After a huge and costly glow-up, the largest stage in the southern hemisphere is ready for play

Two and a half years since closing its doors, Melbourne’s renamed Ian Potter State theatre is back. Don’t be fooled by the fact that it, kind of, looks the same

We are standing on the vast, empty stage of Victoria’s newly refurbished State theatre – days before its official reopening and two and a half years since it closed its doors to the public – as we wait for the curtain to rise. Normally we’d be facing the other direction, but this time we aren’t anticipating what’s on this enormous stage (bigger than four tennis courts, it is the largest in the southern hemisphere), but what’s in the auditorium. Actually, we’ve come to see the auditorium itself, the centrepiece of this first stage in the $1.7bn redevelopment of Arts Centre Melbourne.

Curtain up, and then a kind of hushed bemusement.

Nothing much seems different. The layout is largely the same, the brass and burgundy colour scheme is definitely the same, and most of the improvements and alterations are subtle or out of sight. “Everything you see here might look the same,” says the director of the Arts Centre Melbourne Reimagining Project, Chris King, as if to confirm we aren’t all going mad, “but there are ever so slight differences that make all the difference.”

The 2,000-seat State theatre was designed by Australian actor and designer John Truscott and opened with great fanfare in 1984; 40 years later, it was looking a little tired. It was also unfit for purpose, due to structural limitations in the design and contemporary code violations. A beloved and vital Melbourne theatre – its closure has seen pressure placed on the city’s other performance spaces, notably the Regent – it is home to major companies such as the Australian Ballet and Opera Australia. Any alterations would be noticed.

The first change worth addressing is the name, which is now officially the Ian Potter State theatre (although convincing Melburnians to adopt the change may prove trickier). Announced without public consultation in 2024, the decision to name yet another Victorian arts institution after an admittedly generous benefactor – this adds to the Ian Potter Centre in Federation Square, and the Potter Museum of Art in Parkville – has rankled many, including a publicly vocal Eddie Perfect who called it “a big fat mistake”.

Hamish Lyon, director of the company hired to oversee the project, NH Architecture, agrees the public are unlikely to embrace its full title, and thinks that’s perfectly fine. “People know it as the State. What [the name change does] is recognise the largest single philanthropic gift to a performing arts centre in the country in history. But for most punters, they’re going to see a show in the State theatre like they have for 40 years.”

One key update that should be universally welcomed is a massive improvement in disability access: excellent seats across all three levels can be easily reached by wheelchair, and accessible seating is now supported by two new lifts. More importantly, these additions feel plush and welcoming rather than utilitarian or ad hoc, an approach people with mobility issues are usually made to endure in public spaces. It’s necessary change, overdue.

Two generous new aisles in the stalls now meet a central walkway, forming an apron that should improve audience flow. Air flow has also greatly improved, with audience comfort being “a major factor in everything we tried to achieve,” King says. “Previously, the air conditioning used to come from above. About 12 or 15 minutes into every show, there would be this cold air dump, the system’s way of dealing with 2,000 bodies.” Now the air comes from below.

Carpets have been replaced with magnificent blackbutt timber that elevates the whole auditorium and helps with the acoustics. Sound quality, which was notoriously patchy, has been significantly improved; even the backs of the seats, designed by Italian furniture manufacturer Poltrona Frau, play a role in augmenting sound. “It’s an amazing art, acoustics,” Lyon says. “A mix of high science and black magic art.”

Most of the improvements are technical and therefore invisible, from a complete redesign of the sound system – which King says “used to be stuck on the wall” – to a new performance lighting system. Perhaps the most noticeable alterations are the added front two rows in the balcony, and the exquisite gold leafing on the ceilings.

Walking through the new theatre from the stalls to the balcony, it’s clear that an enormous amount of love and attention has been poured into the task of making it look like nothing’s been done. This refurbishment has deliberately leant on the softly, softly approach, vastly improving amenity without disturbing the building’s original aesthetic.

If the teams who’ve worked on it seem nervous that enough changes are visible to the naked eye to justify in the public’s mind the eye-watering cost – this stage of the redevelopment included a state government injection of $241m – they should take comfort in the experience of ARM Architecture, who redeveloped Hamer Hall in 2012. That project was simultaneously bold and conservative, and Victorians embraced the refit with massive enthusiasm.

The grand opening to the public will coincide with a First Nations-led concert called Gugu Dindi Gunyah (Many Rivers, One Home), and a three-day series of performances featuring over 100 Victorian artists titled Housewarming, all totally free. The acoustics will be fully tested by Opera Australia’s Wagner Gala in mid-October, and Australian Ballet will return with The Nutcracker before Opera Australia’s My Fair Lady takes over for summer.

Melbourne has its theatrical crown jewel back, shinier than ever and ready for play.