Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust

The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust is a theatre and performing arts company that was founded in September 1954, with the aim of establishing drama, opera and ballet companies nationally.[1]

Founding

The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust was established in September 1954 under the guidance of H.C. Coombs, Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, sir Charles Moses GM of the Australian Broadcasting Commission and John Douglas Pringle of the Sydney Morning Herald" to provide a theatre of Australians by Australians for Australians".

The arts company was so named to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Australia, the Trust raised £100,000 by a public appeal.[2][3] The Trust had an agreement with the Commonwealth government to match public donations 'in the ratio of 1:3 and to provide ongoing funding'.[4] With substantial contributions from both the public and the Commonwealth Government, the Trust commemorated the first visit of the Queen, who had taken the title "Queen of Australia" in 1953, and since then The Trust has been the only arts body to bear her name.

The hope in 1954 was that there would occur in the arts a new "Elizabethan" age, and as productive as the first in the sixteenth century.

Development of and support for performing arts

The Trust has nurtured and seen to independence many of Australia's most significant performing arts companies including Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet Foundation. The Trust also formed, maintained and administered two music Opera and Ballet orchestras, one each in Sydney and Melbourne, to accompany ballet and opera companies, and one smaller orchestra of Sydney freelance musicians named the Elizabethan Sinfonietta.

The Trust played a key role in establishing high culture in Australia through its involvement in setting up:

It has also supported:

Following the establishment of the Australia Council for the Arts in 1968, it ceased to be a funding body for opera and ballet in 1970.

In 1974, Geoffrey Wynter Armstrong bequeathed a sum of money to the Trust to establish a memorial fund to be known as the Geoffrey Wynter Armstrong and Elizabeth Mary Martin Scholarship. The annual award is currently administered by Music & Opera Singers Trust Limited.

In 1982 it helped to fund the tour of Aboriginal playwright Bob Merritt's play The Cake Man to the World Theatre Festival in Denver, Colorado.[5]

Change in focus

During the 1980s the Trust scaled back its operations and in the 1990s had a Sydney focus and operated a ticketing agency and organised theatre parties.

In 1990, the Trust went into provisional receivership and its operations were scaled back by its Administrator. Its arts promotion role passed to the Australian Council for the Arts (later the Australia Council).[6] Management of The Trust was given back to the Directors in 1992.

In 2000, the Trust launched its international music scholarship program for Australian singers, musicians and conductors wishing to undertake overseas music study. This assists musicians, singers and conductors in all music genres in making a unique, original and valuable contribution to Australian culture.

Since 2000 there have been 107 music scholarships awarded with a total value of $1,337,559. Of these there have been 29 awards to singers for study in The Netherlands, UK, France, USA, Germany and Italy. Musicians have received awards for chamber music, orchestral and solo study in UK, Europe and USA. There are no restrictions on scholars applying for further assistance and it is the Trust's view that it should stand by and support, when practical, a scholars' musical development for life.

In 2004 the Trust purchased the Independent Theatre at North Sydney and undertook a major acoustical and heritage refurbishment of the venue. This initiative resulted in the production of a fine chamber music venue with an outstanding acoustic quality for both performers and audience. The Trust sold the Independent in 2013 to Wenona School who have continued the chamber music programs.

Chairs of the Board

Australian Plays Presented by the Trust
  • Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1955)
  • The Tintookies (1956)
  • Ned Kelly (1956)
  • The Shifting Heart (1957)
  • Curly on the Rack (1958)
  • Little Fella Bindi (1958)
  • Lola Montez (1958)
  • The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day (1959)
  • The Bastard Country (1959)
  • The Magic Pudding (1960)
  • The One Day of the Year (1961)
  • Naked Island (1962) - at Union Theatre, Sydney
  • Shipwreck (1962) - at Union Theatre, Sydney
  • The Break (1962) - at Union Theatre, Sydney
  • The Ballad of Angel's Alley (1962)
  • The Ham Funeral (1962)
  • Season at Sasparilla (1962)
  • Night of the Ding Dong (1966)

Plays Sponsored by The Trust
  • Swamp Creatures

See also

References

THE TRUST the rise and fall of an Australian icon by Brian Adams (amazon.com.au) charts the history of The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust as told by its foundation members in extensive interviews with Brian Adams, former ABC TV Arts head. The book provides an authentic insight into the challenges and triumphs of this cultural icon, and its subsequent spawning of the independent performing arts companies of today and their educational institutions.

  1. Tim Rowse, 'Playing the blame game', The Australian, 16 May 2007.
  2. MS 5908 Records of Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust at the National Library of Australia
  3. Annual Report 1957, The Australia Elizabethan Theatre Trust
  4. Roger Wettenhall, 'Kaleidoscope, or 'Now We See Them, Now We Don't!', Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration, No. 110, 2003, p. 32.
  5. Lewis, Berwyn (27 June 1982). "Return of The Cake Man" (PDF). The National Times. p. 29.
  6. Roger Wettenhall, 'Kaleidoscope, or 'Now We See Them, Now We Don't!', Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration, No. 110, 2003, p. 32.
  7. Valerie Lawson, 'In the steps of the Empire', Sydney Morning Herald, 9 Feb 2002.
  8. Frank Strahan, "Gibson, Aubrey Hickes Lawson (1901-1973)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 14, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
  9. Corrie Perkin, 'Philanthropist made his play', The Australian, 4 May 2006.
  • The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust: the first year, Sydney: The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, 1956
  • Stephen Alomes, The search for a National Theatre, Voices, Spring 1993, pp. 21–37.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.