State Theatre Company of South Australia


The State Theatre Company of South Australia, branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company, is South Australia's leading professional theatre company, and a statutory corporation. 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.
Many of the performances are staged at the Dunstan Playhouse and Space Theatre at the Adelaide Festival Centre. the artistic director and co-CEO is Petra Kalive. Notable actors, writers and directors working with the company have included Patrick White, Neil Armfield, Ruth Cracknell, Andrew Bovell, Judy Davis, Gale Edwards, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sharman, Hugo Weaving, Elena Carapetis and John Wood.

History

The South Australian Theatre Company 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.
In 1974, the SATC became the inaugural resident theatre company of the Adelaide Festival Centre, performing mostly in The Playhouse, 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 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 Jim Sharman, the company was renamed Lighthouse from 1982 to 1983, operating as an ensemble theatre company with twelve actors: Robynne Bourne, Peter Cummins, Melissa Jaffer, Alan John, Gillian Jones, Melita Jurisic, Russell Kiefel, Stuart McCreery, Robert Menzies, Geoffrey Rush, Kerry Walker 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 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". In the same year, Mitchell Butel was appointed artistic director of the company.
In August 2024, Butel announced that he would be leaving STCSA to take up the role of artistic director of Sydney Theatre Company. In November 2024, it was announced that Petra Kalive had been appointed as the new artistic director, as well as co-CEO, joining executive director Julian Hobba in the CEO role. Kalive was formerly associate director at Melbourne Theatre Company and artistic director of the University of Melbourne's Union House Theatre, and has also held leadership roles at Melbourne Playback Theatre and La Mama.
In June 2025, it was announced that Julian Hobba was leaving the co-CEO role after five years at the company, to become executive director of the Adelaide Festival from September.

Venues

, the company's administration offices are based at the Lion Arts Centre, on the corner of Morphett Street and North Terrace, Adelaide. The company's main venue is the Dunstan Playhouse, but it also uses the Space Theatre, the Royalty Theatre in Angas Street, and the Thomas Edmonds Opera Studio at the Adelaide Showground. It holds its "Tangent" talks in the Hawke Building at University of South Australia's City West campus.

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 and senior 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.

People

Directors

Notable actors who have performed as part of the STCSA ensemble include Mark Saturno, James Smith, Nathan O'Keefe, Rachel Burke, Rashidi Edwards, Anna Steen, Miranda Daughtry, and Dale March.

New works

Shows which have been commissioned by State Theatre Company South Australia include: