'The tantalising natural gold reserves of early Ballarat, combined with its central location, geographically anchored between the already established access ports of Melbourne, Geelong and Adelaide, ensured that global performing acts could identify the settlement as a stop on a potentially viable touring route. Public historian Albert Strange quoted an old description of 'Main Road - that curious cosmopolitan street, a continuous, twisted wandering thoroughfare of irregular width .. ,'5 Early Ballarat became a cultural nexus in the travelling circuit of the South, providing links to and from surrounding capital cities and townships, and facilitating a dynamic and flexible theatrical stage experience, albeit aesthetically modest. Following the first discovery of gold in Ballarat East in 1851, the township grew at breakneck speed, and the business of surviving everyday life was inherently dramatic, with night-time theatrical entertainment an integral part of this heady mix. Individual mining plots were tiny, at 2.5 square metres, making the area highly crowded, especially as most men had no option but to sleep on the ground beside their plot on the alluvial minefields, or risk losing their claim to theft.' (Publication abstract)
