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43-468: Mitchell was the eldest daughter of (James) Herbert Mitchell (1886–1971) and Annie Maud May Mitchell, née Hallihan (c. 1888 – 23 May 1914), who had a home, "Aurilla", Princes St, Prahran, Victoria , later of Burnley, Victoria . As a child, Mitchell studied elocution with Miss Louie Dunn, who encouraged her to enter the South Street and other contests in the early 1920s. By 1928 she was a member of

86-941: A medium-density housing boom, which continues in the area, as part of the Melbourne 2030 planning policy. It was during the 1990s that solidification of the area's gay community occurred, with many gay and gay-friendly businesses (including the last of these closing around 2012). In the 2021 census , there were 12,203 people in Prahran. 63.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.6%, New Zealand (3.2%), Greece (2.7%), China (1.5%) and India (1.4%). 75.5% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek (4.9%), Mandarin (1.9%), Spanish (1.5%), Italian (0.9%) and French (0.8%). The most common responses for religion were No Religion (52.3%) and Catholic (14.7%). Prahran

129-654: A Children's Theatre in association with the Little Theatre. Mitchell appeared in many radio plays — She was a keen golfer, loved walking with her dog "Robert the Bruce", attended ballet, and had a large library. She was a close associate of Betty Pounder. On 24 November 1926 Mitchell announced her engagement to Laurie Abrahams of "Newington," Burke Rd, East Malvern. No record of a subsequent marriage has been found. On 22 August 1941 she married Pilot-Officer John Robert Dunlop Henderson (8 October 1915 – 11 April 1943). He

172-635: A Victory bronze statue. The Orrong Romanis Reserve is the largest park in Prahran, although the Cato Street carpark has been converted into an urban square named Prahran Square. Prahran was home to Prahran College , a secondary and tertiary technical college and trade school that originated in Chapel Street as, and continued to be associated with, the Mechanics Institute . It incorporated an art school which particularly from around

215-615: A first step towards her ultimate role as director. She played Beverley Nichols ' Avalanche in November and John Hastings Turner 's The Spot on the Sun ( Ada Reeve 's farewell production) in March 1935 with Dot Rankin, who was to accompany Reeve to London, By November 1935 she was president of the Little Theatre social committee. Valentine Katayev 's Squaring the Circle was performed at

258-425: A large bluestone church on High Street built in the 1880s, was partly converted into offices in the 1980s. Residential Prahran consists of mostly single storey Victorian and Edwardian terrace houses, with some larger double storey terraces closer to the main shopping strips. Prahran features many small, typically hidden gardens scattered throughout the suburb. The former Prahran Gardens, now "Grattan Gardens", are on

301-608: A play which revived Sir Dallas Brooks ' interest in little theatre In April 1951 she directed Peter Ustinov 's Blow Your Own Trumpet In May she directed R. F. Delderfield 's comedy All Over the Town , and in August Guy Bolton 's Larger Than Life , based on Somerset Maugham 's novel, Theatre . In 1946 Mitchell produced Richard of Bordeaux for the girls of Toorak College , Frankston. In 1947 she produced Dorothy L. Sayers ' passion play The Just Vengeance at

344-691: A play, followed on 6 September. John Patrick 's The Willow and I ran from Boxing Day 1947 and in May 1948 Constance Cox 's Vanity Fair , an adaptation of Thackeray's novel, which failed to please one critic. Another Australian premiere was her production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons in August. Noël Coward's Hay Fever followed in October, and was well received. June Brunel (Mrs Helmut Newton) and Diana Bell were especially praised. In 1948 Melbourne Little Theatre, under director Brett Randall, jointly with

387-485: A specific point of it. When Langhorne informed the Surveyor-General Robert Hoddle of the name, it was written as "Prahran". Prahran Post Office opened on 1 April 1853. Describing Prahran, as it was in the mid 1850s, F.R. Chapman remembered: In the very early times Chapel-street had many vacant spaces. On the west side, about the middle, a man could be seen ploughing his farm... and on

430-421: A very public custody case. In December she produced Reginald Berkeley 's comedy The World's End , set in a Dartmoor hotel. In April 1944 she returned to acting, in a highly praised The Day Is Gone by W. Chetham-Strode , then produced Drawing Room by Thomas Browne. In June 1944 Randall and Mitchell were among those non-professional actors castigated by Actors' Equity in continuing to work while their strike

473-467: Is an inner suburb in Melbourne , Victoria , Australia , 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District , located within the City of Stonnington local government area . Prahran recorded a population of 12,203 at the 2021 census . Prahran is a part of Greater Melbourne, with many shops, restaurants and cafes. Chapel Street is a mix of upscale fashion boutiques and cafes. Greville Street, once

