Forum Theatre
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| Forum Theatre | |
 |
|
| Flinders Street facade | |
|---|---|
| Address |
154 Flinders Street
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| City | |
| Country | Australia |
| Designation | Victorian Heritage Register, Historic Buildings Register |
| Architect | Bohringer, Taylor & Johnson |
| Owned by | Marriner Theatres |
| Opened | 1929 |
| Years active | 1929-196?; 1985- |
| Current use | live music, comedy, live theatre |
| www.marrinertheatres.com.au | |
The Forum Theatre (formerly known as the "State Theatre") is a theatre located on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The building was designed by American architect John Eberson, whom has designed many theatres across the globe, along with a local architectural firm at the time; Bohringer, Taylor & Johnson.
When it opened in February 1929, the theatre had the largest seating capacity in Australia, holding 3371 people. It features a Moorish Revival exterior, with minarets and a clock tower. The interior features reproductions of Greco-Roman statuary and a sky-blue ceiling decorated with small stars, mimicking a twilight sky.
In the 1960s the theatre was converted into two cinemas, the Forum and the Rapallo, by cinema chain Greater Union. In 1978 the Forum was listed on the Historic Buildings Register. In 1981 renovations took place, dividing the complex into Forum I and Forum II. Forum I being the larger of the two is located on the ground floor and generally used for concerts and other large-scale performances, whereas the third-floor Forum II is a relatively smaller venue with a total capacity of 540 as opposed to Forum I's 2300.
The Theatre is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
In 1985 it was taken over by the Revival Centres International, a Christian organisation. In 1995 it was purchased by Staged Developments Australia, who redeveloped it for use as a film and concert venue.
It was later bought by David Marriner, as part of a project to establish Melbourne as a major centre for theatre in the Southern Hemisphere.
Today, it is used for concerts by many bands and artists, having hosted performances by Oasis, Cat Power, The Grates, Dirty Three and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs among others. It is also a venue for the annual Melbourne International Film Festival, having showcased the popular live act Puppetry of the Penis. In more recent times the theatre has been used as a venue for numerous acts during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival including local favourite Akmal Saleh and international acts such as Mark Watson, Jason Byrne, and Arj Barker
[edit] Other use of the phrase 'forum theatre'
The term 'forum theatre' is also used to describe a particular style of workshop in which participants can intervene in a short piece of theatre (to enable the exploration of a particular subject or behaviour). This technique was pioneered by Augusto Boal.
[edit] References
- Thorne, Ross, Picture Palace Architecture in Australia, Sun Books Pty. Ltd., South Melbourne, Victoria, 1976.
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