The Theatre introduced itself simply as a 'Monthly Theatrical Review'. Published in both Sydney and Melbourne, it was 'devoted to the advancement of Theatrical Interests'. Initially, it covered drama, popular and amateur theatre, music, and amusements, as well as authors, playwrights, managers, and stars, with many represented in black-and-white or one-tint photographs, caricatures, and cartoons. It argued strongly for state subsidy of local art and drama, and published stage gossip and sometimes barbed critique. From its fifth issue, it incorporated the earlier stage magazine, The Player.
At the end of 1905, a new editor promised stability and wider coverage, from 'all the other States and Colonies, and in England and America'. It became the key source of information and commentary on developments in both the theatrical and moving picture worlds. Each January issue contained a Resume of the Year. The activities of T.J. West and J.C. Williamson, their pictures and plays and stars, occupied much space well into the 'teens, but lesser players also received due regard: George Rignold, Annette Kellerman, C. Spencer, Apache dancers, Tittell Brune, Snowy Baker, Pathe Pictures, Hugh D. Mcintosh, Beaumont Smith, roller skating, vaudeville, and chorus girls.
In October 1912, the magazine converted into a limited company, but continued with limited change as The Theatre Magazine.
The Player
The Player (from Vol.1, no.7)
1903
Sydney
:
C. H. Willmott
,
1903-1905
Z1212223
1903
periodical
(3 issues)
The magazine claimed to be 'the only purely theatrical paper in Australia, and can boast that every line in its columns contains matters of theatrical interest'. Those matters included profiles and pars on performers, critics, and performances; interviews; theatrical tit-bits; listings; short stories; and reviews of shows in Sydney theatres, Melbourne, and, later, New Zealand and London notes. It discussed censorship, copyright, and the etiquette of theatre-going (the matinee hat, talking during performances, leaving the theatre for too long during intervals). Its columnists recognised that 'the predominant public taste is not for the Drama, but for Musical Comedy or the music halls', and that 'the art of drama, the art which has been called the acme of all art, does not exist in Australia, and of local dramatists writing for the stage there is not one'. Nonetheless, it also recognised that 'Nowhere is amusement so cheap as in Australia, considering the high standard maintained in the productions'.
The Theatre Magazine
R. R. F. Hill
(editor),
Wallace Nelson
(editor),
1912
Sydney
:
Syd Day
,
1912-1923
Z1212210
1912
periodical
(56 issues)
The first issue of its new incarnation declared that The Theatre was 'absolutely independent of any management. No theatrical firm holds as much as a single share of its stock. There is only one way into its news columns -- by having something to say of interest to its readers'. It contained increasing profiles, interviews, and signed columns as well as regular reports on 'the whole field of amusements throughout Australasia', with detailed summaries and assessments of performances, and gossip paragraphs. It noted the rise and progress of moving pictures, but urged more Australian production. It commemorated the end of a theatrical era with the death of J.C. Williamson, and the disappearance of old-time bohemian actors in the face of advancing commercialisation. It applauded the 'Uplift of the Theatre' and bemoaned 'Our deplorable Musical Condition'. By April 1916, it was boasting a readership of 100,000.
Its stance on censorship of moving pictures was severe, urging good taste and condemning picture-show proprietors who were 'pandering to the lowest instead of the highest instincts of the community'. From early 1915, it ran a campaign against the worst films screening in Sydney, those that touched 'the high water mark in the low water direction'. In the same vein, it sought cleanliness as the best policy for vaudeville. However, in writing about the opera, it recognised that 'In art, woman, undraped and gently unashamed, is the symbol of moral and physical beauty, and the artistic eye will naturally take more delight in the realism of diaphanous draperies than in the pseudo-decorousness of tights'. It reinforced this distinction in late 1916, publishing several fine-art photographic nude studies.
Moving pictures became an increasing focus of the magazine, with an extended column, 'Reel Life in All its Varying Phases', beginning in November 1915 and becoming a full section from June 1918. This developed into 'The Australasian Picture Magazine. An Illustrated Monthly devoted to the Screen. In conjunction with The Theatre Magazine and The Player', edited and controlled by R.R.F. Hill (q.v.), with its own numbering, from Vol.1, no.4 (May 1920) to Vol.4, no.8 (January 1924).
From the August 1923 issue, the magazine changed hands, due to the illness of Mrs Fisher and the unwillingness of R.R.F. Hill (the owner/editor) to carry on alone. The new managing editor, journalist Wallace Nelson (q.v.), promised a continuous performance but with, perhaps, 'a lighter touch'.
Theatre, Society and Home
Wallace Nelson
(editor),
1924
Sydney
:
Shipping Publishing Co.
,
1924-1926
Z1212227
1924
periodical
(8 issues)
The new magazine continued with the same publisher and editor as the earlier Theatre Magazine. It explained its changes in terms of longevity and the need to remain abreast of the times. 'We are the oldest theatrical publication in Australia (we shall shortly enter our twenty-fifth year) and in these days of competition we do not want the old-timers to accuse us of inferiority beside the younger and more modern publications.' Its format changed slightly, dividing its contents into Special articles, Special features (mostly local, interstate and international gossip and notes), Reviews, Society and home (including recipes), Pictorial features (of shows and films), and Sundries. It provided those readers wanting to emulate stage and screen stars with hints on fashion and home decoration. It also appealed directly to those working in the theatrical and musical professions, with hints from behind the scenes and pars about parties and movements. Advertorials began to appear.
After a year and a half, it published its swan song, promising 'an immediate and brilliant resurrection in the bright, beautifully printed and illustrated pages of Just It', a new weekly. At this point, it claimed a life-span of twenty-two years, and rightly proposed that 'When the time comes for the historian to sit down and write a history of the Australian stage, he will find his path made easy from 1905 to date, by reason of the files of Theatre, Society and Home'.