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516-530: Is home to a large collection of architecturally significant commercial buildings, with many on the Victorian Heritage Register . The Chapel Street section of Prahran is notable for its collection of turn of the century emporiums and large buildings, which include: Other significant Prahran emporiums include Conway's Buildings (1914) and the large Colosseum building (1897), which was lost to fire in 1914. Other heritage buildings include

559-543: Is serviced by Prahran station , on the Sandringham line , as well as trams routes 5 , 6 , 64 , 72 and 78 . ^ = territory divided with another LGA Inquest (play) Inquest is a 1931 British mystery play written by Michael Barringer . It was first staged as the Windmill Theatre 's first performance in 1931, and was later adapted into films in 1931 and 1939 . A young widow

602-644: The Melbourne Little Theatre , founded by Brett Randall and Hal Percy in 1931, which had just moved into the old St Chad's church in Martin Street, South Yarra . Her first part was the "Italian Lady" in From Morn to Midnight , an adaptation of Georg Kaiser 's Von morgens bis mitternachts . Inquest followed, then in June she conducted a reading of The First Mrs Fraser , arguably

645-597: The Melbourne Town Hall for the Methodist Young People's Department in conjunction with the denomination's annual conference. The cast of 40 was bolstered by several professionals, who played anonymously. She produced, for the same organisation, Laurence Housman 's, Francis of Assisi (with Brian James in the name part, and music composed by Dorian Le Gallienne ) on 1–2 March 1948. She produced Leonid Andreyev 's He Who Gets Slapped for

688-932: The Moscow Arts Theatre , at the Garrick. In January 1937 she played The Children's Hour , and in February The Vinegar Tree ; in June she was acclaimed as Rosalind in As You Like It with Gertrude Johnson 's newly formed National Theatre Movement (NTM), all at the Princess . In February 1940 she was in the cast of Giving the Bride Away at the Princess, starring Charles Norman , written by Gerald Kirby and " Margot Neville ", an Australasian premiere. This show's season

731-788: The Old Wesley Collegians' Dramatic Society and in 1932 had the name part in the Proscenium players' The Last of Mrs. Cheyney . In 1933 she was in Gregan McMahon 's production of Shaw 's The Apple Cart . Other plays with the Proscenium Club were Cecil Finn Tucker 's The Optimist in June 1934, Noël Coward 's Hay Fever at the Central Hall, Little Collins Street in September. In June 1935 she

774-1004: The 1960s produced graduates who went on to become significant Australians. From 1968 it was situated in a multi-storey building in High Street, demolished in 2017 for the construction by the Andrews government of a $ 25 million 'vertical' secondary college, next to Melbourne Polytechnic and the National Institute of Circus Arts , and which opened in 2019. Alumni include painters Howard Arkley , Douglas Baulch , Christopher Beaumont , Peter Churcher , William Dargie , Robert Jacks , William Kelly , David Larwill ; printmakers Basil Hadley and Merris Hillard ; designers Mimmo Cozzolino and Martine Murray ; photographers Robert Ashton , Andrew Chapman , Susan Fereday , Bill Henson , Carol Jerrems , Tony Maskill , Leonie Reisberg , Stephen Wickham and sculptor Stuart Devlin . Prahran

817-612: The 1960s, in an effort to boost the slowly growing local population and inject new life into the suburb, the Victorian Government opened the Prahran Housing Commission estate, just off Chapel Street, together with a larger estate, located just north in South Yarra . Further complementing the high rise developments was a low density development between Bangs and Bendigo Streets. In the 1970s,

860-633: The Christmas season she starred in, and co-produced with Randall, Emlyn Williams ' The Wind of Heaven . Her next production, in June 1945, was George Bernard Shaw's The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles , an "intellectual fantasy", again totally successful. An Australian play with a Chinese theme, Enduring as the Camphor Tree by Russell John Oakes followed in October, hailed by "Parable" as "Australia's first great play". So popular

903-526: The College of Adult Education (CAE) founded Everyman Theatres Pty Ltd, a professional company to bring theatre to Victorian country centres. Their first production was Benn Levy 's Springtime for Henry . Mitchell appears not to have any substantial involvement with this company. She did however, in May 1951, direct their production of Miles Malleson 's version of Molière 's comedy, The Miser its first Australian production. In July 1949 Mitchell produced

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946-594: The Garrick rather than the club's theatre, as was Ernest Vadja's Fata Morgana , but a report of their playing Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour may have been mistaken. She played the Honorable Reader in S. I. Hsiung 's Lady Precious Stream at the Garrick in July 1936. On Caulfield Cup night 1938 the company staged James Bridie 's comedy Storm in a Teacup as a testimonial benefit for their director Brett Randall . A season of five plays by five producers

