The first play to be played in Australia is The Recruiter, a Restoration comedy written by George Farkar. It was performed by a group of convicts in 1789, exactly one year after the founding of the first settlement. In the 19th century. the standard English repertoire was retained with a predominance of popular melodramas. In 1833 Barnet Levy opened the Royal Theater in Sydney, offering musical and dramatic performances. George Coppin, Alfred Dampier, George Rignold and American J.C. Williamson became famous theatrical impresario. They sometimes staged plays on local themes, but usually preferred the works of Shakespeare and prominent international playwrights. State capitals now have theater companies as well as small companies such as the Australian Shakespeare Company and Melbourne’s La Mama Theater.
