As an organisation in the Australian arts sector, it is impossible to avoid periods of financial instability, and Bell Shakespeare is no exception. Despite pulling through the challenge of salvaging the company from under the failing Australian Elizabethan Trust and putting on a successful first season, Bell Shakespeare has faced many periods of insecurity since.
One of the main challenges for arts organisations in Australia is finding funding, and in almost all cases, organisations rely on multiple sources including government, corporate sponsorship and philanthropy. When Bell Shakespeare began, they were not funded by the government, relying on Tony Gilbert’s generosity. His support carried them through the early 2000s, and for the first seven years or so, he topped up the company’s income so they could remain in the black.
Sadly, in 2009, Tony Gilbert passed away. For John, this was an incredibly sad loss of both a dear friend and one of his biggest supporters.
Tony’s faith in John was expressed in his Will through a significant gift to the company. They could not rely on this forever, however, and the Chair of the Board at the time, Ilana Atlas, was tasked with guiding the company into a new stage of financial stability. Ilana sought to equip the Board, instilling in them a sense of responsibility to find the right kind of people to support them.
On top of this, changing priorities for corporate sponsors also led to many moments of panic. For example, one of Bell Shakespeare’s first corporate sponsors pulled their support with little to no warning, meaning Bell Shakespeare had to find a different avenue of support in a short space of time.
Corporate sponsorship is a complicated area for arts organisations, and in recent years, this kind of support has seen a dramatic decrease. Despite this, Bell Shakespeare has maintained strong relationships with their corporate partners in the long term.
Wesfarmers Arts is one of these and remains Bell Shakespeare’s longest running corporate partner, with a 29 year long, unbroken relationship. This began in 1994, when John and Anna visited Perth, to produce Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew. Their Chair, Michael Chaney, met with them and as a result, Wesfarmers Arts became their Western Australia touring partner.
For Wesfarmers Arts, this relationship has mutual benefits and, more importantly, is seen as one of their responsibilities to create a better society. Because of this, Michael believes that the decrease of corporate sponsorship in Australia is a lost opportunity, not just for the arts companies receiving financial benefits, but for the corporations which should be seeking to improve the world.
The long road to a home
In the 2000s, the other significant challenge was that Bell Shakespeare, despite having a national reputation, was still nomadic and had no permanent home. From the beginning, Bell Shakespeare was promised a building on Pier ⅔ in a mysterious letter from then-Premier Bob Carr who had a vision for the wharf as an arts precinct. From when that letter was sent, it took the company 20 years to finally open their own dedicated space, where all their people, including their administrative staff and creative team, could be united under one roof.
This complicated process, however, paid off with Bell Shakespeare finally moving into Pier 2/3 in 2022. True to the company’s DNA, this was only possible because of the immense amount of philanthropic support they received for the project. Most significantly, Kerr Neilson, gifted $3 million, the largest single donation Bell Shakespeare has ever received.
The impact of this gift is significant, marking a new chapter for Bell Shakespeare by providing the stable home that many arts organisations dream of. It also meant that all their staff could be under the same roof, providing a new sense of unity amongst the team.
For the first time, Bell Shakespeare was also able to open their own, dedicated theatre space. As the supporter that made this possible, Neilson was given naming rights of the theatre, and he hoped that this would encourage others to make significant contributions to the arts. The theatre is now named the Neilson Nutshell, referencing Hamlet saying, “O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space" (Act 2, Scene 2)
Bell Shakespeare has now been in their building for three years and enjoys the benefits of having their entire staff working from one location. For those involved in the process, Bell’s Pier ⅔ premise feels like home, a central place where they can gather their creative and administrative staff, supporters and audience members under one roof.
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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. Most of the interviews included in this publication were recorded by Beatrice, excluding Tim Cox, who was interviewed by Master of Museum and Heritage Studies student Andy Muir in 2021.
This project was completed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, partner of Bell Shakespeare.