Barbara Sisley (1878–1945) was an Australian teacher and theatre director in Queensland, Australia. She founded and operated the Brisbane Repertory Theatre.

Early life and education

Sisley was born on 19 March 1878 at

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

, London, one of three daughters of Thomas Alexander Sisley, civil service clerk, and his wife Susan, née Sisley. Sisley moved to Australia when she was 11. She was educated at

Queen's College, Melbourne Queen's College is a residential college affiliated with the University of Melbourne. It is a residential community of 300 students who attend the University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Victorian College of the Arts and Monash University Fac ...

and Manuel College in Hawthorn.

Career

Sisley became one of Brisbane's first speech and drama instructors when she moved there in 1916, working at St Margaret's, Stuartholme and

Somerville House Somerville House is an independent, boarding and day school for girls, located in South Brisbane, an inner-city suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Established in 1899 as the Brisbane High School for Girls, the School was eventually name ...

. In the early-1900s Sisley helped establish the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

Drama Group and the Brisbane Shakespeare Society, where they performed an annual play. In 1923 Sisley went back to England to study with

Elsie Fogerty Anne Elizabeth "Elsie" Fogerty (16 December 1865 – 4 July 1945) was a British teacher who departed from the customary practice of "voice and diction" also called elocution. At that time "Voice and Diction" focused entirely on the mouth and ...

. Sisley and others, including Professor J. J. Stable founded the Brisbane Repertory Theatre in 1925. She organised tours of their productions to places like

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

Stanthorpe Stanthorpe is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Stanthorpe had a population of 5,286 people. The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt. Geography Stant ...

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

, and

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

. She was a part of the Dramatic Society of the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, founder of the Art of Speech Association, a member of the Shakespeare Society, the

Dickens Fellowship The Dickens Fellowship was founded in 1902, and is an international association of people from all walks of life who share an interest in the life and works of Victorian era novelist Charles Dickens. The Dickens Fellowship's head office is based ...

, the Lyceum Club, Authors' and Artists' Association, C.E.M.A., and the advisory panel of the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...

for Queensland. The Barbara Sisley Awards have been presented annually since 1947 by the Communication, Speech & Performance Teachers Inc. in her memory.

Death

Sisley died on 18 November 1945 as a result of a car accident in Brisbane. During the time following her death lectures were held in memorial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sisley, Barbara People from Queensland Australian theatre directors Australian women theatre directors 1878 births 1945 deaths 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women British emigrants to Australia