the Avalon Theatre on Sir Fred Schonell Drive, just 2 blocks from UQ St Lucia.
Acquired by The University of Queensland in 1963, the Avalon Theatre quickly became a thriving hub for both drama performances and cultural activity. However, when the Schonell Theatre opened in 1970, it found a new purpose as a teaching space for undergraduate courses until its closure in 2004.
But this century-old art deco building will soon be refurbished to reclaim its rightful place in UQ’s and St Lucia’s cultural heritage.
This landmark theatre is currently being restored to provide a unique, fully functioning teaching and performance venue for use by the University, as well as the local community, in the years to come.
Artist's impression of the render of the Avalon facade. Image: DM2 Architecture
Artist's impression of the render of the Avalon facade. Image: DM2 Architecture
Avalon vision
Once restored – expected completion date late 2023 – the former St Lucia ‘Show Hall’ will be a fit-for-purpose theatre with modern amenities and technology, capable of hosting a range of productions in 2 performance spaces: one with up to 112 seats and the other a smaller space with up to 50 seats.
A lighting and sound control room, theatre amenities, office space and backstage area – including dressing rooms, shower facilities, and storage for wardrobe, props, sets and lighting – will also feature. Full lighting rigs, along with tiered retractable and adjustable seating for flexible use, will be installed in the highly soundproofed performance spaces.
Certainly a far cry from the thunderboxes, limited storage and no change-rooms of the University’s original 1963 building acquisition.
Brisbane-based heritage architect Andrew Ladlay has been commissioned to provide conservation and restoration advice on the project, and UQ will ensure that all works are conducted in line with Brisbane City Council.
According to UQ Chief Property Officer Fabby Ernesta, “By restoring the Avalon Theatre we can create an asset not only for our drama students and UQU clubs and societies, but also a hub for local community groups and residents to use in the future.”
The University is committed to supporting and giving back to the community and will consult with locals to understand how best to use the theatre.
A rehearsal of Bacchoi in progress at the Avalon Theatre, 1970. Image: Fryer Library, UQFL 194, Box 188
A rehearsal of Bacchoi in progress at the Avalon Theatre, 1970. Image: Fryer Library, UQFL 194, Box 188
Cast from performance of the The tempest, 1990. Image: St Lucia History Group
Cast from performance of the The tempest, 1990. Image: St Lucia History Group
A rehearsal of Coriolanus in progress at the Avalon Theatre, 2003, with Rob Pensalfini in the title role. Image: A history of the Avalon Theatre 1921–2007
A rehearsal of Coriolanus in progress at the Avalon Theatre, 2003, with Rob Pensalfini in the title role. Image: A history of the Avalon Theatre 1921–2007
Avalon vintage
The Avalon Theatre has a long and prolific history.
Originally built as a church hall for the local Anglican parish in the early 1920s, it later became a Progress Hall (or community hall), and then a Picture Hall (initially known as the Esquire Cinema and later as the St Lucia Theatre).
A 1928 (rejected) application for a cinema licence. Image supplied by the St Lucia History Group
A 1928 (rejected) application for a cinema licence. Image supplied by the St Lucia History Group
It hosted the annual St Lucia Show, fundraisers and social events; was an election booth; and in WW2 was turned over to the Red Cross to make war garments and prepare surgical dressings.
1946 Brisbane City Council Architects Inspection: Stumps 10’ at front, 6’ at back. Vestibule, meeting room and supper room. Main Hall 41’ x 38’9”. Sloping ceiling 13’ at sides, 17’ in centre. Stage 13’ x 41’ including 2 dressing rooms, 3’8” above general floor level. Electric lighting, fire extinguishers, sand buckets. Notes no other hall in area suggests temporary licence (some work required to fire exits). Image supplied by the St Lucia History Group
1946 Brisbane City Council Architects Inspection: Stumps 10’ at front, 6’ at back. Vestibule, meeting room and supper room. Main Hall 41’ x 38’9”. Sloping ceiling 13’ at sides, 17’ in centre. Stage 13’ x 41’ including 2 dressing rooms, 3’8” above general floor level. Electric lighting, fire extinguishers, sand buckets. Notes no other hall in area suggests temporary licence (some work required to fire exits). Image supplied by the St Lucia History Group
In 1963, the University bought the property and it soon became a thriving hub for both drama performances and cultural activity, as well as being a dedicated teaching space. Indeed, some speculate that the floors lost their stumps several years later due to the massive foot-stomping that apparently took place in some undergraduate drama classes!
The first UQ theatrical production held was the Drama Society’s 1963 Orientation Week production, The Tiger and the Horse, a play about nuclear disarmament that attracted around 300 spectators. Not all could see the stage very clearly, and the performers had no change rooms.
But despite these challenges, the Avalon was a popular venue that showed many Australian productions – unusual for the time – while often stretching the limits of capacity regulations.
Regular local bookings included UQ’s Drama (DramSoc) and Music Societies; College Gilbert and Sullivan Society; Russian, Dutch, German and French clubs; the English and Drama departments; and the Conservatorium Opera School. In late 1963, the Avalon hosted the Australian Inter-Varsity Drama Festival to much acclaim.
And films were screened on Friday and Saturday nights when live performances were not scheduled.
Click on the images below and scroll through decades of Avalon Theatre show programs.
