The Capital

Bendigo’s popular music, theatre and performance venue hosts over 200 performances of opera, drama, orchestras, popular music and many exhibitions each year.

The Capital is a grand, National Trust-listed, Victorian era building with ornately decorated interiors. It was built with gold rush wealth as a Masonic Hall, although these days it's theatre-lovers who enter through its towering Corinthian columns. 

Take your seat in the magnificent first-floor Capital Theatre auditorium for a performance by a local and international act, including Australian popular musicians, touring orchestras, divas and quartets, comedy and cabaret, kids’ entertainers, dance, theatre and spectacle.

If you are visiting for a smaller concert, more intimate performance or event, head downstairs to the elegant Banquet Room or Bendigo Bank theatre.

Booking tickets

Purchase tickets for shows at The Capital:

• via our What’s On calendar
• by phone 03 5434 6100
• at our Box Office on 50 View Street Bendigo.

To retrieve or reprint your etickets - login to your gotix account

Box Office opening hours

Our Box Office at 50 View Street is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and one hour prior to performances.

The Shades Bar

The upstairs Shades Bar opens 1 hour prior to performances.

Accessing The Capital

Wheelchair seating

The Capital has wheelchair access seating available. To book these seats contact our Box Office. Please book early to obtain the best available spaces.

Hearing aid loop

A section of our theatre is equipped with a hearing loop sound system for use by people with hearing aids.

Companion Card

The Capital accepts the Companion Card. Carers and attendants accompanying cardholders receive free entry to shows and events. A Companion Card must be presented when booking. Contact our Box Office for details.

History of The Capital building

The National Trust-listed building now known as The Capital was originally the Sandhurst Masonic Hall.

The hall was designed by two prominent Freemasons, W.C. Vahland and Robert Getzschmann. The foundation stone for the building was laid on 24 June 1873. When built, this space was the largest hall in Victoria apart from the Melbourne Town Hall.

The main building frontage extends 60 metres along View Street. As you climb the bluestone steps look up at the façade rising 20 metres above the street. Six 10-metre Corinthian-style pillars are decorated with an ornate frieze and cornices, and topped with pediments with decorative moulded coping. The building is topped with a large triangular pediment.

The Capital Theatre was closed in the 1970s after almost a century of staging opera, drama, dance and cinema. In late 1987, in response to a community campaign to save the theatre, 3 of the 5 Bendigo municipalities – Marong, Strathfieldsaye and Eaglehawk – purchased the building from the Masons. With the financial support of State and Local Government, private and public subscriptions and overwhelming community support, renovations, costing around $6 million, started in 1989 and the building was officially reopened by the former Premier, Mrs. Joan Kirner on 26 April 1991.