Brown's Mart Theatre

History of Brown’s Mart

“Messrs. V.L. Solomon and Co. have just completed the largest and finest stone store yet raised in Palmerston . . . nearly opposite the Town Hall it is designed to harmonise with the Town Hall without copying its detail.”
Northern Territory Times and Gazette, January and February 1885.

Early Days

Brown's Mart in the 19 Century

Brown’s Mart was opened in 1885, by a local businessman, as Solomon’s Emporium. Built of local stone, largely by Chinese labourers, it played many roles in Darwin’s history, and in the late 19th and early 20th century was owned by the Brown family and used at times as a market; hence Brown’s Market, Old Man Brown’s Building or Brown’s Mart.

A 32-page book ‘Brown’s Mart, Darwin — A History’ by Jenny Rich provides a more detailed history of the building, its early owners and the varied uses to which it has been put from 1885 to the present day.

Brown’s Mart was extensively damaged in the “great cycloon” of 1897 but survived World War 2 virtually unscathed save for looting, and related damage to internal partitions.

Preservation

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In 1969 the building was to be handed over to Darwin City Council as part of the proposed Civic Square. Aldermen contemplated demolishing the Mart then one of about six early colonial buildings remaining in Darwin to improve the view of the proposed Civic Centre across open parklands!

Darwin Theatre Group, an amateur society, spearheaded a campaign to preserve the building involving arts groups, the Historical Society and civic leaders, and supported by entertainer Rolf Harris. A feasibility study proposing conversion to an intimate, open-stage theatre space was presented to Government.

Australian architect Robin Boyd wrote in August 1969: “The demolition of this building would be a very short-sighted act. No one could claim that it is an architectural masterpiece, but it is unquestionably a superior product of its time and a fascinating fragment of Darwin’s history. At the time it was built . . . Sydney, Melbourne and other southern cities were being almost suffocated by late Victorian Baroque ornamentation. Yet here in Darwin is evidence of a new Colonial beginning as simple and innocent as the first buildings of Sydney nearly a full century earlier or of Melbourne half a century earlier. If Darwin is looking ahead to a more important future role in Australia, it seems to me that she must first take a more responsible attitude to her own irreplaceable historical relics.”

Intensive lobbying followed. When it appeared possible the building would be preserved, a number of other proposals for its use surfaced – further space for the Museum and Art Gallery, a Maritime Museum . . . Darwin Theatre Group pressed its case at both Local and Federal/Territory Government levels.

Under New Management

In its history, Brown's Mart has served dozens of different purposes, including a tea house and a brothel!

On 13th November 1970 the Administrator, Fred Chaney, announced that the Mart would become a ‘little theatre’, headquarters for Darwin’s ‘amateur repertory groups’, and that the building and the land it stood on would be excluded from that land to be granted to Darwin Council. The amendment of documents to so excise ‘Brown’s Mart Reserve’ delayed the handover of land to Council for several months.

The first Trustees were appointed on 18 October 1971, their role being to administer the Reserve, preserve and maintain the building, and to manage the theatre. Trustees are appointed by the Minister and are not representative of any particular organisation or sectional interest, although community groups interested in the Theatre Group’s lobby were invited to nominate persons to the first Board.

Darwin Theatre Group had indicated early in negotiations that it did not wish to ‘own’ the building which was seen as a community asset; DTG’s special interest was however reflected in the appointment of two of its nominees to the first Board of seven, one being appointed the initial Chairman.

Other Trustees were nominated by the Eisteddfod Council, NT Arts Council, Darwin City Council, NT Historical Society, and the Museum and Art Galleries Board.

The Government handed responsibility for management of the building to the Trustees on 16 November 1971. The building was to be converted to an ‘intimate theatre’ and could be used for such other purposes as were not inconsistent. The agreement canvassed the need for wide community use including such ‘non-theatrical’ activities as art exhibitions.

Rehearsals and theatre workshops were held in the Mart from early 1972 and members of the Apex Club and the Arts Council helped to prepare it for the first public performance.

