Playbox Theatre, Melbourne

"Playbox Theatre" redirects here. For the Playbox Theatre Company in Melbourne, Australia, see Malthouse Theatre. For English Playbox Theatre Company, see Playbox Theatre Company.

Playbox Theatre, Melbourne

Address	53-55 Exhibition Street
Location	Melbourne, Victoria
Coordinates	37°48′53″S 144°58′17″E
Construction
Built	1927
Opened	1969
Demolished	1984

The Playbox Theatre was a theatre located at 53-55 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, Australia, from 1927 to 1984. It became the home of the Playbox Theatre Company, previously Hoopla! and later Malthouse Theatre.

History

The theatre seating around 300 people was established by entrepreneurs Kenn Brodziak and Harry M. Miller, converted from the former Kelvin Hall built in 1927.^[1] It opened in June 1969 with the controversial play The Boys in the Band.^[2] Plays and musicals at the theatre in the early 1970s included Butterflies Are Free, Juggler's Three and Godspell.^[3]

The Australian Film Institute leased the theatre for two years from mid-1974 to mid-1976.^[4]

In 1977, the Playbox Theatre became the home of theatre company Hoopla!, which changed its name to the Playbox Theatre Company.^[5]

A second smaller 80-seat theatre, the Playbox Upstairs, was established in the building in 1978, with the original theatre called the Playbox Downstairs.^[5]

The theatre was destroyed by a fire in February 1984.^[6] The building was later rebuilt as offices with the heritage stone facade retained.

References

1. "New theatre for Melbourne". Canberra Times. Vol. 43, no. 12, 247. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 28 February 1969. p. 16 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "'Boys in Band' language case review". Canberra Times. Vol. 43, no. 12, 390. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 August 1969. p. 10 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Playbox Theatre". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
4. "AFI'S NEW CINEMA SOON". Filmnews. New South Wales, Australia. 1 July 1976. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
5. Milne, Geoffrey (2004). Theatre Australia (un)limited: Australian Theatre Since the 1950s. Rodopi. pp. 146–147. ISBN 9042009306.
6. "Fire destroys Melbourne theatre". Canberra Times. Vol. 58, no. 17, 664. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 8 February 1984. p. 8 – via National Library of Australia.