In the late 1980s, a group of ‘resting’ actors gather in a Sorrento backyard, sipping wine and bemoaning the fact that Perth’s theatre scene is diminishing before their eyes. The solution? Effie Crump of course, an unlikely name for an unlikely saviour.
The heroine of this story? Elizabeth Caiacob, who in 1990 transforms a disused room in North Perth’s Old Brisbane Hotel, into a vibrant, intimate theatre scene, loved by all who squeeze into its tiny auditorium. With Elizabeth at the helm, the next eight years sees Effie’s stage support a plethora of local and international plays, written, directed and performed by up and coming, as well as world-renowned, stars.
Continuous theatre, including many regional performances, gives audiences from all over Western Australia the opportunity to laugh, cry and sing along. So just who is the enigmatic and mysterious Effie Crump? Take a seat in the front row and watch the story of the Effie Crump Theatre come to life once more.
This book can be ordered from www.effiecrump.com
Published by: Prickly Pear Playscripts, 2009
ISBN: 9781875801381
People featured in the book
- Actress, Managing Director and businesswoman, Elizabeth Caiacob
- Actress, director and author, Jenny Davis
- Actress, Jill Perryman
- Actor, Brian Harrison
- Actor and Director, Edgar Metcalfe
- Reviewer, Ron Banks
- Jazz diva, Helen Matthews
A memorable moment...
The biggest difficulty in writing the book was that I had never seen a play at the Effie Crump Theatre while it was open and found it hard to visualise the things Elizabeth was telling me.
One day Elizabeth took me to the Brisbane Hotel to show me where the theatre once had been. The pub had been completely renovated and the room upstairs was a shadow of its former self, but as we walked the steep stairs I’d heard so much about and entered the room I no longer saw what the room had become, rather I saw it filled with people laughing and crying at the antics on the tiny stage.
Elizabeth stood next to me and in her charming way continued to build a wonderful picture of what had been. It was a privilege to be taken back in time to such a special moment. -
Reviews
Extract from The West Australian:
“...Holland-McNair, who has written books about Aboriginal women of the Pilbara and the Argyle diamond mines, has chosen to write the history in the form of a play script, a departure from normal biographical writing but entirely in keeping with its subject matter. The "script" enters into dialogue between Caiacob and her supporters as the plot unfolds of how a British migrant family landed in Perth, the wife found work as an actor, and then went on to found her own theatre company to provide work opportunities for her colleagues... Any story of a theatrical venture would not be complete without reminiscences of the joy and pain of creativity, and Holland-McNair's history allows room for many of the main players to recall their most memorable moments while working for the tiny theatre...” -