Windmill Theatre Co (previously known as Windmill Performing Arts), established in 2002 as a

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

initiative, is

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's flagship 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 perform ...

for

child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

and

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

audiences. artistic director is Rosemary Myers.

History

Windmill Performing Arts was established in 2001 by the

under the ''Public Corporations (Australian Children's Performing Arts Company) Regulations 2001'', which was superseded by the ''2016 Regulations''. The founding director and creative producer was

Cate Fowler Cate Fowler (born 13 June 1949 in Tumut, New South Wales, Australia) is a theatre producer and director specialising in work for children and families and an educationalist engaged in research in the areas of children's performance and creative li ...

(through 2007). The founding patron was children's

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Mem Fox Merrion Frances "Mem" Fox, AM (born Merrion Frances Partridge; 5 March 1946) is an Australian writer of children's books and an educationalist specialising in literacy. Fox has been semi-retired since 1996, but she still gives seminars and l ...

(through 2007). In 2007, executive producer Kaye Weeks and artistic director Rosemary Myers first came on board and are still with Windmill . The company has experienced enormous growth and success since then.

Productions and growth

Windmill performs a season in Adelaide each year, with shows also touring through regional

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 ...

and elsewhere in Australia. Windmill have also toured internationally, performing in many countries, including in the US (including

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

), New Zealand, United Kingdom, Singapore and South Korea. It has grown substantially in recent years: in 2014, the company toured to four cities, presenting a total of 144 live performances; in 2018, the number of live performances had increased to 234, and the number of cities and towns visited increased eightfold, to 34. The company was behind the multi-award-winning film ''Girl Asleep'', including the 2016 CinefestOz best film, adapted from its stage production.

Governance and funding

Arts SA was responsible for the state funding arrangements until Windmill was transferred to the Department of Education in 2018 by the

Marshall government Steven Spence Marshall (born 21 January 1968) is an Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of South Australia between 2018 and 2022. He has been a member of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the ...

. In July 2019, the state budget slashed funding to the

History Trust of South Australia The History Trust of South Australia, sometimes referred to as History SA, was created as a statutory corporation by the ''History Trust of South Australia Act 1981'', to safeguard South Australia’s heritage and to encourage research and public ...

Carclew Carclew House, one of Britain's lost houses, was a large Palladian country house near Mylor in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was situated at approximately three miles north of Falmouth. Carclew House was for some generations owne ...

Patch Theatre Company Patch Theatre Company, formerly New Patch Theatre, is an Australian theatre company founded in 1972 and based in Adelaide, South Australia, which performs works for young children. Patch has performed at international children's festivals in Ko ...

and Windmill, as part of "operational efficiency" cuts.

References

External links

Windmill Theatre
{{authority control Theatre companies in Australia Performing arts in Adelaide 2002 establishments in Australia Culture of South Australia