Time to celebrate: Mary-Rose McLaren is ready to take part in Ballarat National Theatre’s special event at the Art Gallery of Ballarat tomorrow. PICTURE: KATE HEALY
WHEN Ballarat National Theatre formed in 1938, nobody expected it would last more than seven decades.
“Everyone was saying the cinema would be the thing and that people would stop going to the theatre,” BNT president Julian Oldfield said.
“Then there was television, then video, DVD and online, but somehow we managed to carry on through all of that.”
This year, the theatre is celebrating 75 years of operation in Ballarat and according to Mr Oldfield, this makes it one of the oldest continually operating companies in the country.
“The fact that it has lasted this long is fantastic,” he said.
“There are so many companies who went to the wall, but the fact that we have managed to keep going is not only a credit to the company, but to the Ballarat community.”
BNT will be holding one of six special Sunday events to celebrate its anniversary starting this weekend at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
The event will feature short extracts from the theatre’s most popular plays from the last 75 years starting from its very first production The Barretts of Wimpole Street.
