Welcome to MUST:(Melbourne University Student Theatre)
An online database of student theatre at the University of Melbourne.
This project celebrates the contribution made to Australian theatre by students of the University of Melbourne, and has been supported by a small project grant from the University's 150th Anniversary Committee.
This project brings together the scattered archival sources available across the University and in the private collections and oral histories of some of the thousands of students who have "trod the boards" at Melbourne. The website developed as part of this project offers access to information about theatre venues within the University, particularly the Union, the Guild and the open stage, the various theatre companies developed over the past 150 years, thousands of theatre productions, many of the people involved as well as a broad range of digitalised archival documents and images including programs, posters, publicity material and reviews. The site will be of interest to alumni, current students, researchers and the general public.
Many people have contributed to this project, including researchers, students or graduates of the University, staff from the Union House Theatre and the School of Creative Arts, librarians and archivists from the Baillieu, Rowden White and College libraries and student theatre alumni who have generously offered their time, memories and personal archival documents. The Theatre Board of the University of Melbourne has supported this project from its inception and provided additional financial support. Full acknowledgement for all contributions to the project can be found on the Resources page as well as archival sources. This page also has links to other related theatre information online.
To assist with your navigation through the data we have created summary pages with historical information about: History, Companies, Plays and People. Specific names, titles and keywords can be entered on our Search page. The quick search facility allows you to browse performance records or images and documents from a decade or year. If you are looking for information about a particular performance a quick search option is available.
The publication of this website represents an early stage in this significant project to record a history of the student theatre at the University of Melbourne, supported by a searchable database of information. The project team would be delighted for any contributions in the way of information, written or oral personal histories and archival materials. You can provide us with additional information or corrections to entries on the database by activating the feedback response at the end of each record, or just let us know what you think of the site on the feedback page in the menu.
Associate Professor Angela O'Brien
Head, School of Creative Arts
University of Melbourne