The State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company (SATC), is

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

's leading professional

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

, and a

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

. It was established as the official state theatre company by the ''State Theatre Company of South Australia Act 1972'', on the initiative of Premier

Don Dunstan Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...

. Many of the performances are staged at the Dunstan Playhouse and Space Theatre at the

Adelaide Festival Centre Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centr ...

. the artistic director is

Mitchell Butel Mitchell Patrick Butel (born 10 February 1970) is an Australian actor, singer, director and writer. He is best known for his work in theatre, including musical and opera productions. He has been the artistic director of the State Theatre Compa ...

. Notable actors, writers and directors working with the company have included

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...

Neil Armfield Neil Geoffrey Armfield (born 22 April 1955) is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera. Biography Born in Sydney, Armfield is the third and youngest son of Len, a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's Biscuits factory and Nita Armf ...

Ruth Cracknell Ruth Winifred Cracknell AM (6 July 1925 – 13 May 2002) was an Australian character and comic actress, comedienne and author, her career encompassing all genres including radio, theatre, television and film. She appeared in many dramatic as we ...

Andrew Bovell Andrew Bovell (born 23 November 1962) is an Australian writer for theatre, film and television. Life Bovell was born on 23 November 1962 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and completed his secondary school education in Perth. He graduated from t ...

Judy Davis Judith Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress in film, television, and on stage. With a career spanning over 40 years, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Frequen ...

Gale Edwards Gale Edwards (born 14 November 1954) is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film. Professional career Edwards began her career at Adelaid ...

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Em ...

Jim Sharman James David Sharman (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director from the 1960s to the present, and is b ...

Hugo Weaving Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is an English actor. Born in Colonial Nigeria to English parents, he has resided in Australia for the entirety of his career. He is the recipient of six AACTA Awards, Australian Academy of Cinema and Tel ...

Elena Carapetis Elena Carapetis is an Australian actress and writer, best known for her role as Jackie Kassis in ''Heartbreak High'', as well as numerous other television series and theatre roles. Early life Elena Carapatis graduated from Australia's National ...

and John Wood.

History

The South Australian Theatre Company (SATC) was established in 1965 under the artistic direction of John Tasker. Tasker directed 10 plays before clashing with the board and leaving in 1967. Actor Leslie Dayman took over from Tasker and Peter Batey followed Dayman. The date of establishment as the state theatre company dates from the ''State Theatre Company of South Australia Act of 1972'', an initiative of then Premier Dunstan. The name of the company was changed to its current name in 1978 as a reflection of this act. The director of the company in its inaugural year was

George Ogilvie George Buchan Ogilvie (5 March 1931 – 5 April 2020) was a prolific Australian theatre director and actor, who also worked as a director and actor within film and television. Life and career George Ogilvie began as an actor at the Canberra ...

. In 1974, the SATC became the inaugural resident theatre company of the Adelaide Festival Centre, performing mostly in The Playhouse (later The Dunstan Playhouse and still the company's primary venue), and was the first state theatre company in Australia to hold its entire operations in one purpose-made building. In 1977, Magpie Theatre was established as a theatre in education (TIE) branch of STCSA, for young people. After 20 years and numerous productions, it was terminated in 1997, partially due to loss of funding after reconstruction of Arts SA. Under the artistic direction of

, the company was renamed Lighthouse from 1982 to 1983, operating as an ensemble theatre company with twelve actors: Robynne Bourne,

Peter Cummins Peter Cummins (born 2 June 1931 in Melbourne) is an Australian retired character actor of stage and screen and chorister who was especially prominent in the 1970s and appeared in some of the most famous Australian films of the period. He was pa ...

Melissa Jaffer Melissa Jaffer (born 1 December 1936) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her stage and television roles, but has also appeared in many films. Career Jaffer started her career in theatre productions in the mid 1950s has made many ...

(replaced in 1983 by Jacqy Phillips),

Alan John Alan John (born 7 May 1958 in Sydney) is an Australian composer. He studied music at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1980. His compositions include original music for various plays, films (such as ''Holding the Man'', ''Three Dollars'' and ...

, Gillian Jones, Melita Jurisic,

Russell Kiefel Russell John Kiefel (1951 – 20 November 2016) was an Australian stage, film and television actor. After graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Kiefel started his screen acting career with a role in the 1977 feature film ''The S ...

, Stuart McCreery,

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

(replaced by

Robert Grubb Robert Grubb (born 31 January 1950) is an Australian actor. He studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he graduated in 1978. There he was a fellow student of actor Mel Gibson. Grubb played the role of Dr. Geoffrey St ...

