In 1796, the theatre was the place to be.

In the growing colony Sydney, people would pack into the theatre to see ex-convicts perform the latest popular plays for them.

The NLA's exhibition On Stage has an exquisite treasure from this time: a playbill once belonging to the Lieutenant-Governor of NSW, Philip Gidley King.

On our first episode of Off Stage, host Melanie Tait takes you inside the theatre to meet the characters involved the production of Jane Shore, remembered forever through this precious playbill.

Links:

National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition

The 1796 Playbill

The Playbill and its People: Australia's earliest printed document by Gillian Russell

The Collected Plays of Jim McNeil

Oral history of Jim McNeil

Guests:

David Marr, journalist

Gillian Russell, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature and author of The Playbill and its People

Credits:

Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage

Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage