Royal Theatre, Quirindi. New disabled persons toilet in green

Curtain rises on cultural revival

Sydney Morning Herald. 1st June, 2010.

Harvey Grennan

WHAT does a drought-stricken town do to lift its spirits? Quirindi in the upper Hunter decided to breathe new life into what had once been a focus of local life, the Royal Theatre.

This is no multimillion-dollar cultural palace, as found in some big regional centres.

This was a grassroots effort cobbling together modest grants and a big input of local volunteer labour.

The Royal is one of only three indoor/outdoor cinemas left in NSW. In the backyard families can sit in deckchairs on the grass and watch the "flicks" on the back wall. The Royal screened its first film in 1930 and operated intermittently until it closed in 2006.

"There needed to be an outlet for the farming and business community and their children to escape the depressing effects of drought," said the Liverpool Plains Shire Council's cultural officer, Robert Hunt.

The council bought the building in 2008 after assembling 50 volunteers to act as projectionists, ushers, kiosk operators and maintenance staff.

The total cost of the project was $760,000. The council contributed $342,000 and the federal government $338,000, and there were grants from BHP Billiton, NSW Regional Arts and the NSW Heritage Office. The use of volunteers is expected to save about $100,000 a year in operating costs.

Last week there was a full house of 280 patrons for the opening play, Cosi, the first of many new opportunities for artistic endeavour in the rural area.

The Royal has already won a NSW Local Government and Shires Association cultural award for cultural infrastructure and a National Trust heritage award for buildings under $1 million.