Bryant's Playhouse

Beryl Annear Bryant (1893 – 31 May 1973) was an Australian stage actress and theatrical producer born in America who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. She was responsible for first bringing the plays of Patrick White to the stage. Her career had many parallels with that of Doris Fitton and her Independent Theatre.

Beryl's mother, Elizabeth Anne Bryant (née Annear), was an Australian actress whose brother was the architect Harold Desbrowe Annear.

Her father George Edwin Bryant (1865– 26 November 1943), (who was to prove an invaluable aid to his daughter throughout her "Bryant's Playhouse" period) was an actor born in England. He began his career in Australia around 1885 in a Brough–Boucicault production playing a policeman. He left for America in 1890, working in productions for Daniel and Charles Frohman, David Belasco and the Kyrle Bellew – Mrs Brown-Potter partnership. He and Beryl toured the US with E. H. Sothern and played in the New York production of The College Widow. He returned to Australia for a J. C. Williamson production of The Squaw Man. and The Virginian. He worked for Muriel Starr and Gregan McMahon, when he notably played the part of Abraham Lincoln.

By this time they had decided to settle in Australia, purchasing a farm in Lilydale, Victoria. She attended the Church of England Girls Grammar School in Melbourne.

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