The Junction Theatre Company was South Australia’s first professional
community theatre Community theatre refers to any theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside he ...
company, founded in 1984. It was located in the
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
suburb of
Thebarton
Thebarton ( ), formerly Theberton, on Kaurna land, is an inner-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of West Torrens. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road, Adelaide, Port Road and Bonython Park to ...
, until its closure in 2002. Its touring productions were performed in schools, factories and other workplaces, with the aim of reaching sections of the community who may not otherwise access theatre. In its early days it was a proponent of the ''Art and Working Life'' funding program. Geoff Crowhurst was its most prominent artistic director.
History
Junction Theatre Company was South Australia's first professional community theatre company, founded in 1983–4 by Malcolm Blaylock,
[Geoffrey Milne, Theatre Australia (un)limited: Australian Theatre Since the 1950s, Rodopi 2004] "with a mission to bring important social and workplace issues to the forefront".
Geoff Crowhurst (23 March 1951 – 4 July 2009) was artistic director from 1990 until the closure of the company in 2001. Crowhurst was considered “a master of making theatre work for the good of whole communities”, and had an
Arts South Australia Ruby Award category posthumously named in his honour, the
Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award, for individuals who make "an outstanding contribution to community cultural development”.
["Ruby Awards have an art of glass for 10th Anniversary"](_blank)
The Advertiser
Through the use of its own venue, it also became known as having an important role in facilitating the work of smaller companies in South Australia.
[Don Rubin, Chua Soo Pong, Ravi Chaturvedi, The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Asia/Pacific, Taylor & Francis 2001]
''Art and Working Life'' funding
In its early days, Junction Theatre was one of the country's main proponents of work supported by the funding program ''Art and Working Life'',
along with companies such as
Melbourne Workers Theatre
Melbourne Workers Theatre (MWT) was an Australian theatre company based in Melbourne, Australia.
The company was founded in 1987 by Patricia Cornelius, Steve Payne and Michael White.
It specialised in producing work from a left-wing stance, se ...
in Victoria. The ''Art and Working Life'' funding program supported projects created in partnership with trade unions.
[ It was a joint funding initiative by the ]Australia Council for the Arts
The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...
and the Australian Council of Trade Unions
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and la ...
, which funded and promoted cultural activities by artists, art workers and unions in the workplace as well as elsewhere. The program aimed to "encourage art practice and policy, informed by the concerns and issues affecting workers own lives and acknowledges working class cultural traditions and the multicultural nature of those traditions". It ran until 1986.
Directors
Junction Theatre Company’s first artistic director was Malcolm Blaylock.
Touring
The Company created touring works in schools, factories and other workplaces, with an aim to “create theatre of a high artistic quality which is accessible to those sections of the community who have not traditionally participated in theatre as an accessible option for entertainment, learning and expressing issues”.
Selected productions
* ''Next Year's Model'' (1984), about the gradual closure of the General Motors Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last three ...
plant in Woodville, Victoria (first production)
* ''The Keys to the Animal Room'' (1993) by Peta Murray, about an abusive marital relationship, which received the 1994 Gold AWGIE Award
The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967.
The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previo ...
* ''Hello Down There'' (1993), about the collapse of the State Bank of South Australia
The State Bank of South Australia was a bank created in 1896 and owned by the Government of South Australia. The bank became the subject of a two-year South Australian Royal Commission upon collapse in 1991. The surviving part of the bank now ...
, which was named "Best Community Theatre for 1993" in The Advertiser
* ''Love Land and Money'' (2002), relating to themes of reconciliation and mining industries,"The Adelaide Review, No.222, March, 2002. pp.22–23"
/ref> co-presented by Adelaide Fringe
The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...
and Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute
The Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, usually referred to as Tandanya, is an art museum located on Grenfell Street in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in promoting Indigenous Australian art, including visual art, music an ...
(last production)
References
Further reading
* (list of productions, with links to further info on each)
*
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Theatre companies in Australia
Performing arts in Adelaide