), Geoffrey Rush,

Kerry Walker Kerry Ann Walker is an Australian actress. She has had a lengthy career on both stage and screen. She was nominated for the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role three times, in 1985 for ''Bliss'', 1986 for ''Twelfth Night'' and in 1 ...

and John Wood. The company was subtitled Australian Playhouse from 1996 to 1997 during the tenure of Chris Westwood, the company's first female executive producer, appointed in 1993. She aimed at presenting only Australian works until the end of the century; however, she resigned at the end of 1997. The board reported to Arts SA (later Arts South Australia) from 1993 until 2018, when it started reporting directly to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. From 2019 the company was branded "State Theatre Company South Australia", but official reports still refers to the legal name of "State Theatre Company of South Australia".

Venues

, the company's administration offices are based at the

Lion Arts Centre The Lion Arts Centre, also known as Fowler's Lion Factory and Fowlers Building, with the main music venue within known as the Lion Arts Factory (formerly Fowler's Live), is a multi-purpose arts centre, including studios, galleries, music and per ...

, on the corner of

Morphett Street Morphett Street is a main street in the west of the Adelaide city centre, city centre of Adelaide, South Australia, parallel to King William Street, Adelaide, King William Street and numbered from north to south. At its northern end it is part ...

and

North Terrace, Adelaide North Terrace is one of the four terraces that bound the central business and residential district of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It runs east–west, along the northern edge of "the square mile". The western end cont ...

. The company's main venue is the Dunstan Playhouse, but it also uses the Space Theatre, the Royalty Theatre in

Angas Street, Adelaide Angas Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the Adelaide CBD, Nort ...

, and the Thomas Edmonds Opera Studio at the

Adelaide Showground The Adelaide Showground holds many of Adelaide's most popular events, including the Royal Adelaide Show. The Showground (also popularly known as the Wayville Showgrounds) is located in the inner-southern Adelaide suburb of Wayville, just so ...

. It holds its "Tangent" talks in the Hawke Building at

UniSA The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

CityWest Citywest ( ga, Iarthar na Cathrach) is a suburban development on the southwestern periphery of Dublin, originally developed as a "business campus." It contains a large hotel, with a convention centre, a small shopping centre and a small but ex ...

campus.

Directors

* John Tasker (1965–67) *

Leslie Dayman Leslie Ernest Dayman (born 19 January 1938) credited variously as Les Dayman and Les Daymen, is an Australian retired actor best known for his performances on television (serials and telemovies) and film, major small screen roles including '' Ho ...

(1968–69) *Peter Batey (1970–71) *

(1972–1976) *Colin George (1977–1979) *Kevin Palmer (artistic director),

Nick Enright Nicholas Paul Enright AM (22 December 1950 – 30 March 2003) was an Australian dramatist, playwright and theatre director. Early life Enright was born on 22 December 1950 to a prosperous professional Catholic family in East Maitland, New So ...

(associate director) (1980–81) *

(artistic director),

and

Louis Nowra Mark Doyle, better known by his stage name Louis Nowra, (born 12 December 1950) is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist. He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights. His works have been performed by all o ...

(associates) (1982–83) (as Lighthouse) *Keith Gallasch (1984–85) *

John Gaden John Stuart Gaden (born 13 November 1941) is an Australian actor and director known particularly for his stage career, although he has also made some film and television appearances. Career John Gaden was born in Sydney where his father owned ...

(artistic),

(associate) (1986–89) * Simon Phillips (1990–93) *Chris Westwood (executive producer) (1994–97) *Rodney Fisher (1998–99) *Rosalba Clemente (2000–04) *Adam Cook (2005–2012) *

Geordie Brookman Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitute ...

(2013–2018) *

(2019–present). Associate Directors *Michael Hill (2006–2008) *Geordie Brookman (2008–2010) *Catherine Fitzgerald (2011–2012) *Nescha Jelk (2013–2016) *Elena Carapetis (2017–2019) *Anthony Nicola (2020–present)

New works

Shows which have been commissioned by State Theatre Company South Australia include: * 2022 – ''Cathedral'' by

Caleb Lewis Caleb Lewis is an Australian playwright and game designer. He is known for his play '' Dogfall'', first produced in 2007 in Adelaide, South Australia. Early life and education Lewis' father was a diver, whose job at one time was to retrieve bo ...

* 2022 – ''Antigone'' by

* 2021 – ''The Boy Who Talked To Dogs'' by Amy Conroy (co-production with Slingsby) * 2021 – ''Euphoria'' by Emily Steel (co-production with

Country Arts SA Country Arts SA is statutory corporation created by the South Australian government under the provisions of the ''South Australian Country Arts Trust Act (1992)'', for the purpose of delivering arts to regional South Australia. Responsibility for ...

) * 2021 – ''Hibernation'' by Finegan Kruckemeyer * 2020 – DECAMERON 2.0 (co-production with

Actnow Theatre ActNow Theatre is a theatre company based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 2007, it is a community-based company whose work focuses on social justice issues and techniques. From 2007 until 2020, the artistic director was Edwin Kemp Att ...

