The Arts at St Margaret’s

Our school enters yet another interesting phase with the ground preparation for our new performing Arts Precinct well under way. The Arts have always played a significant role at St Margaret’s and have, over the years, been manifested in many of the following ways:

Visual Arts: including painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, architecture, photography, and other forms that create objects or spaces.

Literature: encompassing written works like novels, poetry, plays, and essays, exploring narratives, ideas, and emotions through language.

Performing Arts: involving live performances, including music, dance, theatre, and film. 

The arts also extend to include areas like:

Applied Arts: focussing on the design and decoration of functional objects, like furniture, jewellery, and industrial design. 

Digital Arts: involving the use of digital technology to create art, including computer-generated imagery, animation, and interactive media. 

At our recent St Margaret’s Day service, our Principal, Ros Curtis AM, outlined the exciting plans for our new Performing Arts precinct – and what truly amazing plans they are!

Performances have played an important role throughout our history. In 1898, there is mention of a music mistress at Eton High School and throughout the early times, there are numerous references to girls being taken to musical performances – Yehudi Menuhin, springs to mind, as well as numerous performances conducted by the girls themselves on campus.  Ballet was also taught at Eton High School – we are so very fortunate to have the Ballet Mistress’ roll from 1905!

Early copies of The Link detail how a Dramatic Society was instigated in 1912, and its first production was A Mid Summer’s Night Dream, performed in the front garden of St Margaret’s House (now Community House). A Philharmonic Society began in 1917 and held regular musical evenings to entertain students and staff. By 1929, the study of drama was included in the curriculum and music, singing and acting were a regular part of interhouse competitions – with early copies of The Link congratulating houses on their fine performances or bemoaning the fact that the girls had not rehearsed enough and let their houses down!

In 1935, the first ‘large-scale’ production occurred. The comic opera, “Merrie England”, was performed at the Princess Theatre at Annerley and was used to raise funds for the Darnell Music Rooms.

Performances combining drama, music and dance have continued to be a part of the St Margaret’s landscape since then. With the opening of Eton Hall in 1949, we were able to continue the tradition of musical and/or dramatic performances in our own venue.

But as the school continued to grow and these productions continued to entertain our school community, often outside venues were again used. In 1968, Eton Hall was extended to include a bigger stage and improved dressing rooms. Concerts, musicals and dramatic performances again returned to the school.

But the school has outgrown Eton Hall for both musical and dramatic performances. The school musical is held every two years, and an outside venue has been used for these performances.

The various musical ensembles continue to grow and sometimes perform on Circular Drive as larger venues are required.

With our new performing Arts Precinct scheduled to begin construction at the end of 2025, the performing Arts at St Margaret’s, in all its glory, will continue to soar.

Per Volar Sunata

Mary Surtees
Archivist