A thousand natural shocks

Graham Froebel reflects on financial insecurity and Tony Gilbert’s generosity

Graham Froebel (Former Board Treasurer of Bell Shakespeare) reflects on financial insecurity and Tony Gilbert’s generosity
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
The things that then stand out from a board perspective are that just about the entire time that I was on the board, it was always a struggle for money. Were we going to survive, you know? Perhaps I was a little bit naive when I started, but as I got more into it, it was very much without Tony Gilbert, without the Commonwealth Bank, we just wouldn't have made it. So what typically happened was that each year, we'd sort of prepare a set of accounts which showed that we might be 100,000 short, 200,000 short. We'd give them to Tony Gilbert and lo and behold, we'd be back to zero.

Graham Froebel reflects on why Bell Shakespeare is here today

Graham Froebel (Former Board Treasurer of Bell Shakespeare) reflects on why Bell Shakespeare is here today
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
John was heavily involved in the board. ⁓ wore multiple hats in terms of a business person, an artistic director, an actor. and he did it with grace and I've got nothing but admiration for what he bought and what he created. Without his drive and enthusiasm and Tony Gilbert's money, we wouldn't be here today. So John couldn't have done it by himself and obviously Tony Gilbert couldn't have done it by himself. Together, they got us through probably the first 10 years. And then we started to inch our way forward.

Graham Froebel reflects on John’s charisma and ability to listen

Graham Froebel (Former Board Treasurer of Bell Shakespeare) reflects on John’s charisma and ability to listen
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
He has incredible stage presence and, and you know, that doesn't necessarily replicate itself in human life. But the man does have presence and charisma, incredibly articulate and well-spoken, very good at listening. Listening is a skill that a lot of leaders lack sometimes. There's no tin ear, I don't think, with John. He will take things in and process them. And the other thing is that in the board context, he was prepared to learn. It's not like this is my company, I know everything. It's what can I get from you collectively that helps me to take this company forward? He learned a lot of lessons from Shakespeare about the struggles of leaders, dictators, murderers, whatever. And some of those things resonate in real life. Shakespeare drew those experiences from real life and portrayed them back to people. John's studied those things in depth and I think his ability to take from Shakespeare, from the stage, from acting and relate it into his real life and to business, he's been able to join those things together. They're not segmented.
 
He has an intellectual capability to him, it's that compassion, desire, focus, never say die, not give up. You look at some of the business CEOs that are running major organizations, he probably could have done that. He's taken a small bunch of people and some performers and put them all together to create Bell Shakespeare and it's still going after all this time. It's testament to him. I've got nothing but praise. It's hard to pinpoint all the pieces of him that make him such a good leader, but he's certainly got a lot of what leaders need to be leaders - listening, learning, compassion, passion, they're important things coupled with his ability to articulate and draw from all the things that he's seen and done.

Graham Froebel explains why education is so important

Graham Froebel (Former Board Treasurer of Bell Shakespeare) explains why education is so important
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
I love the fact that, you know, Actors at Work evolved. I love the fact that, you know, sort of the detention centre work has evolved so that the reach is far greater. And it sort of brings goosebumps when you see that kids that have had no ability or advantage to perform or be involved become involved and it becomes an avenue for them to believe more in themselves. So, important part of, and a very underrated part, I think, by government and ⁓ corporations, but a really important part of, you know, the society of fabric. I think, you know, Bell Shakespeare's done a great job. We always say, you know, it's a company that punches well above its weight and I think it still does. But he's lucky to be here. So I'm very fortunate that we survived.

Kathryn Greiner: The circus tent

Kathryn Greiner (Former Board Director and long term supporter of Bell Shakespeare): The circus tent
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
When John started the Bell Shakespeare Company, he had the financial backing of a very generous patron and he performed in a circus tent at Moore Park in Sydney and we lived up the road. And so we came to support, I mean, we were supporters. That I can certainly remember the performance and sitting in the bleachers seating in the circus tent. And that was the start of Bell Shakespeare.
 