The performance used various stage levels, including the ceiling and walls of what had previously been the Police Commissioner’s office.

Darwin Theatre Group became chief user of the theatre and a major contributor towards the cost of renovations.

In November 1972 architect Peter Dermoudy, subsequently a Chair of the Trust, was commissioned to design a new theatre layout and administration block.

An Executive Officer for the Trustees had been appointed in October 1972 and the Trustees became host to a program of community arts, support for local arts activities and arts development, funded as a special project of the Australia Council for the Arts. Support for building maintenance and new works was provided through the Northern Territory Administration.

In the next two years the Mart hosted numerous productions with flexible stages and seating, created, borrowed and installed for each season. The ceiling was removed to expose the timbers which supported theatrical lights, and entrances and exits were often made through the window spaces of the un-airconditioned tin-roofed building.

A Big Blow

Cyclone Tracey destroyed the roof of Brown's Mart.

Stage one of the administration building had been completed [public toilets and an air-conditioning plant room] and air-conditioning had been used for two shows when the building lost its roof and windows, and one course of stonework, in Cyclone Tracy in December 1974.

Within months of Cyclone Tracy, the Executive Officer, temporarily housed and paid by the Education Department, moved back to the corrugated iron lean-to at the rear of the Mart, which served as office space for five years.

In January 1976 the Darwin Reconstruction Commission set funds aside for protective work on historic buildings including Brown’s Mart, and the Mart received a National Estate grant towards its restoration.

The first production in the restored theatre took place in July 1976. Darwin Theatre Group’s revue ‘No Show’, detailed the revival of a fictional amateur theatre company following the near destruction of its theatre despite the bureaucratic aftermath of disaster!

The administration block designed to harmonise with the Mart without copying its detail was added separately to house Brown’s Mart staff and rehearsal space and opened in August 1977.

In March 1978 retractable tiered seating was installed, funded from Government, corporate support, and community contributions coordinated by the ‘The Friends of Brown’s Mart’, and in the same month the Mart was nominated for listing on the Register of the National Estate.

In July 1979 a separate organisation, Brown’s Mart Community Arts Project Inc, was formed to be responsible for the community arts, multiarts and arts development work formally auspiced by the Trust.

Recent Milestones

The sign hanging outside the Browns Mart building.

In June 1985, Darwin City Council handed over a further part of Civic Square adjoining the Mart, enabling the extension of the courtyard and an eight metre addition to the administration building.

In 1995 extensive paving of the courtyard area enabled the Mart to play host more effectively to a large number of outdoor events, including gigs by contemporary bands. The flexible seating installed in 1978 was replaced by an advanced system in year 2000, and, in the same year, the courtyard was further opened up by the removal of the landmark bamboo garden established in 1978.

Into the Future

Despite wars and cyclones, Brown's Mart still stands today as a testament to Darwin's history.

Following a Sculpture in the Park event initiated by the Trustees of Brown’s Mart, Darwin City Council moved to create a master plan for the development of Civic Park as a venue for public art and for arts activities.

The Trustees’ vision is for further limited development of the area surrounding Brown’s Mart, particularly when Harry Chan Avenue and its bus depot are closed, to reinforce the area encompassing Brown’s Mart, the Old Town Hall Ruins, State Square and Civic Square as a cultural and heritage precinct.

Brown’s Mart will continue to serve the Darwin community as the major venue for creation, development and presentation of community arts and cultural expression.

The Birth of a Producing Hub

Following a report on the state of theatre in The Northern Territory by Justin Mc Donnell in 2008 a producers hub named 32 degrees was established at Brown’s Mart in late 2009. Alex Ben-Mayor was appointed as Creavite Producer and will guide the Independant producers and theatre artists through creating theatre with a rich Territorian voice.

Browns Mart Theatre, has a proud association with the artistic community since it was developed into a theatre in the 1970’s.

Now you have the opportunity to become part of this historic venue by become a Brown’s Mart Member. See the Membership page to learn more.