Theatre & the Beginning
1980s · Brisbane · La Boîte · Freelancing Frenzy!
There was always painting, since I was a little kid, but I fell in love with the collaborative working environment of the theatre when I was about 19. I loved the scale and I actually loved the transient nature of the work. That we would spend a year creating something that lasted a month, then was gone forever.
Theatre gave me a phenomenal opportunity to learn age old painting techniques, everything from mixing powder pigment paints to drawing and painting on a massive scale... I loved every moment of it!
La Boîte
_with_posters_for_the_play__Cosi_.jpg)
La Boîte Theatre with posters for the play Cosi
Source, Heritage branch staff,
CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
No changes made to the image.
La Boîte Theatre in Hale St, Petrie Terrace was a warm and inviting place. Late in 1979, I was looking for work, and in those days, you could just go through the phone book to find a job. I opened the book randomly at Theatres and La Boîte's number was the first that I saw. I said I was looking for work and that I was a painter and that I could build things. They said that they were an amateur theatre but that ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They’ opened in two weeks, and that they were dreadfully behind schedule. I walked in and didn't go home for two weeks!! I was in love, and would sleep under the stage or in any quiet spot.
They were turning the theatre into a 1935 dance hall, and I was struck by the single focused, collective effort to create the most beautiful and meaningful work of art that they could, given the time and resources available.
I had a small exhibition of my paintings in the foyer during the next production, and the then Artistic Director of what was to become TN! Theatre Company saw it and asked if I'd like to help out painting scenery for their production that was behind schedule (productions always feel like they are behind schedule, because we try to put as much as possible into them). So my third theatre production, ‘The Threepenny Opera’, at Twelfth Night Theatre, was my first professional show, early in 1980...
My last day as Production Manager at La Boîte Theatre, in 1987. I was 26 years old and very happy with all the good things that I did for the company, and for the many lifelong friends I made.
I was Production Manager at La Boîte for a year, and my mission was to increase the volunteer crew base from the 20 or so that were on the list when I started to over 80 when I left. I did this by instigating a Technical Theatre training program, to help people learn whichever aspects of technical theatre that interested them. At the time, the colleges were starting to take over as the main way people learnt theatre craft, and that repulsed me because I feel that they weren't benefiting from the collective joy that I found when I first joined La Boîte. Of course, it's not the way society was going, but we had a lot of fun, and developed a fantastic crew of creative technical volunteer staff.
Having said that, I did do part of a tech theatre course after I had been involved in theatre for a few years, but I left because I became too busy freelancing in theatre.
Grin and Tonic Theatre Troupe
and Queensland Theatre Company
One of my favourite companies to work with was the Shakespeare company, Grin and Tonic Theatre Troupe run by Bryan Nason. I designed shows and made props and sets for them for about three years.
I was lucky enough to work as the Design Assistant at Queensland Theatre Company in 1981. I worked with James Ridewood and Graham Maclean. They taught me all about working with powder pigments in glue size. I loved working there with those two incredibly talented and generous designers. I ended up having a small accident that injured my neck and put me out of commission for about a year... So back to painting pictures while I recovered!