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The Allan Wilkie - Frediswyde Hunter-Watts Theatre Collection was bequeathed to the Barr Smith Library in 1976 by Miss Floy Angel Nan (Angel) Symon. It is a solid reference collection of over 6,000 items focusing on English stage history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, supplemented by diverse and extensive collections of programs and souvenirs, illustrations, playbills and newspaper clippings.

The story behind the collection features players from both Australian theatre and South Australian history. Allan Wilkie was a national icon of Australian theatre in the 1920s and 1930s, his theatre company presenting Shakespeare to the masses with Wilkie and his second wife, Frediswyde Hunter-Watts, as leading actors. Angel Symon, one of ten surviving children of Sir Josiah and Lady Eleanor Symon, met the Wilkie family in ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ in 1916 when she was 19. It was the beginning of a lifetime friendship and her will stipulated that her collection be named in their honour.¹

The Symon name is well known to patrons of the State Library of South Australia through the Symon Collection, Sir Josiah's own library maintained as a unique example of a nineteenth-century gentleman's library. Described as 'the most considerable intellect in ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ',² Sir Josiah was a leader of the Federal Convention of 1897/9 and helped to draft the Australian Constitution. He was also a generous benefactor, giving the University of ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ £10,000 towards the Lady Symon Building for women students with the proviso it was managed by women. One of his passions was Shakespeare and his writings included Shakespeare at Home (ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ, 1905) and Shakespeare the Englishman (ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ, 1924). He corresponded with Allan Wilkie and some of these letters can also be found in the State Library.

Angel was one of five daughters, all independent and capable women who followed their own interests. Lesley Kilmeny was a bibliophile and keen book collector who donated over 4,000 volumes to the Barr Smith Library. Eleanor Dorothy Jean served on the Board of Northcote Rest Home for Mothers and Babies for ten years. The youngest, Mary Arden, was passionate about ballet, her farm and her horses, and worked for a time in Bernard Leach's pottery studio in St Ives, Cornwall. The eldest daughter, Elizabeth Margaret, studied child psychology in London and established the Inn Nursery School in Lower Mitcham, the first progressive nursery school in Australia. Her aim to foster 'an environment in which [the child] is encouraged to question, to express himself, to act on his own initiative and to think for himself and others' ³ was surely reflected in the lives of the Symon daughters.

Angel's passion was the theatre and she had the opportunity to travel and pursue her passion in England and Europe. Born in ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ in 1896, she was educated both privately and at Miss Schroeder's School at Mt Lofty in the summer, and Miss Cussens' School at North ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ in the winter, and later in England at the Manor House, Brondesbury. On her return to Australia in 1914 she worked with Red Cross and studied French at the University of ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ. Angel toured with Allan Wilkie's company as secretary and advance publicity officer, with some occasional walk-on parts, from 1920 to 1923 and from 1925 until 1926, when it was temporarily disbanded after a disastrous fire in Geelong. Lisa Warrington in her thesis 'Allan Wilkie in Australia' alludes to Wilkie's 'most competent system of publicity, which ensured that his name was kept before the public eye' ⁴ and also helped him secure the patronage of the leading citizens in each state. Thus developed a friendship of mutual benefit.

Wilkie was one of the last of the British actor-managers who reached their pinnacle with Henry Irving. Trained in the companies of Ben Greet, Frank Benson and Beerbohm Tree, and driven by a lust for travel and a determination to play under his own banner, he toured India, East Asia and South Africa. With few professional prospects ahead of them in England, the Wilkies travelled to Australia in 1914 and obtained work with the touring companies of Nellie Stewart and J.C. Williamson. In 1916 he was made head of the George Marlow Grand Shakespearean Company with a free hand in the choice of plays and production, touring Australia and New Zealand with a mix of Shakespeare, eighteenth-century comedy and melodrama at popular prices.

