Indigenous performance has been a part of this continent for thousands of years. While Indigenous performance is often tied with traditional ceremony, song and dance are a vital, vibrant part of Indigenous culture today, both in exploring new musical styles and celebrating the traditions of the past. This passion for dancing and traditional music has been a part of First Nations life throughout history as a way to pass on stories of ancestors and creation.

European theatrical traditions came to Australia’s shores with the arrival of the First Fleet and European settlement, commencing in 1788. The first theatrical production staged in Australia was The Recruiting Officer, which had been written by George Farquhar in 1706. It was performed by convicts in 1789.

Sydney’s first theatre was said to be opened in 1796 and was managed by Robert Sidaway. Its location is subject to conjecture, with many claims as to the first site of the building. The theatre was judged by Governor John Hunter as a corrupting influence and was closed in 1798. It reopened briefly in 1800 but was closed permanently shortly after. Convict performances were reportedly sustained throughout the colony until around 1840.

Several female performers visited Australia from the gold rush era onwards. Their visits had great impacts on the Australian entertainment scene. Many newspapers and articles from the gold rushes and later 1800s document their popularity.

Dancer Lola Montez caused a stir on the goldfields with her Spider Dance. Montez and her dance were still well known one hundred years later. In 1958, the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust staged a musical about her.

Another international star, French actress Sarah Bernhardt, visited Australia in 1891. Audiences rushed to theatres to see her perform as the leading role in Alexander Dumas’ play La Dame aux Camélias (Camille; or ‘the Lady of the camellias’).

The circus was also present as an early Australian performance favourite.

For more than a century travelling shows such as circuses were the main form of entertainment for Australians across the continent; however, between 1911 and 1996, the proportion of the population living in rural areas declined from 43 per cent to 14 per cent. This demographic change, plus rising transport costs and the introduction of other forms of entertainment such as television and cinemas, contributed to the decline of the travelling circus.

In the second half of the twentieth century, as a result of increasing pressure from international movements to stop the trafficking and cruel exploitation of animals, circuses began to include fewer and fewer animals in their performances.

The 1960s to the 1990s saw the rise of a new type of human-performance circus, such as Cirque du Soleil, that features theatrical human movement, acrobatics and storytelling in place of more traditional circus acts, such as animals. International circus acts like Cirque du Soleil increasing added Australia to their world tours, but Australia produces many of its own, including the famous Flying Fruit Fly Circus and Circus OZ.

Australians have long been amazed by the tricks and illusions of magicians and magic performers. In 1910, world-renowned performer Harry Houdini visited Australia, stunning audiences.

Norman Murray Walters was an Australian-born magician. He gained fame performing Houdini-like escapes and magic shows. He was known by his stage name, Murray the Escapologist, and could escape from almost anything. With death-defying stunts, such as hanging upside-down from a crane in a straitjacket, his powers mystified audiences. The London Times once said he was ‘greater than Houdini’. He became one of Australia’s most famous magicians, and some say he coined the term ‘escapology’.

Despite the geographic isolation of Australia, Australian culture has been influenced by a range of other cultures across the globe. It was connected to the wider world through overseas touring companies and performers, and by Australians performing overseas.

Con Colleano was an Aboriginal circus performer. He also had African heritage and later adopted a Spanish toreador persona in his performances. In 2004 the Albury-based Flying Fruit Fly Circus produced Skipping on Stars, a show about Colleano’s extraordinary life.

Entrepreneurs and businessmen with passion for the arts and deep financial backing were essential to the development of the performing arts in Australia. The mid- to late nineteenth century saw the rise of theatrical entrepreneurs in Australia such as George Coppin, Bland Holt, J.C. Williamson, George Musgrove, Harry Rickards and others.

Some of these people managed companies that ran theatres and playhouses; some acted as managers for particular actors and performers; and others were actor–managers, meaning they had the knowledge to not only perform but to manage themselves and other performers.

Many letters and items of correspondence between actors and their managers exist and show the day-to-day trials and troubles of the arts scene.