After a devastating fire destroyed a decade of props and memories, a Sydney company finds new life in a remounted classic.
When Neil Armfield, the former long-time helmsman of Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre, heard that the company’s storage warehouse had been consumed by fire, his mind didn't immediately jump to high-value equipment. Instead, he thought of a simple washing basket—a personal item recently borrowed by current artistic director Eamon Flack for a production. This small, domestic detail underscores the profound loss felt by the company: the destruction of a 'library of things' that served as the physical memory of decades of Australian theatre making.
The warehouse fire claimed a vast collection of costumes, sets, and unique props that defined the aesthetic of one of the country's most influential stages. For a small theatre company, such a loss is more than financial; it is the erasure of a creative archive. However, the spirit of the company has proven resilient. In a poignant act of creative defiance, Belvoir is rising from the ashes by revisiting its roots. The company is currently working on a remount of Armfield’s acclaimed 2010 production, 'The Book of Everything.'
This revival is not merely a nostalgic exercise but a necessary act of rebuilding. The process of recreating a show when the original physical elements have been reduced to ash requires a deep dive into the creative process, relying on the collective memory of the artists and the community. The 'library of things' may be gone, but the human stories and the craft that animated those objects remain. As the company navigates this period of recovery, the focus has shifted to the essential elements of their work: the actors, the text, and the shared history that no fire can fully extinguish. The return of 'The Book of Everything' serves as a beacon for the company, proving that while props are perishable, the vision of the makers is not.
This story highlights the fragility of the physical archives that small and regional theatres rely on for their craft. It serves as a powerful reminder that a company's true value lies in its creative resilience and the ability to reinvent itself even when its history is physically lost.
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