'A dedicated, an unquenchable Shakesperian [sic]',⁵ Wilkie launched his own Allan Wilkie Shakespearean Company in 1920 at the Princess Theatre Melbourne, the first serious attempt to establish a permanent touring Shakespeare company in Australia. Ngaio Marsh in her autobiography described how the Wilkie Company gave her 'my first real joy in Shakesperian [sic] acting'. An actor with a 'grand, declaratory manner'⁶ in the tradition of his hero Henry Irving, Wilkie played most of Shakespeare's leading roles, not always to advantage. His aging Romeo in particular attracted critical reviews, Wilkie being a large man with a strong voice suited more to big, blustery parts. Frediswyde Hunter-Watts was softly spoken and graceful, 'delicate, gentle, with a cloud of bronze hair and a strangely moving little break in her voice.' ⁷ Wilkie always sought to entertain his audience and make Shakespeare a living adventure. He economized on scenery and adapted to a wide variety of city and country theatres by setting elaborately costumed actors against a curtain-draped stage with 'a small backcloth depicting the scene of the action ... between the curtains.'⁸ Orchestral support was an important feature, using locally hired musicians to save costs. Money was never plentiful, Wilkie investing any profits in new costumes, scenery and actors. When money was tight, the company would tour melodrama and Sheridan in mining towns of Australia and New Zealand.

After four years of touring, the Wilkie Company claimed a world record for giving 1,000 consecutive performances of Shakespeare. Wilkie's ambition was to produce all 37 of Shakespeare's plays but by 1931, when the company wound up due to the Depression and competition from the 'talkies', he had only managed to produce 27. Wilkie had, however, brought his love of Shakespeare to an entire generation of Australian theatregoers and schoolchildren. Encouraged by state directors of education, Wilkie included curriculum plays in his repertoire and offered half-price concessions to school parties for 'purified' productions of Shakespeare.⁹ In 1925 he was awarded the C.B.E. for his services to theatre, particularly with regard to education. He also campaigned actively for Government subsidies for the theatre¹⁰ and eventually succeeded in getting free transport for his company over the entire Commonwealth railways, in effect the first government subsidy of theatre in Australia. Recognition of Wilkie as a national institution was apparent when a national appeal raised money for Wilkie to restock in England¹¹ following the 1926 Geelong fire which destroyed the company's costumes, props and scenery. Wilkie toured Asia, Australia and New Zealand for 15 years, entertaining and educating the masses with his 'honest' productions. He believed that 'in a small way he had done something towards preserving the integrity of the British Empire ... the mere representation of the language of Shakespeare improved the people who listened, and made them better citizens of the Empire'.¹²

In between working for the Wilkie Company Angel Symon travelled to England, taking an active interest in the experimental theatre of the 1920s. While in London in 1924 she acted as Honorary Secretary for the Gate Theatre and Playroom 6, along with several other studio theatres. Later, in 1928, she served as Secretary to the Melbourne Repertory Company under Frank Clewlow, who had also toured with Wilkie. Angel had travelled through England and Europe several times with her sisters, taking every opportunity to visit theatres and opera or concerts, also attending lectures in costume design and experimental theatre productions in France and Germany. She collected books, programs and ephemera, building up a considerable personal library, and also studied theatre buildings and mechanics, meanwhile making continual inquiries about theatre subsidies.

Angel developed strong connections with the English theatre world, and maintained lasting friendships and correspondence with Ifan Kyrle Fletcher (of the Society for Theatre Research), Cyril Beaumont and Arnold Haskell among many others who 'encouraged, aided and abetted' her collection.¹³ Over the years she kept in touch with and supported the Stratford Memorial Theatre, the Old Vic, the Malvern and Pitlochry festivals, and philanthropic associations such as the Actors' Orphanage and the 'Haven of Rest for Aged Members of the Theatrical Profession'. In Australia she supported local theatre and endowed seats in the names of Allan Wilkie and Frediswyde Hunter-Watts in the Theatre Royal Hobart appeal. She also donated Australian theatre items to the Mitchell library, the Society for Theatre Research, the New York Public Libra