Queensland Theatre Company
Encyclopedia
The Queensland Theatre Company was established in 1970 as the Royal Queensland Theatre Company. The Company is the state's flagship professional theatre company, headed up by multi-award winning playwright and director Wesley Enoch. Each year Queensland Theatre Company presents a season of mainstage plays which includes comedies, classic drama and new Australian work and a Studio Season which features theatre that breaks the rules.
The company has a strong history of development programs and is dedicated to encouraging artistic growth across the state through its emerging artists program, writing program – which includes the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award – and regional partnerships program.
Emphasis is also placed on developing and inspiring young people through the company's youth & education program, with specially devised education performances, theatre skills courses, a playwriting program and more. The Company is principally supported by the Queensland Government
through Arts Queensland and the Major Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council
.
Actors who began their career with Queensland Theatre Company include Geoffrey Rush
, Bille Brown
, Kate Wilson (Foy) (former Chair of the Board of the Queensland Theatre Company and Honorary Professor of Theatre at the University of Southern Queensland
), Carol Burns
, and many others. The late Babette Stephens
, as well as Diane Cilento
are among two of many other Queensland artists who have also worked with the Company during their careers.
The foundation Artistic Director was Dr. Alan Edwards AM MBE. He was succeeded in the position by Aubrey Mellor, Chris Johnson, Robyn Nevin
and Director/playwright Michael Gow
. In 2011, Wesley Enoch
succeeded Michael Gow as Artistic Director and has become the first Murri to head a State Theatre company in Australia. Other directors for the company have included Gale Edwards
, Joe McCallum, Murray Foy
and David Berthold
.
plays (presented in the Roma Street Parklands Amphitheatre (which was formerly called the Albert Park Amphitheatre), as well in the Lyric Theatre and the Playhouse at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre
. Other productions have included: Twelfth Night, The Importance of Being Earnest
, The Alchemist
by Ben Jonson
, That Face
by Polly Stenham
, God of Carnage
by Yasmina Reza
, 25 Down by Richard Jordan, The School of Arts by Bille Brown
, Ninety by Joanna Murray-Smith
,
The Year of Magical Thinking
by Joan Didion
, The Crucible
by Arthur Miller
and Toy Symphony
by Michael Gow
.
The company has a strong history of development programs and is dedicated to encouraging artistic growth across the state through its emerging artists program, writing program – which includes the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award – and regional partnerships program.
Emphasis is also placed on developing and inspiring young people through the company's youth & education program, with specially devised education performances, theatre skills courses, a playwriting program and more. The Company is principally supported by the Queensland Government
Government of Queensland
The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
through Arts Queensland and the Major Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
.
Actors who began their career with Queensland Theatre Company include Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
, Bille Brown
Bille Brown
Bille Brown, AM is an Australian Shakespearean actor and acclaimed writer of plays.Brown was born in Biloela, Queensland and studied drama at the University of Queensland where he received and Honorary Doctorate of Letters...
, Kate Wilson (Foy) (former Chair of the Board of the Queensland Theatre Company and Honorary Professor of Theatre at the University of Southern Queensland
University of Southern Queensland
The University of Southern Queensland is based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The institution was established in 1967 as the Queensland Institute of Technology...
), Carol Burns
Carol Burns
.Carol Burns is an Australian actor. She has worked in film, television and theatre in Australia and the United Kingdom.-Career highlights:...
, and many others. The late Babette Stephens
Babette Stephens
Phyllis Babette Stephens was an Australian actress and director. A leading theatrical pioneer, she also appeared in film and television, and hosted talkback radio.She was born in England...
, as well as Diane Cilento
Diane Cilento
Diane Cilento was an Australian theatre and film actress and author.-Biography:Cilento's parents, Sir Raphael Cilento and Lady Phyllis Cilento, were both distinguished medical practitioners....
are among two of many other Queensland artists who have also worked with the Company during their careers.
