Our History
40+ years of theatre works
Since its founding in 1980, Theatre Works has seen many different iterations, all the while maintaining the same spirit of the young troupe of artists who founded this company over 40 years ago. Theatre Works’ history is steeped in hard work, built by the aspirations of countless artists and passionate creators as they continue to deliver what can only be recognised as powerful, relevant and vital performances. Today, we continue to celebrate and uphold the values that Theatre Works was built on with an exciting, provoking, playful and proud program.
Our mission is to enable new work, foster and develop new voices, be a vital support for established voices, and welcome and engage new audiences.
The values that drive Theatre Works are:
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Access + Equity: we are committed to removing the barriers to participation, inclusively engaging with new voices and new communities and ensuring equity in our work
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Curiosity + Courage: we value new ideas, new thinking, artistic experimentation and rigorous creative investigation
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Transparency + Honesty: we listen, we are timely in our communication, we treat people with respect, we lead open and engaged processes.
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Passion + Pride: we don’t have much money and we don’t have an endless pool of resources, but we do care intensely about what we do. We will celebrate and champion everything we do. We want to be proud in our work and for our community to be equally proud of our impact and in everything we achieve.
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Sustainability + Stewardship: we care for the future, we always actively consider our environmental impact and ensure our own future is sustainable.
Theatre Works wants to inspire more people to discover, create and love theatre.
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References:
Davies, Paul Really Moving Drama: Taking Theatre for a Ride CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2016
Milne, Geoffrey Theatre Australia (un)limited: Australian Theatre since the 1950s Amsterdam: Rodopi Press 2004
Plus: Paul Davies’ Theatre Works Chronology, together with public and private domain statements and reports including press releases; Annual Reports; funding submissions, announcements and acquittals; and documents accessed by the author through her membership of the Theatre Works Board 2002-10 and/or kindly provided by past and present staff and Board members of Theatre Works. I have endeavoured to check all facts where possible, any omissions and errors of fact or interpretation are my own.
Alison Richards
Melbourne, January 2019