__NOTOC__ The Pram Factory was an Australian

alternative theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...

venue in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of Carlton from around 1970 until 1981. It was home to the

Australian Performing Group The Australian Performing Group (APG) was a Melbourne-based experimental theatre repertory ensemble formed in an official capacity in 1970 from the La Mama Theatre (Melbourne), La Mama theatre group. Created to address a dissatisfaction with Austr ...

and

Nindethana Nindethana Theatre was Australia's first Aboriginal theatre company, founded in Melbourne in 1971, with its last performance in Adelaide in 1974. Establishment and aims The theatre company was formed after the Australia Council for the Arts as ...

, Australia's first Aboriginal theatre group.

Building

The buildings in Drummond Street, Carlton, that housed the Pram Factory consisted of a former factory that made baby carriages (known as "prams", an abbreviation of "perambulator"), called Paramaount, and stables. A 150-seat theatre was constructed in 1970, as a new home for the

, which moved from La Mama Theatre. It expanded to a second theatre, with 75 seats, in 1973.

Performances and activities

It became the site of a number activities besides stage productions, including protest meetings, and was known for its unconventional performances that were part of the "New Wave" of Australian drama. It nurtured

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

politics, comedy, popular theatre, new Australian writing,

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

and

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

. Plays premiered at the Pram Factory include ''

Don's Party ''Don's Party'' is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The play opened on 11 August 1971 at The Pram Factory theatre in Carlton (Victoria), Carlton. Plot Don Henderson is a schoolteacher living with ...

'', the satirical ''The Hills Family Show'' (1977), and ''Pecking Orders'' by Phillip Motherwell (1976). Nindethana Theatre, Australia's first Aboriginal theatre company, founded by Jack Charles and

Bob Maza Robert Lewis Maza (25 November 1939 – 14 May 2000), known as Bob Maza, was an Aboriginal Australian actor, playwright and activist. Early life and education Robert Lewis Maza was born on Palm Island in North Queensland on 25 November 1939, ...

, was founded at the Pram Factory in 1971. The Pram Factory is best known as the home for the

. Writer

Helen Garner Helen Garner (née Ford, born 7 November 1942) is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Garner's debut novel, first novel, ''Monkey Grip (novel), Monkey Grip'', published in 1977, immediately established her ...

was a frequent patron at the Pram Factory before and during the writing of her seminal 1977 novel '' Monkey Grip'', which showcased much of what was then a considerably counter-cultural, bohemian Carlton and inner-city Melbourne. Garner's former husband, Bill Garner, had been a member of the Pram Factory performance group throughout its heyday.

Demolition

The building was demolished in 1981 despite protest from the theatre community and Carlton residents. The Lygon Court shopping centre was built in its place to the designs of architect Ermin Smrekar.'Showdown Looms in Lygon Street'
Norman Day, ''The Age'' 4 November 1980 p.10

Legacy

The theatre had a unique and lasting influence on the cultural life of Australia, as a place where Australian talent of many kinds was nurtured, including writers, actors,

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

s, artists, musicians, circus performers and

arts administrator Arts administration (alternatively arts management) is a field in the arts sector that facilitates programming within cultural organizations. Arts administrators are responsible for facilitating the day-to-day operations of the organization as we ...

s. Circus Oz grew out of the Pram Factory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pram Factory Former theatres in Melbourne Demolished buildings and structures in Melbourne Buildings and structures demolished in 1980 1970 establishments in Australia 1980 disestablishments in Australia

Building

Performances and activities

Demolition

Legacy

See also

References