The story
History
The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust was established in September 1954, with the aim of establishing drama, opera and ballet companies nationally. It was founded by H.C. Coombs, governor of the Commonwealth Bank, Sir Charles Moses, general manager of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and John Douglas Pringle of the Sydney Morning Herald.
The arts company was so named to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Australia, after the trust raised £100,000 by a public appeal. The trust had an agreement with the Commonwealth government to match public donations "in the ratio of 1:3 and to provide ongoing funding". With substantial contributions from both the public and the Commonwealth Government, the Trust commemorated the first visit of the Queen, who had taken the title "Queen of Australia" in 1953, and since then The Trust has been the only arts body to bear her name.
The hope in 1954 was that there would occur in the arts a new "Elizabethan age", which would be as productive as the first in the sixteenth century.
Support for performing arts
The trust has nurtured and seen to independence many of Australia's most significant performing arts companies including Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet Foundation. The trust also formed, maintained and administered two music Opera and Ballet orchestras, one each in Sydney and Melbourne, to accompany ballet and opera companies, and one smaller orchestra of Sydney freelance musicians named the Elizabethan Sinfonietta.
The trust played a key role in establishing high culture in Australia through its involvement in setting up:
The Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera Company (now Opera Australia) in 1956
The Elizabethan Opera Ballet Company, a short lived ballet company set up in 1957, and with J. C. Williamson Ltd the Australian Ballet Foundation in 1961 and the Australian Ballet School under the direction of Margaret Scott
The Elizabethan Trust Orchestra in 1967, which in 1969 expanded into two orchestras, one each resident in Melbourne and Sydney. These orchestras became the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra in 1991, and State Orchestra of Victoria in 1986. The SOV has since been renamed Orchestra Victoria.
Read the full text
It has also supported:
National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)
Marionette Theatre of Australia
Australian Theatre of the Deaf
Old Tote Theatre Company
Melbourne Theatre Company
South Australian Theatre Company.
Following the establishment of the Australia Council for the Arts in 1968, it ceased to be a funding body for opera and ballet in 1970.
In 1974, Geoffrey Wynter Armstrong bequeathed a sum of money to the trust to establish a memorial fund to be known as the Geoffrey Wynter Armstrong and Elizabeth Mary Martin Scholarship. The annual award is currently administered by Music & Opera Singers Trust Limited.
In 1982 it helped to fund the tour of Aboriginal playwright Bob Merritt's play The Cake Man to the World Theatre Festival in Denver, Colorado.
Change in focus
During the 1980s the Trust scaled back its operations and in the 1990s had a Sydney focus and operated a ticketing agency and organised theatre parties.
In 1990, the Trust went into provisional receivership and its operations were scaled back by its administrator. Its arts promotion role passed to the Australian Council for the Arts (later the Australia Council). Management of the trust was given back to the directors in 1992.
After the Trust ran into financial difficulties, Adelaide members Frank Ford (who had become a member of the Performing Arts Committee of the Trust in late 1974), along with Jessica Dames and Lynn Crosby, formed the Independent Arts Foundation in Adelaide in 1991, which as of 2026 continues to exist.
In 2000, the trust launched its international music scholarship program for Australian singers, musicians and conductors wishing to undertake overseas music study.
In 2004 the trust purchased the Independent Theatre at North Sydney and undertook a major acoustical and heritage refurbishment of the venue. This initiative resulted in the production of a fine chamber music venue with an outstanding acoustic quality for both performers and audience. The Trust sold the Independent in 2013 to Wenona School, who have continued the chamber music programs.
1955
The Sleeping Prince by Terence Rattigan with Ralph Richardson and Sybil Thorndike(27 July - 5 Oct 1955) - first production
Separate Tables by Terence Rattigan with Ralph Richardson and Sybil Thorndike (5 August 1955)
Medea with Judith Anderson (11 Oct - 5 Nov 1955) - this production then toured
The Little Hut presented with HM Tennant (8 Nov - 20 Dec 1955)
1956
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler (10 - 30 Jan 1956) first Australian play
The Boyfriend by Sandy Wilson (31 Jan - 24 March 1956) - in associ with JC Williamson made profit £1,836
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll* by Ray Lawler (27 March - 19 April 1956) - return season - proft £3,541
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (21 April - 17 May 1956)
The Rivals (19 May-9 June 1956)
The Tintookies (12 June - 7 July 1956) - presented concurrently with Mozart opera season - made profit £1,458
Witness for the Prosecution (14 July - 29 Sept 1956) - co production
Ned Kelly* by Douglas Stewart (3-27 October 1956) - made a loss of £9,137
The Rainmaker by R Nash (20 Nov 1956) - replacement for Ned Kelly, presented in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane - loss of £17,118
1957
Mozart season - Cosi Fan Tutte, Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni ) - this toured and lost £36,051
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll return engagement (11 Feb 1957) - returned after tour with cast who would go to London
The Beggar's Opera by John Gay (13 March 1957) - loss of £8,097
Hamlet by William Shakespeare with Paul Rogers (27 April 1957)
The Relapse by Sir John Van Brugh (15 May 1957) - would alternate with Hamlet - these productions toured
La Boheme opera (31 Aug 1957)
Otello opera (3 Sept 1957)
The Bartered Bride opera (20 Sept 1957)
The Shifting Heart* by Richard Beynon (4 October 1957)
Cinderella a pantomime (23 Dec 1957)
1958
The Shifting Heart (Jan 1958) - return season - profit £1,031
Salad Days musical (31 Jan 1958)
Time Rememebred by Jean Anoulih (7 May 1958)
Look Back in Anger by John Osborne (4 June 1958) - lost £2,997
The Barber of Seville (19 July 1958)
The Happiest Days of Your Life by John Dighton with Margaret Rutherford (6 November 1957)
Fidelo opera (19 July 1958) - part of 1958 opera season which lost £68,998
Curly on the Rack* by Ru Pullan (3 September 1958) - lost £5,621
Lola Montez* musical by Alan Burke, Peter Benjamin and Peter Stannard (22 October 1958) - lost £31,581
Little Fella Bindi* (23 Dec 1958)
1959
Slaughter of St Teresa's Day* by Peter Kenna (11 March - 4 April 1959) - with Trust Players
Man and Supeman by George Bernard Shaw (8 April - 2 May 1959) - with Trust Players
The Bastard Country* by Anthony Coburn (3-30 May 1959) - with the Trust Players
Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neil (3-27 June 1959) - with Trust Players
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (1-25 July 1959)
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (Aug 1959) - return season
1960
The Magic Pudding - loss of £1,085
Candida - loss of £4,619
Charley's Aunt - loss of £7,1l6
The Hostage - loss of £8,827
1961
Lock Up Your Daughters - loss of £3,870
The Most Happy Fellah - loss of £10,172
The One Day of the Year - loss of £1,867
Come Blow Your Horn - profit £6,158 - tour made profit £2,434
Rigolotto - profit £819
Leningrad ballet - profit £11,181
1962
Man for All Seasons - loss of £14,266
Australian Play Season (The Break, Shipwreck, Naked Island) - loss of £9,709
Marionette theatre - loss £6,362
The Miracle Worker - loss £5,412
Nina - loss £3,277
Saint Jack - loss £14,000
The Ham Funeral - loss £3,884
Write Me a Murder - loss £3,954
Little Mary Sunshine - loss £5,515
Once Upon a Mattress - loss £6,737
Thorndike-Casson recitals - loss £1,147
ballet - profit £5,538
Come Blow Your Horn - profit £4,376
Orpheus in the Underworld operetta - profit £6,875
Sound of Music - profit £18,135
From Wikipedia’s article on Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3