One of Perth's longest-running community theatre groups has delivered a sombre Christmas announcement, revealing it is seriously considering closing its doors for good after six decades of performances.
A Storied History Faces an Uncertain Future
Harbour Theatre was founded in Fremantle in 1963 and has since staged hundreds of productions, spanning a vast range of genres from intense drama and classic comedy to intricate whodunnits and outright farce. For over thirty years, from 1964 to 1995, the company called the Evan Davies Civic Library home. The following decade proved turbulent, with the group relocating four times before finally finding a stable base at the Camelot Theatre in Mosman Park in 2014.
Remarkably, the theatre never missed a scheduled season throughout its numerous moves. However, recent years have presented significant challenges. In September 2023, a partial ceiling collapse in the Camelot Theatre's indoor space forced Harbour Theatre to cancel the final two performances of its play Banging Denmark. The venue was unusable for over a year for repairs, prompting the group to stage its 2024 production of The Vicar of Dibley at the Hamilton Hill Memorial Hall instead.
The Struggle for Venues and Volunteers
The group did not mount a production in 2025 and is now confronting its most difficult decision yet. Harbour Theatre President, Jarrod Buttery, told PerthNow that the committee is actively contemplating winding up the organisation. He cited two intertwined core issues: a lack of a permanent performance home and a severe shortage of committed volunteers.
"We feel we don't have a regular venue, there's not a constant team of people," Mr Buttery explained. He emphasised that running a theatre requires at least a dozen people to handle administration and venue coordination, and that the pool of helpers for front-of-house and production roles has "dwindled away."
While praising the Camelot Theatre team, Mr Buttery noted Harbour Theatre does not have full control over the venue's operations. The alternative, Hamilton Hill Memorial Hall, is fully booked for approximately the next twelve months, highlighting a broader scarcity of affordable, available spaces for Perth's nomadic theatre companies.
A Call for 'New Blood' Goes Unanswered
In a newsletter to members, Mr Buttery laid bare the volunteer crisis, stating there has been "no infusion of new blood or fresh interest" for years. The same seven individuals have consistently made up the committee, bearing the entire volunteer load.
"We're extremely grateful to the members who support and attend, but — year after year — it's the same few people who commit," he wrote. "Like all community theatre, Harbour Theatre is run by volunteers. We have lives. And we're getting tired."
Mr Buttery framed the potential closure not as defeat, but as a realistic assessment of the changing cultural landscape. "The theatre landscape is changing. Audiences are changing. Time and money pressures are skyrocketing. And people's availabilities are dwindling," his post stated. He added that it would be better to end on a high note than to slowly fade away over several struggling years.
The formal proposal to wind up Harbour Theatre will be presented at its Annual General Meeting, typically held in February or March. The future of this Fremantle institution now hinges on whether a last-minute wave of community support and fresh volunteers can emerge to save the stage.
