In the nineteenth century, Australia made and broke Shakespeare stars. Far from being disconnected from the rest of the world, the discovery of gold in 1850s made Australia a chief destination for international touring. Risking wide ocean, wild country, and hostile audiences, some companies learned, and others failed to make Shakespeare speak to an Australian imagination. Among the success stories were many intrepid women. By the outbreak of the Great War, Australia was exporting, importing and nurturing homegrown theatrical talent with the Shakespeare repertoire as a centrepiece.  
 
The National Library’s collections preserve an extraordinary array of the physical remnants of Shakespeare performance in Australia—playbills, broadsides, portraits, photographs, manuscripts, music and more. 

Dr Kate Flaherty (Australian National University), Dr Susannah Helman (National Library of Australia), Linda Bull (National Library of Australia), with actors from Bell Shakespeare illustrate this Shakespeare lecture and uncover the objects and stories that reveal how Shakespeare made landfall in Australia.  

Attend in person

Entry to this event is free but bookings are essential.

Watch online

The conversation will also be available online. Please make a booking and we will send you a direct link to the livestream event via email. Or you can join through the Library's YouTube channel.

About the speakers

Dr Kate Flaherty is a Senior Lecturer in English and Drama at ANU. She researches how Shakespeare’s works play on the stage of public culture. Her sole-authored books are Ellen Terry, Shakespeare and Suffrage in Australia and New Zealand (CUP, 2025), and Ours as We Play it: Australia Plays Shakespeare (UWAP, 2011). Other articles and chapters explore aspects of 19th century Shakespeare performance such as touring, education, and gender. Her publication venues include Contemporary Theatre Review, Shakespeare Survey, New Theatre Quarterly, The Guardian and The Conversation. Kate is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and winner of the ANU VC’s Award for Excellence in Education. 

Dr Susannah Helman is Senior Advisor, Collection Research in the Curatorial & Collection Research Section of the National Library of Australia.  

Linda Bull is Coordinator in the Curatorial & Collection Research Section of the National Library of Australia.  

About the Bell Shakespeare actors 

Emily Edwards  is a Sydney-based actor, director, and singer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the National Institute of Dramatic Art.  Emily's stage credits include Twelfth Night and Hello Again for NIDA; Abigail in The Crucible, Electra in First Born, and Queen Margaret in The White Rose and the Red for Theatre iNQ; Fiona Carter in The Removalists for Sydney Theatre Company; and The Players national tour for Bell Shakespeare. Her screen credits include Alive with Curiosity for Tourism Queensland, and Samantha in Home and Away.  

Jo Turner has worked extensively across television, theatre and film, with television credits including Doctor Blake, CAMP, Home and Away, All Saints, White Collar Blue and Backberner. Some of Jo's theatre credits include Henry V, Antony and Cleopatra and The Merchant of Venice for Bell Shakespeare. Awards include On Hold – Winner Best Film – Flickerfest 2018, Phillip Parsons Fellowship (2016), Shane and Cathryn Brennan Playwriting Finalist (2023).

This event is presented in partnership with the Australian National University and Bell Shakespeare.