National Theatre, Melbourne


The National Theatre is a 783-seat Australian theatre and theatrical arts school located in the Melbourne bayside suburb of St Kilda, on the corner of Barkly and Carlisle Streets. The building was constructed in 1921 as The Victory Theatre, rebuilt as 2550 seat cinema in 1928, finally converted to a live venue 1972/4 with 783 seats.

Background to the National Theatre movement

The original National Theatre Movement was established in 1935 by soprano Gertrude Johnson. After returning from an overseas career that included performing at Covent Garden, Miss Johnson was dismayed at the lack of training and performing opportunities for Australian artists in their own country.
To that end the National Theatre was founded along with a network of companies throughout Australia. The Ballarat National Theatre was founded in 1938 along with other branches in Heidelberg, Yallourn and Swan Hill. Included in the network too was an opera school, drama school and ballet school. Production Companies ran through the 1940s and 1950s.
The National Theatre Movement had previously occupied the Village Theatre in Toorak and then purchased the Empress Theatre in Prahran, which was destroyed by fire in June 1971.

Theatre building

The building now occupied by the National Theatre was built in the Beaux Arts style as a 3000-seat cinema and opened in 1920 as the Victory Theatre. In 1971 Hoyts offered the company the Victory Theatre for conversion to a live theatre and rehearsal spaces. The current theatre consists of the original Victory dress circle extended with the addition of a sizeable stage and a fly tower. The original stalls were converted into five studios for drama, opera and ballet. One of the studios is itself a theatrette. The theatre opened in its current guise in August 1974, while the schools and administration moved there in September 1972.

Drama school

The National Theatre drama school dates from 1936 and is the oldest in Australia. Drama school alumni include Bella Heathcote, Kat Stewart, Richard Cawthorne, Brett Tucker, Ngaire Dawn Fair, Lawrence Mooney, Geraldine Quinn and Esther Hannaford. The current director of drama for the National Theatre Drama School is Trent Baker. Past Drama directors have included Ken Boucher, Kim Durban, Babs MacMillan and the Late Joan Harris.

Ballet school

The National Theatre Ballet school dates from 1939 and is the oldest in Australia.
The ballet school currently conducts Royal Academy of Dance examinations and has ballet performances in the middle of the year and in December. The current artistic director of the National Theatre Ballet School is Damian Smith.
Other dance artistic directors have included Kathleen Gorham, Gailene Stock and Marilyn Jones.

Opera school

The opera school merged with the Victorian College of the Arts in 1980. It was closed by the VCA in 2006 but the National Theatre now supports the new Opera School established independently in 2008.