It is a measure of the deep affection and high regard in which he was universally held that Mullumbimby’s Drill Hall Theatre was packed to the rafters last week to celebrate the life of Michael Borenstein, an unsung hero of the performing arts in our Shire.
Born in Munich in 1946 to survivors of the Holocaust, Michael and his younger siblings, Sam and Eva, grew up in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, where Michael met Sonia, to whom he was married at the South Head Synagogue in 1968. More than just his lifelong love, she would be become the partner of so many of his creative activities.
After attending the University of NSW, where he majored in card playing, he worked for a time at the Taxation Department, but it was always the theatre that that triggered both Michael and Sonia’s imagination. After joining WEA (Workers’ Educational Association), Michael, at 19, directed Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party, and studied acting under Bryan Syron at the Independent Theatre.
In 1978, with their six year-old son Ben, the family moved to Goonengerry and, seeking an outlet for their love of the stage, Michael put up a sign at the Federal shop, hoping to find kindred spirits who might be interested in forming a drama group.
The response was overwhelming. The Federal Theatre Company was born, and with it an even stronger sense of community that was flourishing in the hinterland. Locally written plays and sketches were performed to riotous houses.
Champion of the Australian voice
Michael and Sonia’s daughter, Ellie, was born in 1983, and in 1999 Michael’s boundless energy and commitment led him to his involvement with the Drill Hall Theatre at Mullumbimby, where he directed Katherine Thomson’s Diving For Pearls – Michael was forever a champion of Australian plays, believing that it is ‘our’ voice that should be heard on stage whenever possible.
As well as having a long stint as president of the Drill Hall Theatre Company, Michael found time to become a marriage celebrant and to work selflessly for Multitask, teaching drama to disabled people.
Michael’s effect on so many lives was always positive. Creator of the legendary character Raymond Terrace in the comedy trio The Odd Number, he was a kind and gentle man, a great listener and encourager, and if his sartorial elegance will not go down in the history books, his heart and wit and wonderful humanity certainly will.
Byron has lost one of its best.
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