OUR reputation as an uncultured bogan state is being blown out of the water, with free talks on our performing arts history being booked as fast as they are announced.
His Majesty’s Theatre historian Ivan King and Heritage Perth’s Richard Offen are getting together to chat about our artsy history, drawing on the extensive collection Mr King curates at the Museum of Performing Arts below the theatre.
“We talk about the buildings we lost, the theatres we’ve lost, and the part the arts play within our daily lives,” Mr King says, “and our subtext is we better value our performing arts heritage — if we don’t no-one else will.”
The first talk the pair organised saw 130 spots booked out in four days. A second event on March 13 is rapidly filling.
Mr King, who received an OAM in this year’s Australia Day honour list for his historical efforts, says the younger generation is embracing the arts much more than in days past, when anyone with a hint of culture fled to the eastern states.
“What I find so exhilarating is the younger crop are claiming this city as their own and using it and living in it, and not having one eye on Perth and one eye on Melbourne, they’re living fully in their own environment and I think that is very healthy.”
Mr Offen says “there is a voracious appetite for Perth’s history these days,” and with two talks booking out so fast he suggested to Mr King “why don’t we just book the arena and have done with it?”.
“I was told when I first got here [from Britain] no-one’s particularly interested in th history of WA,” Mr Offen says. “I have always found that to be a complete fabrication. They are interested, all we have to do is make accessible, interesting things available to them and they’ll support it.”
The pair don’t set out any particular theme for their talk, instead embarking on a rambling chat through the museum’s collection.
“I use, as a base, the theatre museum itself, otherwise we’d get shapeless,” Mr King says.
“It started in 1979 when I was performing at the Playhouse and I started collecting material… tonnes of stuff could have been lost, I’m very proud of the amount of significant material that I’ve saved from the local tip.”
Some of the favourite curios he’ll likely chat about include the dresses of Gertrud Bodenwieser, a Jewish dancer in Vienna in the ‘30s.
“She escaped Vienna and the Nazis: the company came with her and played the Maj in 1940. Her husband stayed behind and she never saw him again.”
Sometimes the finds were unexpected: “I had a collection of programmes for a speech and drama teacher here in Perth from 100 years ago. I put them on display totally oblivious to the fact that on the other side of the world they were about to release a film called The King’s Speech, and the programmes were for Lionel Logue.”
More spots for the second free event downstairs at His Majesty’s Theatre on March 13 are being released this weekend at http://www.heritageperth.com.au
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
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