The Popular Theatre Troupe was an

agitprop Agitprop (; from , portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the Soviet Union where it referred to popular media, such as literatu ...

ensemble"The Popular Theatre Troupe's output was forged in the great traditions of leftist agitational performance: popular, didactic, aggressive." Makeham, Paul B. (1997) eview ofCapelin, S. (ed). Challenging the Centre: Two Decades of Political Theatre. ''Theatre Research International'' 22(3):pp. 272–273. Accessed from http://eprints.qut.edu.au Copyright 1997 Oxford University Press formed in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in 1974 as part of a radical movement against Premier

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

's conservative Queensland's government of the day. The troupe toured Australia with a total of 25 original shows between 1974 and 1983. The key players in the ensemble organised ten large community events and were behind many community arts projects.Challenging the Centre: Two Decades of Political Theatre. Edited by Steve Capelin. Brisbane: Playlab Press, 1995

Beginnings

The Popular Theatre Troupe had its genesis in the meetings Richard Fotheringham called during 1973 to discuss options for the planned 'fringe theatre' for Queensland's first 'Festival of the Arts' directed by Lesley Gotto. Inspirations and influences included ''

Oh! What a Lovely War ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a 1969 British epic comedy historical musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth Mo ...

'' and The Legend of

King O'Malley King O'Malley (2 July 1858 not confirmed – 20 December 1953) was an American-born Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1901 to 1917, and served two terms as Minister for Home Affairs (1910–1913; 1915–16). ...

. A leader of alternative theatre in Britain, Albert Hunt, was brought out by 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 ...

's English Department to mentor the group. Their first production was Star Trick, a satire lampooning the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' television series focussing on the absurdity of local Queensland politics interspersed with ironically sung old popular songs. Geoffrey Milne in ''Theatre Australia (un)limited: Australian theatre since the 1950s'' suggests precursors to the Popular Theatre Troupe's type of political theatre included Peter Oysten at Victoria College of the Arts, the

San Francisco Mime Troupe The San Francisco Mime Troupe is a theatre of political satire which performs free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California, founded in 1959. Despite its name, the group does not perform silent mime, but each ye ...

and run-of-the-mill communist theatre featured at worker's clubs.Milne, Geoffrey, Theatre Australia (un)limited: Australian theatre since the 1950s, Rodopi, 2004 ''The White Man's Mission'' (1975) by Richard Fotheringham and Albert Hunt stands out as one of the troupe's strongest scripts. It is reproduced in full in one of the few published texts on Brisbane's political theatre, "Challenging the centre" (1995) edited by Steve Capelin, where it takes up 36 pages about Australian racism, slavery and exploitation.Riley, Dave 1996, The politics of performance, Green Left Weekly http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/13497y , It was invited to the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

in 1976.

Cultural context

Although funded by the Community Arts and Theatre Boards of the

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

, the Popular Theatre Troupe received no financial assistance from the Queensland Government. Quite the contrary, as a radical extra-parliamentary opposition, the Popular Theatre Troupe's activities were monitored closely by the Special Branch of the Queensland Police and two of their shows were banned. The Popular Theatre Troupe were followed by another group, Order By Numbers, which was in some ways an unfunded Popular Theatre Troupe reprise in 1985–86, featuring writers Hugh Watson, Dee Martin, Penny Glass, Kery O'Rourke, Nat Trimarchi and Gavan Fenelon. Order By Numbers and a sister company Teatro Unidad y Liberacion, were administered by an incorporated group called The New Actor's Company. The material for the satires performed were Brisbane cultural and political events, such as the SEQEB Strike in 1985. ''A few short wicks in paradise'' by the ensemble took the side of the striking workers in opposing anti-union laws of the Bjelke-Petersen government. The founding members of Order By Numbers were Dee Martin, Penny Glass, Gavan Fenelon and Nat Trimarchi. Hugh Watson and Kerry O'Rourke were involved as writers. Overlapping this period was the genesis of '' Street Arts'' a community-arts driven theatre company which, unlike ''Popular Theatre Troupe'' which was more classically agit-prop in performing ''for'' the audience, were interested in creating theatre by enabling the communities suffering disadvantage, through, circus, song, drama and cabaret. Many of the players, thinkers, writers and artists involved in the and were to find homes in ''Street Arts''.

Key players

Key members of the group included writers and directors Errol O'Neill, John Watson, Fiona Winning, Alexandra Black, Kerry O'Rourke, Dee Martin, Bernie Lewis, Hugh Watson, Stephen Stockwell, Richard Fotheringham, Robert Perrier, Doug Anderson and Albert Hunt. Performers included Kathryn Porrill, Therese Collie, Ken MacLeod, Julie Hickson, Michael Cummings, Lynne Samson, Teresa Wilkinson, John Lane, Duncan Campbell, Lindy Morrison, Errol O'Neill, Leah Cotterell, Katrina Deverey, Nat Trimarchi, Gavin Fenelon and Penny Glass.

England

Six members of the group staged an English tour of ''The White Man's Mission'' in 1977, assisted by a cash grant from the Arts Council of Great Britain, a minibus from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and in kind resources from

Bradford College Bradford College is a further and higher education college in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, with approximately 25,000 students. The college offers a range of full and part-time courses from introductory level through to postgraduate le ...

Five of those members were, Duncan Campbell, Nick Hughes, Kath Porrill, Janet Mahoney and Micko O'Byrne. The tour received favourable reviews and ran for three weeks in London before doing a regional tour of England.

Final years

funding was withdrawn in 1982 and though some members of the company struggled on, it eventually folded in 1983.

References