Pantomime flyer, 1938. Image: Joan Haig, St Lucia History Group
Pantomime flyer, 1938. Image: Joan Haig, St Lucia History Group
Program for The hostage, March/April 1965. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre Collection, FTPF5
Program for The hostage, March/April 1965. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre Collection, FTPF5
Program for Widow’s tears, 1965. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre Collection, FTPF5
Program for Widow’s tears, 1965. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre Collection, FTPF5
Program for The fall guy, 1970s. Image: Fryer Library Camerata Theatre, UQFL140, Box 1
Program for The fall guy, 1970s. Image: Fryer Library Camerata Theatre, UQFL140, Box 1
Program from Tresias, 1989. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre FTPF5
Program from Tresias, 1989. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre FTPF5
Program from The tempest, 1990. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre, FTPF5
Program from The tempest, 1990. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre, FTPF5
Program from Crack’d, 1991. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre, FTPF5
Program from Crack’d, 1991. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre, FTPF5
Program from As you like it, 1993. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre FTPF5
Program from As you like it, 1993. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre FTPF5
Poster from The skin of our teeth, 1990s. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre, FTPF5
Poster from The skin of our teeth, 1990s. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre, FTPF5
Program from Lives of the sands, 1992. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre, FTPF5
Program from Lives of the sands, 1992. Image: Fryer Library Avalon Theatre, FTPF5
Program from Personal fictions, 1994. Image: Fryer Library Nigel Pearn papers, UQFL496, Box 3, Folder 11
Program from Personal fictions, 1994. Image: Fryer Library Nigel Pearn papers, UQFL496, Box 3, Folder 11
Program from Schoolies, 1997. Image: Fryer Library Nigel Pearn papers, UQFL496
Program from Schoolies, 1997. Image: Fryer Library Nigel Pearn papers, UQFL496
Poster for Free Willy: a stage reading of The two gentlemen of Verona, performed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, 28–30 December 2002. Image: UQ eSpace F3367, Item 5
Poster for Free Willy: a stage reading of The two gentlemen of Verona, performed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, 28–30 December 2002. Image: UQ eSpace F3367, Item 5
Poster for As you like it, performed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, 20 June – 7 July 2002. Image: UQ eSpace
Poster for As you like it, performed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, 20 June – 7 July 2002. Image: UQ eSpace
Postcard for Corolianus, performed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, 4–14 December 2003. Image: UQ eSpace F3367, Item 4
Postcard for Corolianus, performed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, 4–14 December 2003. Image: UQ eSpace F3367, Item 4
Poster for The lesson and A slight ache, date unknown. Image: Fryer Library Nigel Pearn papers, UQFL496
Poster for The lesson and A slight ache, date unknown. Image: Fryer Library Nigel Pearn papers, UQFL496
Avalon value
The Avalon Theatre has helped spawn the careers of many entertainment luminaries – including Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush AC, Go-Betweens founders Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, musician Lindy Morrison OAM, actor/playwright Bille Brown AM, photographer/performer William Yang, author/comedian Steve Haddan, and actors Jack Thompson AM, Michael Caton and Shane Porteous – who all performed there early in their careers.
(Excerpt from: ‘A true hipster, Robert Forster remembers Grant McLennan 1958–2006’, published in The Monthly, July 2006, page 50, reprinted with permission of Schwartz Media.)
(Excerpt from: ‘A true hipster, Robert Forster remembers Grant McLennan 1958–2006’, published in The Monthly, July 2006, page 50, reprinted with permission of Schwartz Media.)
Several theatre troupes also got their start at the Avalon, including the College Players in 1959 and Grin and Tonic in 1969 (led by Bryan Nason AM); the Young Yeti Theatre in 1968 (led by Paul Richards); Uni-Que in 1970 (led by Bille Brown); Camerata Theatre in 1976 (led by Jeremy and Verity Ridgman); a research postgraduate theatre company, Cracka Theatre Troupe, in the 1980s (led by Dr Delyse Ryan); and the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble (founded by Dr Rob Pensalfini in 2001).
Reviews were often favourable.
A scrapbook created by the Camerata Theatre depicting the success of A handful of friends, 1978. Image from Fryer Library UQFL140, Box 6
A scrapbook created by the Camerata Theatre depicting the success of A handful of friends, 1978. Image from Fryer Library UQFL140, Box 6
And, from a completely different perspective, because of its location on a relatively high block of land, the Avalon served as a place of refuge for cars (and people) during the 1974 Brisbane floods, managed by the St Lucia Community Association.
The view of Sir Fred Schonell Drive during from the Avalon Theatre during the 1974 floods. Image: UQ Archives S1189 p2
The view of Sir Fred Schonell Drive during from the Avalon Theatre during the 1974 floods. Image: UQ Archives S1189 p2
Continuing its tradition as a space for the St Lucia community, the restored Avalon Theatre will provide a culturally significant building for the University’s students, staff, and UQU clubs and societies, and, in time, the broader community.
The Avalon Theatre is expected to open in the first half of 2024 for the School of Communication and Arts' drama program.
Credits
Many thanks to A history of the Avalon Theatre 1921–2007 compiled by Nigel Pearn and Richard Fotheringham, 2007, for much of the information contained in this article, as well as the Library blog, From screen to stage: a history of Avalon, and articles by Andrew Darbyshire from the St Lucia History Group.
Steve Haddan and Phyl Wass performing in the Camerata play, One of nature’s gentlemen, October 1979. Image from Fryer Library Camerata Theatre Records, UQFL140, Box 1
Steve Haddan and Phyl Wass performing in the Camerata play, One of nature’s gentlemen, October 1979. Image from Fryer Library Camerata Theatre Records, UQFL140, Box 1
Program from The winter’s tale, 1977, featuring Lindy Morrison among others. Image from Fryer Library UQFL496
Program from The winter’s tale, 1977, featuring Lindy Morrison among others. Image from Fryer Library UQFL496
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