Second Relocation and Company Expansion (1969-2000)
Jennifer Blocksidge became Honorary Director in 1969, and remained in the role until 1975. In 1972, La Boite’s second in-the-round performance space was established, with the purpose-built, 200 seat theatre-in-the round, award-winning Blair Wilson designing the new La Boite Theatre. Blocksidge established her eventual aim to make La Boite a professional theatre company through the establishment in 1973 of the first professional 'theatre-in-education' team in Queensland, the Early Childhood Drama Project (ECDP), and the 1976 appointment of La Boite’s first salaried Artistic Director, Rick Billinghurst. Billinghurst embarked on a program of Australian and overseas works.
Malcolm Blaylock was appointed artistic director in 1980, when La Boite became a 'pro-am' theatre company. The early 1980s was a buoyant time for La Boite and for the pro-am or professional community theatre companies funded by the Australia Council. Blaylock programmed innovative, risky, and politically challenging Australian and non-Australian plays. The appointment in mid-1982 of Andrew Ross as Artistic Director brought La Boite into more professional main-house repertoire. By 1983, the company had lost both state and federal funding. The following years were considered financially trying for La Boite, but a huge effort by the Council and ‘resident directors’ Mike Bridges and Mary Hickson kept the company and theatre afloat. The 1986 appointment of Jim Vilé as both artistic director and CEO was a time of a more ‘open door’ programming at La Boite where “every day and evening of every month of the Theatre’s year was accounted for with a production of some kind…”
Patrick Mitchell took over from Vilé as Artistic Director in 1990. By 1991, the stress of running such a vibrant pro-am theatre company proved too much and David Bell took over as Artistic Director later in that year. Bell’s innovative cross arts approach to theatre saw the beginning of La Boite as a professional company and produced performances which blended circus, opera and modern dance with theatre. Although the innovative fusion of Bell's work gained critical and artistic success, La Boite once again was financially floundering. However, the appointment in 1993 of Sue Rider as Artistic Director saw a period of unparalleled growth once again bolstered the performance of new Australian and Rider’s commitment to Queensland artists.
Read more about this topic: La Boite Theatre Company, History
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