Octagon Theatre

Theatre at University of Western Australia, Perth, opened 1 February 1969, seating 600. Architect· Peter Parkinson.

The name of the Octagon Theatre describes its form within and without. Five blocks of seating fan around a thrust stage-the first in Australia-which has a proscenium arch behind it. Part or all of the stage can be removed to uncover an orchestra pit. One of Perth's most frequently used venues, the theatre succeeds for a wide range of drama, opera, dance, chamber and orchestral music because of its versatile performing space, its excellent sightlines and acoustics, and its sound and lighting equipment. 

The theatre is also a large and acoustically fine lecture hall. This was a primary purpose, because of requirements for federal government funding, when the University of Western Australia decided to build a multi-use theatre. Allen Edwards, professor of English, had promoted the New Fortune Theatre at the university and he pressed for the new theatre. Philip Parsons a member of his department, and Katharine Brisbane, theatre critic of the West Australian, advocated Peter Parkinson of Perth as architect. The university announced his appointment on 25 March 1965. The theatre committee was divided over his brief, so a consultant was sought. At Parsons's suggestion, the English director Tyrone Guthrie came to Perth in July 1965 for consultation with Parkinson and the university's own architect. As a result, Parkinson developed the Octagon. It opened with the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Henry IV - part 1.

In 1969 Aarne Neeme was appointed director of a loosely formed company with three professional actors – Arthur Dignam, John Gaden and Michael Rolfe - and various experienced amateurs. Its first productions were Mandragola by Niccolo Machiavelli, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard and The Man of Mode by George Etherege. Later offerings included Neeme's production of Othello in repertoire with Twelfth Night directed by Jeana Bradley.

The Festival of Perth has been a frequent client of the Octagon ever since its opening. Successes at the Octagon include Robyn Archer in her A Star is Torn, Steve Berkoff in his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's Fall of the House of Usher, and Roy Dotrice in John Evelyn's Brief Lives. The Old Tote Theatre Company from Sydney appeared in Tyrone Guthrie's productions of All's Well that Ends Well and Sophocles's Oedipus Rex in 1973.

Perth's National Theatre Company gave the world premiere of Elizabeth Backhouse's Mirage under Raymond Omodei's direction at the Octagon in 1972. Omodei also directed Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest in 1980 and King Lear and As You Like It in 1981 for the Mason-Miller Theatre Company. Andrew Ross presented Jack Davis's The Dreamers for the National Theatre Company in 1983, the musical Bran Nue Dae for the Western Australian Theatre Company in 1990 and Twelfth Night for the Black Swan Theatre Company in 1991.