989-625: The Honor of Larratania , Edith Susan Boyd 's Three Roses , followed by 'Op o' Me Thumb by Frederick Fenn and Richard Pryce and The Man in the Bowler Hat by A. A. Milne . In April 1941 they played another John Hastings Turner 's comedy The Scarlet Lady , while Mitchell produced Sidney Rusk's one-act two-hander Fog as a companion-piece. In February 1943 she played in Robert Morley 's comedy Short Story , produced by Randall at

1032-679: The Little Theatre, then served as his stage manager for Rodney Ackland 's Dance With No Music , Henry Allan having been posted overseas with the RAAF . She produced the Little Theatre's first Christmas comedy, Frank Harvey 's Saloon Bar , Randall playing a key character, but was back in the director's chair for Lionel Hall 's She Passed Through Lorraine in March 1943. In April she had the chief part in Samson Raphaelson 's comedy, Skylark In June she produced Marguerite Steen 's French for Love , starring Eva Schwarcz, later involved in

1075-896: The Melbourne University Dramatic Club's 1948 Commencement Play at the Union Theatre, In March 1949 she was guest adjudicator for the Tasmanian Drama Festival, where nine groups, from across the state, competed for the Catherine Duncan Cup. She was on the examinations board of the Melbourne University Rehabilitation drama course and a member of the Australian Dramatic Art and Education Guild council. In April 1951 she

1118-799: The Theatre Association, appearing in Godfrey Cass 's production of Ma Pettengill , an Australian premiere. In 1929 she won the Governor's gold medal first prize at the South Street Society 's recitation competitions. By 1930 she was a committee member of the Proscenium Club, whose rooms were in Nicholas Building , Swanston Street. In 1931 she was in the cast of Ashfield Players' The Best People by David Gray and Avery Hopwood , and Bulldog Drummond for

1161-428: The centre of Melbourne's hippie community, has many cafés, bars, restaurants, bookstores, clothing shops and music shops. Prahran takes its name from Pur-ra-ran, a Boonwurrung word which was thought to mean "land partially surrounded by water". When naming began the suburbs spelling was intended to be Praharan and pronounced Pur-ra-ran, but a spelling mistake on a government form lead to the name Prahran. More recently

1204-450: The corner of Greville Street and Grattan Street and feature a playground and heritage bandstand. The Princes Gardens on Malvern Road, are a small garden, which features Chapel Off Chapel , an old church converted into a theatre, as well as the Prahran skate park. Victoria Gardens, on High Street, is a Victorian-era garden designed by landscape designer William Sangster in 1885. It features a sunken oval surrounded by London plane trees and

1247-534: The fleahouse), built on the corner of Victoria Street in 1911, burnt down in the 1940s. The Royal was the second old theatre built. The Empress (also known as the flea palace), another popular theatre on Chapel Street, was destroyed by fire in 1971. The site was operated by the cut-price clothes and homewares chain Waltons for the next decade and was later developed into the Chapel Street Bazaar. In

1290-471: The former Prahran Town Hall (now vacant), the adjacent former City Hall (1888) (now unused), the neighbouring police station (1887) and court house (1887) and Rechabite Hall (1888), in the Second Empire style. The Prahran Fire Tower (1889) is on Macquarie Street. State School number 2855, formerly Prahran Primary School (1888), on High Street was converted into apartments in 2005. St Matthew's Church,

1333-505: The same side was a small brick church, or more probably a school-room used as a church, which was known as Mr Gregory's. Between the 1890s and 1930s Prahran built up a huge shopping centre, which by the 1920s had rivalled the Melbourne Central Business District. Large emporiums (department stores) sprang up along Chapel Street. Prahran also became a major entertainment area. The Lyric theatre (also known as

Irene Mitchell - Misplaced Pages Continue

1376-717: The stage show An Aboriginal Moomba: Out of the Dark with an all-Aboriginal cast. also touring regional cities. She has been credited with giving the name to the annual Melbourne festival . She was declared "Queen of Moomba" by Jacob Chirnside, an elder of the Elondalli nation from Queensland, and with Harold Blair , one of the stars of the show. In November 1951 she produced Christopher Fry 's A Phoenix Too Frequent and Oscar Wilde 's Salome , with June Brunel and Frank Thring as Herod at Thring's Arrow Theatre (previously Melbourne Repertory Theatre). In 1939 she established

