La Boite Theatre Building is a heritage-listed former theatre at 69 Hale Street, Petrie Terrace, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Blair Wilson and built in 1972. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 30 January 2004.
History
La Boite Theatre was built in 1972 to the design of Brisbane architect Blair Wilson for the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Company.
The Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society was founded in 1925 by a group of local theatre enthusiasts led by Barbara Sisley and Professor Jeremiah Joseph Stable. Their stated object was "to stimulate public interest and to promote public education in the drama and to promote and encourage the study and development of the best in dramatic literature and art." Their first play was "The Dover Road" by A. A. Milne. and in 1926 they performed an Australian play and decided that they would in future include at least one Australian play in each year's programme. In 1931 they held their inaugural Australian Playwriting Competition, the winning play causing controversy when it was performed because of its realistic subject matter and coarse language. It was a sign of things to come. The theatre company became known for its production of modern and innovative theatre. They are now Australia's oldest continuously running theatre company.
The group has performed in many theatres including Her Majesty's, the Bohemia, Cremorne, Theatre Royal, Rialto, Old and New Albert Halls and held a lease on the Princess Theatre for several years. However, one by one theatres closed and with the demolition of the Albert Hall in 1967, the last available and affordable venue for productions in the central city area was lost. The society looked for a way to continue productions and decided to establish a permanent home "where the theatre's image could flourish and members would be welcome at all times".
The society had acquired two timber cottages on the corner of Hale and Sexton Streets, Petrie Terrace in the late 1950s for use as clubrooms. They then purchased adjoining properties and decided to convert one of the houses into a theatre-in-the-round. There were several reasons for this decision. To begin with, there was no existing theatre in the round in Brisbane, even though some experimental productions in this style had been well received. In 1965 an experimental in the round performance was held in the converted house in Sexton Street.
Theatre in the round would extend the range of theatrical experience available to the Brisbane public and allow actors and directors to employ new techniques. There was an increasing overseas trend for more flexible performance space and a theatre in the round offered the simplest and cheapest way of achieving this. The equipment and scenery needed was not as elaborate as that required for a conventional theatre and seating capacity could be smaller so that an existing building could be utilised.
The converted cottage seated 65 people and opened for performances in June 1967. In spite of the small space and limited technical facilities, a lack of proper seating and air conditioning, the new theatre was an artistic success. It was named La Boite (The Box) to acknowledge its box-like shape.
Theatre-in-the-round, where the audience surrounds the players, is an ancient way of presenting performances but was new as a 20th-century theatrical form. It was an outcome of ideas developed in the first decades of the century in reaction to the restrictions of traditional theatre. At the time, theatres provided elaborate settings were the audience went to see and be seen and were seated on the ground floor and in rows of tiers and boxes facing a picture frame stage. Scenery and costumes were elaborate; acting was exaggerated in style and productions expensive to mount. Changes included simplification of settings and the use of lighting as an integral part of the performance, rather than just as means of illuminating the players.