The foundation Artistic Director was Dr. Alan Edwards AM MBE. He was succeeded in the position by Aubrey Mellor, Chris Johnson, Robyn Nevin
Robyn Nevin
Robyn Anne Nevin AM , is an Australian stage and screen actress, and is considered by some as a doyenne of Australian theatre.- Early life :...
and Director/playwright Michael Gow
Michael Gow
Michael Gow is an Australian playwright and director most famed for his 1986 work Away.As a student at Sydney University, Gow acted and directed with the Dramatic Society from 1973-1976. After graduation, Gow went on to act with Nimrod, Thalia and Sydney theatre companies.He has been the Artist...
. In 2011, Wesley Enoch
Wesley Enoch
Wesley Enoch is an Australian playwright and artistic director of Murri descent.- Life :The eldest son of Doug and Lyn Enoch from Stradbroke Island, Wesley Enoch grew up in Brisbane....
succeeded Michael Gow as Artistic Director and has become the first Murri to head a State Theatre company in Australia. Other directors for the company have included Gale Edwards
Gale Edwards
Gale Edwards is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film. She began her career at Adelaide youth theatre company Energy Connection...
, Joe McCallum, Murray Foy
Murray Foy
Murray Foy was an Australian teacher, actor, and theatre director. He was born in Quirindi NSW and died in Toowoomba QLD.He was educated at St Laurence's College Brisbane, and trained as a teacher at Kingsland Epiphany Cathedral School...
and David Berthold
David Berthold
David Berthold is a leading Australian theatre director. He has directed for most of Australia's major theatre companies, as well as internationally. Since November 2008, he has been Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of La Boite Theatre Company...
.
Productions
Productions have included: many Shakespeare'sWilliam Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
plays (presented in the Roma Street Parklands Amphitheatre (which was formerly called the Albert Park Amphitheatre), as well in the Lyric Theatre and the Playhouse at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre
Queensland Performing Arts Centre
The Queensland Performing Arts Centre is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank precinct....
. Other productions have included: Twelfth Night, The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
, The Alchemist
The Alchemist (play)
The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature...
by Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
, That Face
That Face
That Face is a two-act play written by Polly Stenham. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 26 April 2007, directed by Jeremy Herrin. The play was revived at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2008, opening on 1 May...
by Polly Stenham
Polly Stenham
Polly Stenham is an award-winning English playwright best known for her play That Face, which she wrote when she was only 19 years old.-Background:...
, God of Carnage
God of Carnage
God of Carnage is a play by Yasmina Reza. It is about two pairs of parents, one of whose child has hurt the other at a public park, who meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in the evening devolving...
by Yasmina Reza
Yasmina Reza
Yasmina Reza is a French playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter. Her parents were both of Jewish origin, her father Iranian, her mother Hungarian.-Career:...
, 25 Down by Richard Jordan, The School of Arts by Bille Brown
Bille Brown
Bille Brown, AM is an Australian Shakespearean actor and acclaimed writer of plays.Brown was born in Biloela, Queensland and studied drama at the University of Queensland where he received and Honorary Doctorate of Letters...
, Ninety by Joanna Murray-Smith
Joanna Murray-Smith
Joanna Murray-Smith is a Melbourne based playwright, screenwriter, novelist, librettist and newspaper columnist.-Biography:...
,
The Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Magical Thinking , by Joan Didion , is an account of the year following the death of the author's husband John Gregory Dunne . Published by Knopf in October 2005, the book was immediately acclaimed as a classic in the genre of mourning literature...
by Joan Didion
Joan Didion
Joan Didion is an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism. Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
, The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
by Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
and Toy Symphony
Toy Symphony
The Toy Symphony is a musical work with parts for toy instruments and is popularly played at Christmas....
by Michael Gow
Michael Gow
Michael Gow is an Australian playwright and director most famed for his 1986 work Away.As a student at Sydney University, Gow acted and directed with the Dramatic Society from 1973-1976. After graduation, Gow went on to act with Nimrod, Thalia and Sydney theatre companies.He has been the Artist...
.
External links
- Queensland Theatre Company - official website
- Royal Queensland Theatre Company (plays presented until 2001) - Australian Performing Arts (list incomplete)
- Queensland Theatre Company - (plays presented from 2001) - Australian Performing Arts (list incomplete)