STAGES Episode 527: STUART GREENE - A History of Sydney Theatres

STAGES with Peter Eyers

STAGES welcomes back passionate theatre historian Stuart Greene in an episode which details the life of some of the Sydney’s iconic theatre venues.

It’s difficult to contemplate that the Sydney CBD once was home to approximately 28 theatres and movie houses - sacred temples in which audiences experienced an escape of the imagination through entertainments as diverse as vaudeville, musical theatre, burlesque, opera, cinema, circus, silver screen and legitimate plays.

Disappointingly, many of these cherished venues have been demolished, making way for urban development and consequently losing much of a vibrant arts heritage.

Sydney saw its first theatre in 1796. Only a handful stand today, all housing commercial fare. These theatres include The Capitol Theatre in Haymarket, The Theatre Royal on King street, The Enmore Theatre in Enmore, The State Theatre on Market street and our newest addition, The Lyric Theatre at Star City. Optimistic news arrives occasionally, with the recent acquisition and (hopefully) salvation of the Metro (Minerva) Theatre in Kings Cross, purchased by arts patron Gretel Packer.

It’s a frustrating tale, but also one of fascination. Sacred arts spaces where the memory of them hovers like the theatrical ghosts that no doubt resided in them.

Stuart is a font of knowledge, identify where and when these theatres stood. We must not ignore this history and ensure we retain all of the great theatres that presently stand proud on Sydney streets,

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