In the second chapter, Robert writes about a subject, EN170, Drama 1A, that he and Grant McLennan took while studying at the University of Queensland. His words raised a glint of recognition in me.
"Unbeknown to ourselves we had landed in the perfect place to foster a friendship. Drama tutorials broke from the university; being held off campus in the Avalon Theatre - a small, timber and brick building not unlike a suburban house, five hundred metres from the entrance of the university on Sir Fred Schonell Drive."A few pages later another passage confirms the location in my mind.
"If the first image I have of Grant is him sitting a few places down from me in class, the second has him standing at the bottom of the steep concrete stairs that lead up to the Avalon."I know this building. I have been there, in 2015, and photographed it looking somewhat worse for wear.
Forty years earlier it served as the place where two of the key Go-Betweens members studied drama and formed a friendship (and probably a band but I haven't go to that part yet).
The Avalon was constructed in 1923, seemingly serving as a church hall before becoming a cinema during WWII. In 1962 it was taken over by the University of Queensland. For more information see the Brisbane Art Deco website.