Records of theatre history
UMA holds a significant amount of material relating to the history of theatre in Melbourne. Key institutions such as the Melbourne Theatre Company and La Mama provide deep research opportunities, and collections of ephemeral material illustrate the vibrant history of theatre in Melbourne.
“Summer of the 17th Doll”, “The Removalists” and “Summer of the Aliens” are quintessentially plays of an Australian stage, stages like the Melbourne Theatre Company and La Mama provided the space to develop talent and skill. John Romeril, Joanna Murray-Smith, David Williamson, Pamela Rabe, and Zoe Caldwell are only a few names that made modern Australia theatre. Mainstays of today’s comedy scene such as Magda Sub and other members of the D-Generation honed skills in the University of Melbourne revues made for a distinctly Melbourne scene, which includes both professional, amateur, and community theatre groups.
“The role of Union Theatre, University of Melbourne must assume in the annals of Australian theatre a pre-eminence that would be difficult to be superseded by any other theatre in Australia. It has been a crucible for the development of the performing arts in this country.” by Malcolm Robertson, 1982
https://must.unimelb.edu.au/article/the-union-theatre/
UMA holds a significant amount of material relating to the history of theatre in Melbourne. Key institutions such as the Melbourne Theatre Company and La Mama provide deep research opportunities, and collections of ephemeral material illustrate the vibrant history of theatre in Melbourne.
For a comprehensive history of theatre in Victoria, beginning at Melbourne’s first theatres during the Gold Rush, see the eMelbourne website http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01486b.htm
Union Theatre
Whilst an official University theatre wasn’t opened until 1938, theatrical events were taking place, particularly in the colleges, during the University’s early years. Revues - sketch variety shows produced by students usually revolving around a theme - were the main output of dramatic creativity but were staged in city theatres. Posters and programs of these revues can be found in various collections at the University of Melbourne Archives (UMA), particularly in records of the University colleges.
The Union Theatre was built in 1938 and a permanent home for the dramatic arts on campus was found. Productions were frequently staged by the Tin Alley Players and the Melbourne University Dramatic Club, as well as the Marlowe Society, which was founded in 1947. By the mid 1960s it had merged with the Melbourne University Dramatic Club. More details about the Marlowe Society can be found on the MUST website.
Not long after the foundation of the Union Theatre the Tin Alley Players was created by members of the Melbourne University Graduates' Dramatic Club. A popular feature of this club was the monthly play- readings which aimed to stimulate interest of members and the public between plays staged in the Union Theatre and further the objectives of furthering "the study and appreciation of drama .... and generally, to promote the welfare of theatre in theatre in the University". UMA holds the general and annual minute books, including the play-readings, programs and accounting records.
In 1952 John Sumner was appointed manager of the Union Theatre and proposed that a professional company be underwritten by the University Board. In 1953 the Union Theatre Repertory Company (UTRC) became Australia’s first professional repertory company. After Sumner moved to Sydney in 1954 to manage the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Ray Lawler was appointed Director (1955-1956) of the UTRC. The two companies collaborated to create and produce Lawler’s work 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll', which received both national and international acclaim. In 1967 the UTRC became the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) and continues today as one of Australia’s leading companies. See the Melbourne Theatre Company section of this guide and the MTC website for a more detailed history. http://www.mtc.com.au/about/the-company/history/
“The UTRC was thus the first professional, non-commercial theatre company in Australia, originally modelled on English repertory lines, providing full-time employment for Australian actors and production personnel, and ultimately served as the model for all Australian mainstream state theatre companies.” - From UMA Bulletin #13 (2003) Gordon Dunlop Keeping the Drama Onstage: 50 years of MTC.

Melbourne University Student Theatre
Despite the occupancy of the Union Theatre by the Union Theatre Repertory Company, non-professional, student work flourished. The Theatre Department of the Melbourne University Student Union facilitated a diverse number of student theatre groups and supported a wealth of new dramatic writing in the late 1960s, sparking the early light of many careers. Playwrights and actors such Graeme Blundell, Zoe Caldwell, Reg Livermore and Patricia Kennedy honed their craft in the student theatre scene.
The Melbourne University Student Theatre (MUST) website contains a comprehensive list of productions, history, articles and interviews.

The Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) began life as the Union Theatre Repertory Company (UTRC) in 1953 and rebranded in 1967 as MTC as a semi-autonomous department of the University. For the early history of the MTC see the section “Theatre at the University of Melbourne” in this guide.
The vast MTC archive contains records of administration, creation, production and publicity from 1948-2019, providing deep and interrelated research topics.
Among the production and administrative records of MTC are cast lists for MTC productions, scripts (some accompanied by notes concerning suitability for performance by MTC), correspondence,
scrapbooks of newspaper cuttings and reviews, publicity files, and photographs of actors and playwrights.
Some of the collection is restricted, and not all the material is listed so please consult the UMA catalogue for details before making a request to view material.
Researchers should also search the URTC collections for productions and key figures in the Melbourne theatre scene as overlaps may occur.
Named after the off-Broadway theatre in New York, La Mama was established in Carlton, Melbourne by Betty Burstall in 1967 for avant-garde theatre, music, poetry readings, improvisations and screenings of new films. Some of La Mama’s early productions were works by Jack Hibberd, Kris Hemensley, and John Romeril. With a policy to present new Australian work, La Mama's vision was financially risky in an arts scene dominated by the mainstream canon of mainly American and English work. The scene flourished however, and by 1977, when Liz Jones was appointed artistic director and administrator of the theatre, La Mama was producing and providing a space for multiple events and performances a week. More details can be found in the UMA blog post “Revolutionary theatre is a risk worth taking”.
The comprehensive La Mama archive contains material from inception to the present, including productions files and scripts; correspondence and news cuttings; programs and promotional material; report and box office ledgers; photographs and posters. Most of the collection is listed by year or production season and is open to all researchers.


Alongside stalwarts of the industry, such as the Melbourne Theatre Company and La Mama are the community groups which use theatre as cultural and community development, where the end performance is no more important to those involved as the process of creating that performance.
Within the Lesbian and Women's Community Theatre collection are the scripts, flyers and programmes of the Purple Parrots, Amazon Theatre, Women's Circus and the Performing Older Women's Circus. Created in 1989, Amazon Theatre produced comedies for the lesbian community, written, directed and performed by the group, for women-only audiences.
Initially starting as a workshop in 1995, the Performing Older Women's Circus continues to give women over the age of 45 the opportunity to develop and perform skills in a supportive environment. Records held at UMA range from the group’s inception up until 2016.
These groups are a vital part of the arts industry and their records are important chapters in the history of the Melbourne theatre scene.

In the UMA holdings are individuals whose collections illustrate the depth of Melbourne theatrical history through flyers, programs, ticket stubs, postcards and other ephemera. These collectors have curated their own collections of ephemera for opera, ballet, music concerts and theatre from early 20th century to the late 1990s and together compliment the operational and administrative papers of professional theatre companies.
In the mid 1970s the MTC received donated material in response to an appeal for records of Melbourne theatre. The small collection contains a range of material 1900-1973.
The following are an example of individual collections counting such ephemera.