Conversion of Busselton sports hall to theatre now in progress

The Busselton Repertory Club has taken temporary possession of the Main Street Hall and has started work to ready the hall for their pantomime starting on New Year’s Day.

The traditional home for the pantomime, the Weld Theatre, is out of action due to construction work and there remains an enormous amount of work to convert the sports hall into a working theatre with a stage, lighting and seating.

Busselton Repertory Club president John McCallum is spending time at the High Street Hall and working with the contractors to prepare the venue.

A great deal of the work is being handled by volunteers John Winchcombe and David Hazell.

“Without our stalwart volunteers working so hard on this conversion, the pantomime would not happen this year,” Mr McCallum said.

The complex lighting rig is being installed by Cowaramup business Southern Light Events which has a long history working in this industry.

The pantomime cast have not yet been able to rehearse on the set at the High Street Hall.

With the amount of work remaining to complete, it is expected the venue will be delayed for rehearsals to the point that the cast and crew may only have a few days access before the first show.

Cast members have been compelled to get creative and have been rehearsing at various locations provided by the Acting Up group and the City of Busselton.

Meanwhile the chorus for the pantomime has been forced to rehearse separately to the rest of the cast due to constraints on space.

Mr McCallum is however upbeat and confident about the progress towards a high quality pantomime.

“We are going to be ready, and this really is going to be a great show,” he said.

“So many people are working hard to get us ready for the first curtain up, this has been no mean feat.”

The Pantomime run starts on New Year’s Day with more information available at https://www.busseltonrepertory.com.au/

Tickets can be booked at Trybooking: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1153168.