Hills Musical Company and Stirling Players stop Adelaide Hills town's 1883 institute's demolition in 1972
The cast for Hills Musical Company's acclaimed 2019 take on Stephen Sondheim’s challenging work Assassins, directed by Macintyre Howie-Reeves and Monique Hapgood. Inset: The Stirling Institute saved by the musical company and Stirling Players.
Music and drama saved the historic Stirling Institute building, dating back to 1884, in the heart of the Adelaide Hills. Hills Musical Company and the Stirling Players were both formed in 1972 to give life to the mostly-unused building, under threat of being demolished.
The small then-Hills Drama Group, with a one-act melodrama Temptation Sordid and Virtue Rewarded and the musical company, with Kiss me Kate (directed by Didy Pederick and John McGregor with Leith Pederick as musical director, 1973) opened in a theatre without heating, cooling, dressing room or toilets. All money from productions went into upgrading what became the beautiful and historic Stirling Community Theatre.
With growing support, in 1976, the renamed Stirling Players started the Hills Festival of One Act Plays, with the first at its theatre. The players have earned a reputation for staging new challenging plays, from success in London and New York, and contemporary Australian drama.
Hills Musical Society produced two shows a year, among them Man of La Mancha, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, 42nd Street, Jekyll and Hyde, A Chorus Line, Cabaret and Blood Brothers. Many productions have won best actor, best choreographer and best musical awards. The theatre now has an orchestra pit, and extras such as the green shed and costume room.
Striling Institute originated in July 1882 when a public meeting decided that “it is desirable that an institute be erected conveniently situated for the present and prospective population of the neighbourhood” at a quoted price of £700.
George Brown, owner of the land all round, councillor, gardener, builder, carter, lodge man and local justice, made the land at Lot 3 Avenue Road available at £150.
Chairman of the new District Council of Stirling, Dr. Edward Stirling, laid the foundation stone of the hall that would provide “means of healthful recreation for the minds of the residents of Stirling West”.
In May 1884, a musical and literary evening in the Institute Hall was its start as a sporadic theatre venue. Stirling’s council office and library were downstairs with the larger of two upstairs rooms used for meetings: council, lodge on Friday nights and Anglican church services on Sundays.
The auditorium was a gathering place for the locals. Silent movies were accompanied by Mrs.Hart playing mood music on the piano. In 1934, a lighting/technical box was built for the safety of film projectionists. After films were finished, seats would be relocated around the hall and a dance would be held. The Stirling Hospital Ball was an annual event.
In 1962, the institutel ibrary closed and films stopped in 1978. The theatre’s seats were bought from the theatre at the Marion Shopping Centre when it closed.
