Belvoir (theatre company)


Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre comprises two performing spaces: the Upstairs Theatre and the smaller Downstairs Theatre.

History

Theatre

The theatre, converted from a former tomato sauce factory, opened in 1974 as the Nimrod Theatre for the Nimrod Theatre Company. The first production at the theatre was rock musical The Bacchoi. It was renamed as "'Belvoir St" in 1984 by Sue Hill and Chris Westwood when the building was purchased by a syndicate of people.
Renovations costing around commenced in 2005 and were delayed in 2006 with the discovery of asbestos in the building's roof. The theatre reopened in October 2006 with the Sydney season of It Just Stopped by Stephen Sewell.
The theatre contains a 330-seat auditorium called the Upstairs Theatre, and an 80-seat performing space called the Downstairs Theatre.

Formation of the company

Belvoir began, in 1984, when two syndicates were established: "Company A" with shares at $1000 each, which would own the building, and "Company B", with shares at $10 each. Company B aimed to stage theatre productions which were "contemporary, politically sharp, hard-edged Australian theatre; to develop new forms of theatrical expression; work by and about "Aboriginal Australians; work created by women; radical interpretations of the classics and work that is surprising, diverse and passionate.

Company

Belvoir was officially launched in February 1985. Later that year, Signal Driver, written by Patrick White and directed by Neil Armfield, was 'the first play produced from the ground up by Belvoir'. In the lead roles were Kerry Walker and John Gaden. The theatre poster was designed by Martin Sharp. Armfield later recalled that White, who had purchased ten shares in the theatre, was its 'greatest shareholder'.
From its foundation, Belvoir also instituted a "parity pay policy" where all employees, from actors to stage hands, received the same hourly rate of pay. This policy, which continued from 1985 to the end of the 2011 season, prompted former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating to describe the Belvoir as "Australia's last commune".
In 2005, Belvoir temporarily moved to the Seymour Centre, Chippendale, while the theatre building underwent an $11.6 million renovation, and returned the following year.
In January 2011, Ralph Myers took over from Neil Armfield as artistic director, stating 'There's a wealth of Australian playwriting and 2500 years of great plays to draw on, I don't see a need to import new plays from overseas.' In July 2014, Myers announced that he would be stepping down from his role at the end of the 2015 season. Myers said he had 'an "ideological" commitment to the regular turnover of artistic directorships'.
Also in 2011, Belvoir appointed Simon Stone as the first director-in-residence. Stone's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck, with the Belvoir, went on to win both Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Awards, in 2011, before being taken to Oslo for a three night performance as part of the 2012 International Ibsen Festival. Stone resigned from his position in 2013, and was replaced by dual directors-in-residence Adena Jacobs and Anne-Louise Sarks.
In 2016 Myers was succeeded as artistic director by Eamon Flack. In February 2022 Carissa Licciardello and Hannah Goodwin were appointed directors-in-residence.
In 2019 Belvoir collected an unprecedented thirteen Helpmann Awards, including Best Play, Best New Australian Work and Best Direction of a Play. In the same year actors in Belvoir productions collected Best Female Actor in a Play, Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play, Best Male Actor in a Play and Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play.

Past talent

Belvoir has featured many actors, writers and directors who went on to have illustrious careers, such as Cate Blanchett, Simon Stone, Leah Purcell, Benedict Andrews, Mitchell Butel, Tommy Murphy, Kate Mulvany, Anne-Louise Sarks, Wesley Enoch, S. Shakthidharan, and former artistic director Neil Armfield.

Governance and funding

the artistic director is Eamon Flack, while Aaron Beach is executive director.
In 2014 there were currently 600 shareholders, including noted actors, directors, writers and performers Robyn Archer, Gillian Armstrong, Peter Carey, Judy Davis, Mel Gibson, Max Gillies, Nicole Kidman, Juliet Jordan, Sam Neill, David Williamson, Neil Armfield and Colin Friels. Previous shareholders have also included Joan Sutherland, Ruth Cracknell, Gwen Plumb, Dorothy Hewett, Mike Willesee and Patrick White.
The Belvoir company receives government support for its activities from the federal government through the Major Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts and the state government through Create NSW.

