May 4th, 2020The history of the Mountview Theatre
WITH the stage currently empty and waiting with great anticipation for the next show to start rehearsing, The Mount Players’ vice president Karen Hunt wanted to share the history of The Mountview Theatre in Macedon.
IN 1972, resident Neville Thurgood gathered together a group of locals to form The Mount Players, with the intention of entering a one-act play in the Kyneton Daffodil Festival.
This began what is now a vibrant, active community drawing talent from far and wide. The newly-formed theatre company continued to perform one-act plays but had no permanent home.
In 1975 they obtained a lease for the old Macedon Presbyterian Church located where the current theatre is today. Between 1975 and 1977 with a grant from the State Ministry for the Arts for $8000, members of the company together with local business groups donated their time and goods to convert the church into a tiny, cosy theatre with a seating capacity of 50. The theatre officially opened in 1977 with The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women.
Between 1978 and 1982 the company went on to produce a wide range of performances including murder mysteries, comedies, musicals and pantomimes.
In February 1983, on Ash Wednesday, tragedy struck when the theatre along with many members’ homes were destroyed. Original memoirs, photographs and programs were also lost. So began another period of being homeless which saw the company perform in venues such as The Mechanics Hall in Gisborne, Wooling Hill in New Gisborne, The Arts Centre in Kyneton, Gisborne Secondary College and The Macedon Family Hotel.
In 1985, the now vacant church land was transferred to the ownership of the Shire of Gisborne and The Mount Players entered into a 21-year lease as tenants of the land and any buildings.
In 1986, following an intensive period of fundraising, building of the new theatre began. A local builder took on the building part-time with members helping with the more mundane jobs to help complete the project.
In 1987 the company was greatly saddened by the sudden loss of their then-president, Margaret Woods and former secretary and life member, Fred Blake.
As work continued it became clear that there weren’t going to be enough funds to complete the theatre so in 1989 an agreement was entered into with the Shire of Gisborne whereby the shire owned the building and The Mount Players were given exclusive occupancy of the theatre and were to manage and maintain the building from there on.
In November 1990 the new Mountview Theatre was officially opened with the performance of Scrooge. The rest, as they say, “is history”.
The Mount Players have continued to produce four quality productions a year, an annual one-act play festival and with the introduction of a Youth Theatre in 2007 its future is rosy.
How lucky are we to have this incredible theatre on our doorstep?
All we need now is to clear this virus so we can return to doing what we love the most, bringing live theatre to our audiences.
If you would like to read about our history in more detail and see photographs of past productions, we invite you to our website www.themountplayers.com
See you at the theatre…soon, I hope!
Clockwise from top, the former Macedon Presbyterian Church/Mountview Theatre, The Mount Players’ opening program, scenes from 12 Angry Men, Trial by Jury (October 1976) and Salad Days (November 1982)
Images: Contributed
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