Harbour Theatre Information

In December 1963, Harbour Theatre was formed by eight enthusiastic amateurs, led by James (Jimmy) A. Quinn, a very competent and experienced director from the former Perth Repertory Club, with Joyce Birch, Betty Houston, Dennis O'Grady, Norma Parr, Kath Rankin, Jean Ryding and Neil Smith, our first President. The theatrette on the upper floor of the Evans Davies Civic Library in South Terrace, Fremantle was made available by the Fremantle City Council and became Harbour's first home. In keeping with our nautical 'heritage', our first full-length play was SAILOR BEWARE by Philip King & Falkland L. Cary, and directed by Jimmy Quinn. Conditions were very primitive at the beginning, but enthusiasm overcame all difficulties and the group expanded rapidly. By 1965, Harbour was able to present four full length productions a year and an Associate Membership scheme was started, and is still one of the largest memberships of community theatre in Perth. In the first few years, Harbour also introduced a Charity Night performance for each full length production. Originally this was a free performance, usually the last dress rehearsal, for selected patrons, but soon progressed to a dedicated performance that became available to local and metropolitan charitable groups. Many groups took up the opportunity to raise funds through the charity performance, as all proceeds, less the cost of performance royalties and a small theatre fee, went directly to the charitable organisation. In 1975, the library moved out to new premises next to the Town Hall in William St and the Evan Davies Building was scheduled for demolition to make way for a car park. Due mainly to the efforts of the members of Harbour Theatre, The Fremantle Society, and a grant to the Fremantle City Council by the Heritage Commission, the building was saved and in 1977 was partially restored. At the same time, the theatre underwent a major restructuring, now occupying the entire upper floor and resulting in the stage and seating being completely rearranged, thus ...