COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on live performance worldwide. Though digital technologies have made a world of entertainment accessible, they cannot replace the experience of seeing a show live. 

There is magic and possibility when people gather to be entertained, challenged, moved, transported or uplifted by a story told in real time, through sound and movement. By its very nature, live performance is ephemeral. But its impact can be long-lasting.  

A person stands in an empty darkened theatre, illuminated by a single light bulb.
Daniel James Boud, Ange Sullivan, Head of Lighting, Preparing a Ghost Light at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 2020, nla.obj-2976573618, Courtesy Daniel James Boud

On Stage shines a spotlight on Australia’s performing arts history, through the National Library’s extensive performing arts collections, and looks forward to the return of better days. 

Selected themes

Exhibition highlights

Black and white closeup photograph of Robert Helpmann in stage makeup, wearing a costume that features a beaded headpiece, cuff and collar.

Houston Rogers, Portrait of Sir Robert Helpmann as Oberon, nla.obj-136330433

 

A crowd attend an outdoor music festival. They wear bright clothes, caps, sunglasses and have their hands raised in the air.

Martin Philbey, Audience at the Falls Music and Arts Festival, Lorne, Victoria, 2007, nla.obj-147950306 

 

Copy of a printed playbill containing details for a performance of Jane Shore at the Sydney Theatre in 1796.

George Hughes (Government Printer), Playbill for a performance of Jane Shore, The Wapping Landlady and The Miraculous Cure at the Theatre, Sydney 30 July 1796, nla.obj-1419486 – the earliest surviving document printed in Australia.

Multicoloured poster for the 1970 Adelaide Festival of the Arts.

Kenneth Rowell, Adelaide Festival of Arts: 6–28 March 1970, nla.obj-133748736, Courtesy Victoria Rowell

A woman sits at a keyboard and smiles at the camera.

Portrait of Winifred Atwell, London: Rimis, between 1950 and 1970, nla.obj-144625849

Poster for Cole Bros. Circus featuring a young performer in long white socks walking across a tightrope.

Cole Bros. Circus: The Great Con Colleano “World’s Greatest Wire Artist” Performing Forward and Backward Somersaults on the Wire, USA: Cole Bros. Circus, 1945, nla.obj-136767748

A group of performers play varied musical instruments atop a raised stage to a large crowd.

The Bushwhackers at the Smith Family Event, Sydney Showground c.1955, nla.obj-147277128 

Sketch showing costume design featuring a long cape, blue and brown patterns and regal detailing.

Fredrikson, Kristian, 1940-2005 & Melbourne Theatre Company & Fredrikson, Kristian, 1940-2005. (1975). Costume design for the character of the Duke for Melbourne Theatre Company's production of The revenger's tragedy, 1975 / Kristian Fredrikson. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-509653896

Black and white photograph of a row of shopfronts. One facade reads "Theatre Royal: Open Every Evening".

Theatre Royal, Sydney, King St. Entrance in 1882, nla.obj-137238900

A person stands in an empty darkened theatre, illuminated by a single light bulb.

Daniel James Boud, Ange Sullivan, Head of Lighting, Preparing a Ghost Light at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 2020, nla.obj-2976573618, Courtesy Daniel James Boud

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Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

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