) * 2018 – ''In The Club'' by Patricia Cornelius * 2018 – ''Terrestrial'' by Fleur Kilpatrick * 2018 – ''The Gods of Strangers'' by Elena Carapetis * 2016 – ''Gorgon'' by Elena Carapetis * 2016 – ''

Things I Know To Be True ''Things I Know To Be True'' is a play, premiered by The State Theatre Company South Australia in May 2016. It has also been performed in Britain by Frantic Assembly, in Sydney at the New Theatre (2022), in the United States in a co-production ...

'' by

(co-production with UK's

Frantic Assembly Frantic Assembly is a theatre production company. They have worked in over 40 countries and are widely studied as practitioners for A-Levels in the UK. Background Frantic Assembly was formed by three students of Swansea University in 1994. No ...

) * 2014 – ''Jesikah'' by Phillip Kavanagh * 2014 – ''Little Bird'' by Nicki Bloom * 2013 – ''The Kreutzer Sonata'' by Sue Smith * 2013 – ''Maggie Stone'' by Caleb Lewis * 2009 – '' Metro Street'' by Matthew Robinson * 2009 – ''

Maestro Maestro (; from the Italian ''wikt:maestro#Italian, maestro'' , meaning "wikt:master, master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music ...

'' by Anna Goldsworthy and

Peter Goldsworthy Peter David Goldsworthy AM (born 12 October 1951) is an Australian writer and medical practitioner. He has won major awards for his short stories, poetry, novels, and opera libretti. Goldsworthy began his writing life as a poet, as described i ...

* 2008 – ''Architektin'' by

Robyn Archer Robyn Archer, AO, CdOAL (born 1948) is an Australian singer, writer, stage director, artistic director, and public advocate of the arts, in Australia and internationally. Life Archer was born Robyn Smith in Prospect, South Australia. She beg ...

* 2008 – ''

When The Rain Stops Falling ''When the Rain Stops Falling'' is a play about family, secret legacies, betrayal and forgiveness seen across four generations and spanning two continents. The drama had its world premiere as part of the 2008 Adelaide Festival of Arts. It was wr ...

'' by Andrew Bovell (co-presentation with Brink Productions) * 2007 – ''Lion Pig Lion'' by Marty Denniss * 2006 – ''Honk If You Are Jesus'' by

and Martin Laud Gray (winner of the 2006 Ruby Award for Best New Work or Event) * 2004 – ''Euripides' Trojan Women'' adapted by Rosalba Clemente and Dawn Langman * 2004 – ''Night Letters'' by

Robert Dessaix Robert Dessaix (born 17 February 1944) is an Australian novelist, essayist and journalist. Biography Robert Dessaix was born in Sydney and adopted at an early age by Tom and Jean Jones, after which he was known as Robert Jones. Tom Jones, a ...

adapted by Susan Rogers and Chris Drummond * 2003 – ''drowning in my ocean of You'' by Fiona Sprott * 2002 – ''My Life, My Love'' by Pat Rix * 2001 – ''Holy Day'' by Andrew Bovell (winner of 2

Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

) * 1986 – ''Dreams In An Empty City'' by Stephen Sewell * 1985 – ''Beautland'' by

Barry Dickins Barry Dickins (born 6 November 1949) is a prolific Australian playwright, author, artist, actor, educator and journalist, probably best known for his historical dramas and his reminisces about growing up and living in working class Melbourne. H ...

* 1983 – ''Sunrise'' by

* 1983 – ''

The Blind Giant Is Dancing ''The Blind Giant is Dancing'' is a play by Australian playwright Stephen Sewell. It received the 1985 New South Wales Premier's Literary Award. Plot A passionate examination of the way political power can corrupt the individual and society at ...

'' by Stephen Sewell * 1983 – ''Netherwood'' by

* 1982 – ''Spellbound'' by

* 1982 – ''Royal Show'' by Louis Nowra * 1982 – ''Signal Driver: A Morality Play for the Times'' by

* 1978 – ''A Manual of Trench Warfare'' by Clem Gorman * 1978 – ''Marx'' by

Ron Blair Ronald Edward Blair (born September 16, 1948 in San Diego, California) is an American musician notable for being the bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was originally the band's bassist from 1976 to 1981. In 2002, he returned to the ...

* 1976 – '' A Handful of Friends'' by

David Williamson David Keith Williamson Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australians, Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays. Early life David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Vi ...

* 1974 – ''

The Department ''The Department'' is a satirical comedy on BBC Radio 4 about a secret organisation with the power to influence every aspect of your life. Chris Addison, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman star as Research Team 32, an eccentric three-man think-tan ...

'' by David Williamson

Awards for new work

The company supports new work through its annual Flinders University Young Playwrights' Awards for writers under 25, offering dramaturgy and a professional reading to the winning scripts in junior (13–17) and senior (18–25) sections. It also presents the Jill Blewett Playwright's Award, worth $12,500, awarded for an as yet unproduced play of any genre written by a professional South Australian playwright. It is presented at Adelaide Writer's Week during the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

Notes

References

External links

State Theatre Company
{{authority control Theatre companies in Australia Performing arts in Adelaide