Did you meet your sweetheart at the movies? Were you in a local theatre group? Remember your first kiss in the drive-in? Who remembers seeing Aunty Jack in Bloody Concert in 1974?

Theatre in the Illawarra exhibition of photos from the Wollongong Libraries Illawarra Images Collection is on display from April in Wollongong City Library as part of the National Trust’s Heritage Festival. There are pictures of actors in comedies, tragedies and everything in between. The photos will evoke memories of connections made as participant or audience at theatres in the Illawarra.

Theatre going, to see movies or amateur and professional theatre performances, has been a vibrant part of life in the Illawarra, a place where people connected as participants and audiences. The photographic exhibition, Theatre in the Illawarra, includes images of local ornate theatre buildings which showed the latest movies, photos of actors in stage productions at local theatres large and small and even a drive-in movie theatre with cars from the 1950s and its cafe. Theatres included: Regent, Savoy, Empire, Kings, Amusa, Crown, Empire, Civic, Whiteway, Unanderra, Vista, Wollongong Town Hall, Strand, King’s, Anita’s, Pictoria and IPAC as well as Stage Door Theatre Restaurant at Coniston, productions at Bulli Family Hotel and movies at Southline and Lakeline Drive-ins.

Theatre companies included: Stanwell Park Amateur Theatre (SPAT), Wollongong Actors Studio, The Young’s People Theatre of Wollongong, Dapto Amateur Theatre, Illawarra Theatre Company,   The Little Theatre Group, Theatre South, Roo Theatre Company, Guild Theatre, Death Defying Theatre Company, Wollongong Workshop Theatre, Swamp Art Theatre Company, Wollongong Conservatorium Theatre Company, Macedonian Theatre Company, The Tin Roof Theatre Company, Arcadians, Bread and Circus Community Theatre, Port Kembla Little Theatre, Merrigong Theatre Company, Wollongong Teachers’ College and the University Drama Society.

Huge numbers of people attended local theatres, particularly on Saturday nights, before the advent of television in homes in the 1960s. They were an important place for social connection for all ages, especially teenagers. Some of the theatres still exist, but others have gone or have been repurposed. This exhibition showcases these buildings and the large number of local theatre groups in the Illawarra during the twentieth century and will evoke memories for those who were part of audiences or in amateur acting groups. Despite free-to-air movies and streaming services, the Illawarra continues to have a vibrant theatre scene and going to the theatre is still a valued place of connection for all ages.

You can also view the images online