The Henry Lawson Theatre is a community based theatre located behind the Henry Lawson Club in Werrington County, Sydney NSW 2747. In 1968 the author John Upton (at that time the Editor of the Penrith Press newspaper) approached a small group of local people with a proposal to establish a club to promote cultural activities in the Penrith district. The first meeting of the club was held in the Penrith home of Mr. Ron Mulock, the State Member of Parliament. After establishment the club’s name was changed to The Henry Lawson Club, Kingswood and was reported to have had a camera club, a chess group, a classical record group, choral and folk singing group and the biggest group was the Theatre company.

The Henry Lawson Theatre company consisted of people belonging to the W.E. Cuckson social club drama group. W.C. Cuckson’s was a zipper factory that provided a stage for its workers as well as dance classes. Pauline Beville- Anderson, an actress and her husband Ian Beville-Anderson, a ballet teacher were members who joined the Henry Lawson Club and Pauline was a foundation committee member. The Theatre group had its own committee – ( What will we call it?”  “A Rose by any other name….”, said some wit, and it stuck.) The first play presented by the Henry Lawson Theatre was The Bastard Country by Anthony Coburn. With continued sponsorship by St Mary’s Rotary, Alan Seymour’s The One Day of the Year was the second play. In 1971 the theatre contributed to the Penrith Centenary Celebration with 'The Cabbage Tree by Edgar Penzig.  With two productions a year, the Theatre performed in local public halls until 'The Shed' was built in 1973. The first production in 'the shed' was 'Halloran’s Little Boat' by Thomas Keneally and opened on 19 April 1974.
At that time the local roads existed only as broken lines on a map. A track had to be cut through the undergrowth, by the members, to make this truly a 'shed in the bush'.

The first stage of the licensed club was opened by Mr Gough Whitlam on the 16th of June 1976 and was also attended by Bertha Jago, Henry Lawson’s daughter. The licensed club is located at the front of the site fronting Henry Lawson Avenue. The shed is a free standing building behind the licensed club and has been extended several times since it was originally built. It has been the home where, in 2017,  84 One Acts and 159 full length plays have been brought to production and four Sydney wide Drama festivals were hosted.

The Shed, known as the Henry Lawson Theatre, is now a comfortable 90 seat theatre primarily used by the Henry Lawson Theatre group and the Henry Lawson Camera Club.

The Henry Lawson Theatre generally has five productions per year and welcomes anyone interested in taking part in the theatre, on stage, technical or stage management. Training is provided "on the job".

Why not come down and join the fun whilst gaining a whole load of wonderful experience in the theatre industry.

REFERENCE:  John Upton:  The Henry Lawson Club – a personal memoir

First Published in Australia in 2008