1419-400: The suburb began to gentrify , with much of the remaining old housing stock being renovated and restored. The area had a substantial Greek population and many took advantage of the rise in property values during the 1980s, paving the way for further development and a subsequent shift in demographics. During the 1990s, the population increased markedly, with demand for inner-city living fuelling

1462-713: The verse play Happy as Larry by Donagh Macdonagh , followed in October by William Douglas Home 's Now Barabbas , another Australian premiere . Her New Year's production for 1950 was a "hiss the villain" melodrama — Henning Nelms 's Only an Orphan Girl , after which she left for London on a working holiday aboard the Ranchi . She had been sponsored by the British Council to attend an actors' and producers' course, "London and Stratford-on-Avon". On her return in December 1950 she produced Douglas Stewart 's Shipwreck ,

1505-466: The word Pur-ra-ran has been identified as a transcription of "Birrarung", the name for the Yarra River , or a specific point of it. In 1837 George Langhorne named the area Pur-ra-ran, which was thought to be a compound of two Aboriginal words, meaning "land partially surrounded by water". The word has more recently been identified as a transcription of "Birrarung", the name for the Yarra River or

1548-611: Was a "dashing Romeo" in a pioneering all-female professional production of Romeo and Juliet under Miss Dunn at the Garrick Theatre . They staged The Merchant of Venice a year later, and Othello (as Iago) in August 1939. She was a member of a five-woman cast playing Ernest Vajda 's Fata Morgana at the Carrick in October 1936. In November she appeared in Maxim Gorki 's Lower Depths for Dolia Ribush , fresh from

1591-577: Was appointed State adjudicator at the Commonwealth Jubilee Drama Competition, a festival organised at the instigation of Sydney's British Drama League. The contest took her to Yallourn , Sale , and eight other Victorian country groups and ten from Melbourne, in order to select two semi-finalists. Meanwhile, she also adjudicated at a drama contest staged by the Country Women's Association . In 1951 she directed

1634-470: Was extended due to popular demand, and Just Married , for which Mitchell had also been engaged, had to be postponed. Stepping Out followed, then the company toured the other capital cities with Giving the Bride Away , Just Married , Charley's Aunt and Stepping Out . In April 1942 she again played Rosalind in the NTM production of As You Like It . Alongside her other commitments, in 1934 Mitchell joined

1677-455: Was not surprised at a workmanlike presentation nor for John Van Druten 's Old Acquaintance , produced by Randall and directed by Mitchell in December. In February she produced A. J. Cronin 's three-act Jupiter Laughs , starring Wilma Harrison, a professional actor looking gain experience. Her next production was Clare Boothe 's The Women , a play with twelve scenes and cast of thirty-nine women — again, "Parable" notes, without blemish. For

1720-474: Was on. In July she played in Randall's production of Lillian Hellman 's The Little Foxes , which ran for three weeks; players included Sydney Conabere . Then in August they presented a second play by Australian Alan Burke , Woman Bites Dog , again produced by Randall with stage direction by Mitchell. She produced J. B. Priestley 's Eden End in October, and "Gregory Parable", critic for The Advocate ,

1763-647: Was staged in November 1938 as "A Play Bill". Mitchell's contribution was The Last Mrs Fraser , by Virginia Saffold Booth. The understudy had to take her part in Lavender Ladies in April 1939, but she was back on stage in Passers By that December. On 3 August 1940 director Randall revived an earlier hit, The Rescue Party , by Phyllis Morris . A season of five short plays began on 14 December 1940: Lithuania by Rupert Brooke , F. Keith Manzie 's For

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1806-605: Was the production that the usual three-week season was extended by two weeks, and a charity performance for the Brotherhood of St Laurence . Sumner Locke Elliott 's The Invisible Circus followed on Boxing Day, 26 December 1946. Jan de Hartog 's Skipper Next to God , with an all-male cast, followed in April, then on 28 June the Little Theatre's 120th production, Karel Čapek 's The Macropulos Secret opened. Exercise Bowler , written by an anonymous cooperative "T. Atkinson", and depicting two groups fighting over production of

1849-605: Was with No. 73 Squadron RAF , lost presumed killed when his Hawker Hurricane aircraft crashed into the sea off Sfax , Tunisia, on 11 April 1943. Her address at the time was 8 St George Rd, Malvern, Victoria , known to her friends as the "slanty shanty". She had a sister, Vera Pearl Mitchell (born 1907) who married Thomas Hugh O'Halloran in 1931. Notable women theatre directors and entrepreneurs include: Prahran, Victoria Prahran ( / p r ə ˈ r æ n / prə- RAN , also colloquially / p ə ˈ r æ n / pə- RAN or / p r æ n / PRAN ),

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