For over 25 years, the distinctive visual style of Angus Winneke defined the glamour and spectacle associated with the Tivoli Circuit of Australia. Designing for Tivoli productions from 1939 to 1966, Winneke established a house style and devised around 1,800 sets and 20,000 costumes for approximately 180 shows.

Born in Melbourne in 1911, Winneke began tertiary studies in medicine but changed direction to train at art school. In 1939, producer Wallace Parnell commissioned him to design sets for Tivoli revues. Winneke was soon employed as resident designer for the Tivoli Circuit, becoming one of the few full-time professional theatre designers in Australia at the time.

Angus Winneke worked backstage at Melbourne’s Tivoli Theatre in a tiny upstairs office and designs were brought to life by staff of the in-house workshops. The early years of Winneke’s employment during the Second World War were especially challenging as shortages of materials and labour demanded a particularly innovative approach in realising sets and costumes.

Angus Winneke designed for Tivoli pantomimes and musicals, but the majority of his work was for revues. His creativity is especially evident in his designs for elaborate showgirl costumes, and his set designs reveal a skilled use of colour and perspective.

During its last decade, the Tivoli Circuit faced competition from television, introduced to Australia in 1956. When the Tivoli closed in April 1966, Winneke continued designing for the Lido nightclub in Melbourne for several years. Angus Winneke died in Melbourne in June 1982.

The Performing Arts Collection holds over 500 of Winneke’s original designs, most of which were generously donated by his family in 1983, together with his scrapbooks and photographs. As very few costumes from the Tivoli Circuit have survived, Winneke’s designs provide an important insight into a style of entertainment from a bygone era.