On 1 June, 2024, the curtain will fall for the last time on a Brisbane Arts Theatre production at their historic 210 Petrie Terrace premises.
For more than 70 years, the beloved arts company has called the historic theatre home; and while it is the end of an era in many ways, Brisbane Arts Theatre President Paje Battilana insists it is just a new chapter in the company’s 90-plus year history.
“Brisbane Arts Theatre started initially as a production company of community theatre and moved around Brisbane, as most theatre companies do, until it was able to buy the venue that it has been in for the last 70 years,” Battilana explains. “It was originally a workshop that was turned into a theatre, and it’s been burnt down and rebuilt and been our home for a long time.
“Being a not-for-profit and having no government funding in any shape or form, meant that it came to a point after COVID that we unfortunately had to sell the building, but it has allowed us to have the option of rebuilding our foundations into something better and stronger – so that we can continue to offer arts and education and theatre and education for another 90 years.”
Read an archive of scenestr's Brisbane Arts Theatre coverage over the years.
“We are still the company we have always been and will still be,” insists Battilana, who describes the transition as having the same heart and soul, just housed in different parts – and as a return to form for the company who spent the first 20 years travelling and taking part in the festival route.
“We have always wanted to educate, engage, and entertain, and we will continue to do that, and we have the freedom to do that in different ways. We can actually take our shows around different parts of Brisbane, and we can engage in so many different levels and not just in the building. The essence of our community is that we will be able to share the arts in different ways.”
Battilana says that essence of community has flowed in her personal life, with many of her greatest memories in her two decades at the company centred around the life-long friendships she has made as well as the memories she shared with her 19-year-old dog Jackson, who passed away last year.
“He was a theatre dog; he was on stage and at rehearsals and would sleep beside me on the stage manager desk. So, I understand the sadness of leaving that location. I’ve literally bled in that building, but the most important thing is the memories I have of the people and the energy and the community, and that isn’t going anywhere.”
Battilana, who is tying the knot later this year, met her wedding celebrant at Brisbane Arts Theatre and will also have one of the theatre company's singers performing at her wedding as well: “My life is entangled here in many ways.”
But before the final curtain falls on their upcoming production of Shakespeare’s 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', Battilana insists there’s plenty to look forward to at the theatre including a children’s production of Roald Dahl’s 'Danny The Champion Of The World' (now playing) and an epic costume sale. “We’ve been here for 70 years, and let’s face it, we are hoarders – so there will be auctions and chances for the membership to buy props and set pieces and bits of costumes that have been seen on stage, or even used on stage, and we’ve found crazy and interesting things we didn’t even know we had.”
“We want to stress that while we may not be in that location anymore, we still exist, and we encourage you to support us by maintaining your membership and staying abreast of all of our key elements, and to join us at different locations in Brisbane as we spread our wings.”
Brisbane Arts Theatre's final production at the iconic 210 Petrie Terrace is 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. The last performance is 1 June.