Balnaves Fellowship

The Balnaves Foundation is a private philanthropic organisation founded by media executive Neil Balnaves in 2006.
In 2011 the Balnaves Foundation established support for two Indigenous-led works per year at Belvoir. It also created the Balnaves Award, which evolved into the Balnaves Fellowship in 2021. The fellowship is awarded to a playwright or director or writer/director, who is given over 12 months to create a new work, spending two days a week over 10 months as a resident artist at Belvoir.
Past recipients of the award or fellowship include:
In 2018 philanthropist Andrew Cameron established support for an up-and-coming artist to have a two-year residency at Belvoir. The fellowship is awarded to a designer, director or writer/director, who is employed by the company over two years as a resident artist at Belvoir.
Past recipients of the award or fellowship include:
  • 2024-25 – Margaret Thanos
  • 2022-23 – Abbie-Lee Lewis
  • 2020-21 – Hannah Goodwin
  • 2018-20 – Carissa Licciardello

    Belvoir education program

The Belvoir's education program for students and teachers includes practical theatre workshops at the theatre or participating school, tours of backstage and behind the scenes areas of the theatre, technical tours led by a professional theatre technician and a Theatre Enrichment Program for "senior English and Drama students in Western Sydney and regional NSW". In addition, Belvoir's Outreach Program partners with local youth support organisations such as Youth Off The Streets, The John Berne School, Twenty10 and Regenesis Youth. Through the Priority Funded Schools Program Belvoir also allows selected students to attend some performances free of charge. Limited student work experience and work placement opportunities are also available.

Seasons

2026

  • Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead by Eamon Flack after the Olga Tokarczuk novel, directed by Eamon Flack
  • The Birds by Louise Fox after the Daphne Du Maurier novel, directed by Matthew Lutton
  • Dear Son based on the Thomas Mayo book, directed by Isaac Drandic
  • The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham, directed by Hannah Goodwin and Catherine Văn-Davies
  • A Mirror by Sam Holcroft, directed by Margaret Thanos
  • Runt by John Leary after the Craig Silvey novel, directed by Neil Armfield
  • *This has been placed on hiatus following Silvey's arrest and charges relating to child exploitation material
  • The Jungle and The Sea written and directed by S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack
  • A Room With A View by Grace Chapple after the E. M. Forster novel, directed by Hannah Goodwin

    2025

  • Jacky by Declan Furber Gillick, directed by Mark Wilson
  • Big Girls Don't Cry by Dalara Williams, directed by Ian Michael
  • The True History of the Life and Death of King Lear and his Three Daughters by Shakespeare, directed by Eamon Flack
  • The Spare Room after the book by Helen Garner, directed by Eamon Flack
  • Song of First Desire by Andrew Bovell, directed by Eamon Flack
  • The Wrong Gods by S. Shakthidharan, directed by S. Shakthidharan and Hannah Goodwin
  • Grief is the Thing with Feathers after the book by Max Porter, directed by Simon Phillips
  • Orlando after the book by Virginia Woolf, directed by Carissa Licciardello
  • The Red Shoes by Meow Meow, directed by Kate Champion

    2024

  • Tiddas by Anita Heiss, directed by Nadine McDonald-Dows & Roxanne McDonald
  • August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, directed by Eamon Flack
  • Tiny Beautiful Things adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's book by Nia Vardalos, directed by Lee Lewis
  • Well Behaved Women music and lyrics by Carmel Dean, directed by Blazey Best
  • Holding The Man adaptation of Timothy Conigrave's memoir by Tommy Murphy, directed by Eamon Flack
  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time adaptation of Mark Haddon's novel by Simon Stephens, directed by Hannah Goodwin
  • Lose to Win by Mandela Mathia, directed by Jess Arthur
  • Nayika - a Dancing Girl co-created and co-directed by Nithya Nagarajan and Liv Satchell
  • Counting & Cracking by S. Shakthidharan, directed by Eamon Flack
  • Never Closer by Grace Chapple, directed by Hannah Goodwin

    2023

  • Blue by Thomas Weatherall, directed by Deborah Brown
  • Blessed Union by Maeve Marsden, directed by Hannah Goodwin
  • Into The Woods, music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine, directed by Eamon Flack
  • At What Cost? by Nathan Maynard, directed by Isaac Drandic
  • Scenes From the Climate Era by David Finnigan, directed by Carissa Licciardello
  • Miss Peony by Michelle Law, directed by Courtney Stewart
  • The Weekend by Sue Smith, based on the book by Charlotte Wood, directed by Sarah Goodes
  • Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill by Lanie Robertson, directed by Mitchell Butel
  • Robyn Archer: an Australian Songbook devised and performed by Robyn Archer
  • The Master and Margarita adapted from the Bulgakov by Eamon Flack, directed by Eamon Flack