Many years later, when we went to London, we would stay at an apartment at Tower Bridge along the walkway to the Globe. And so I saw the Globe before it was renovated. And but we'd always heard about the Globe as being the site of Shakespeare and his plays. And this was like a Globe. This was the same thing. I have to say I can't remember the play that we saw, but I do remember just sitting there in the bleachers and it was packed and there was just such fun. It was just, it was a joyous occasion. His desire was to make Shakespeare accessible. It was so important, it still is, even more so now.

Kathryn Greiner on what it feels like to be at Pier ⅔

Kathryn Greiner (Former Board Director and long term supporter of Bell Shakespeare) on what it feels like to be at Pier ⅔
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
It always feels, you know, it feels, mean, every time I walk in the door, it feels like I'm coming home. Yeah, it does. It does feel like a coming home.

Kathryn Greiner recounts the process of moving into Bell Shakespeare’s home on Pier ⅔ in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct

Kathryn Greiner (Former Board Director and long term supporter of Bell Shakespeare) recounts the process of moving into Bell Shakespeare’s home on Pier ⅔ in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
You know, this was, Bob Carr was premier And had always promised that this would be Bell's home. You know, it was, we were in funny, rehearsal space was up in the Argyle Cut. So in many ways, but he always said, know, you need, everybody needs it. Well, this is the area for the Arts Precinct.
 
And it took us how many years to finally get here? 20 years to get here. So it was a long road home and it was always that the problem that they had was that the whole program had been completely underfunded, but they never thought about the fact that they would have to replace all the piles. They were just going to sort of clear out the bottom. The bottom floor was to be left for public exhibition. We'll build a mezzanine level there. And then we had to find our own way home, so to speak. You have to find the costs of renovating and putting in this space here and the other spaces downstairs, hence the Nielsen nutshell and the Nielsen's were very good.
 
And we have the Nutshell, which is a terrific space. Peter is doing so much more with that space than we ever thought possible. But that was a very long, slow process, working on both government, city council, federal government, less inclined, but you could see people being quite excited by it.

Kathryn Greiner explains the Board’s feelings about Peter as the new Artistic Director

Kathryn Greiner (Former Board Director of Bell Shakespeare) explains the Board’s feelings about Peter as the new Artistic Director
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
We had great faith in Peter and Peter had been working with John for quite some time and it was a natural process. In many ways, you know there's that theatre expression, leave when you've got them standing in the aisles.

Kathryn Greiner explains the impact of Hearts in a Row

Kathryn Greiner (Former Board Director of Bell Shakespeare) explains the impact of Hearts in a Row
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
Then we started to talk, How do you get the company out so that the every man can see it? And I made some comments, you know, that there were children in Auburn and the western parts of Sydney who hadn't even seen the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, let alone be inside the Opera House. And out of that came a thinking of the program called Hearts in a Row, where companies could contribute $10,000 or whatever it was in those days to buy 10 seats in a row and either give that to a charity so that they could have their workers or their clients attend or use it as a special gift for their clients or their people, however they want to use it, was their business. And so the stories we started to get from the schools that came. It was, the children had never seen the Harbour Bridge and they'd never seen the Opera House. They'd never been to downtown Sydney. And so coming in on the bus from wherever was just an eye-opener. And I always remember the Wayside Chapel had a mix of staff and clients and they all went along to the op shop next door and found clothing to wear and dressed up. And so, you know, it had so many different ramifications. And I think they just were in awe of being in the theatre. I mean, they would never be able to afford a ticket. So being in the theatre was something very special.

Kathryn Greiner explains the impact of good teachers and their role in inspiring the next generation

Kathryn Greiner  (Former Board Director of Bell Shakespeare) explains the impact of good teachers and their role in inspiring the next generation
A thousand natural shocks was written by Beatrice Waller, a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student, who explored the history of Bell Shakespeare through oral histories in 2025 as a part of her degree. Oral history refers to the process of recording history in the voice of those who witnessed it and consists of conversational interviews recorded in audio format. This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.
 
We did the teachers scholarships and bringing the teachers in to give them the confidence that they can actually teach because they themselves are now of the generation that didn't have Shakespeare. So, early on, of them had Shakespeare had read it at school, it had been a text for the, what would have then have been, no, it would have been the HSC. You know, they, those teachers, you know, 10 years out of school, 15 years out of school, still very nervous about how they taught Shakespeare. And then bringing them all together and just doing a workshop with them. And it was just fantastic.