Creative Development Overview

State Theatre Company of South Australia plays, and must continue to play, a pivotal role in promoting an exciting and diverse range of new voices. Many brilliant South Australian artists have been given the opportunity to create theatre of excellence for our audiences, both at home and interstate. We aim to develop and perform the best in new writing for the theatre that is intelligent, innovative and emotionally engaging, empowering writers from all sections of society to address the problems and possibilities of our times and to promote their work vigorously to new and existing audiences.

Our objectives are:

  • To make room for discussion, experiment and risk.
  • To nurture and encourage the artist, whether writer, actor, director or designer.
  • To spark a dialogue between newcomers and artists at the peak of their profession.
  • To offer a diversity of methods, beliefs and techniques.
  • To inquire with equal depth into style, form, genre and content.
  • To embrace the written word, the spontaneous gesture and the magic of live performance.

Central to our work is a commitment to new plays and writers. Play readings and workshops are just a couple of ways in which we can support young playwrights. We introduce them to the working theatre, provide a professional sounding board and give them encouragement, expert advice and the time to follow their hunches. Plays developed in this way may then be explored and rehearsed, not in the context of the imminent glare of first night scrutiny, but in a sympathetic environment before they emerge into the outside world.

 

Auditioning for State Theatre Company

To be eligible for an audition, an actor must have suitable tertiary training and/or professional experience.

 

Unsolicited Manuscripts FAQ

1.Does State Theatre Company consider unsolicited scripts?

State Theatre Company is now a participant in the national script assessment program run by Playwriting Australia called PostScript. This is a program whereby all unsolicited scripts are sent to the national body for archiving and assessment.

All scripts should be submitted to Playwriting Australia’s PostScript program for assessment.
For more information about the assessment process, please visit Playwriting Australia.

2. What is the best way to bring a script to your attention?

PostScript is a strategy developed by PlayWriting Australia with the input of over 35 of the country's leading companies.  Playwrights are invited to submit full-length, unproduced scripts to PlayWriting Australia who will solicit assessments of the work from senior readers at two of the participating theatre companies, subsequently making those details available to all participating companies as well as providing indicative feedback to the writer.

PostScript offers writers the assurance that your script will be read by at least two senior readers within three months of receipt and that details of your work will become available to representatives of all participating companies.

Theatre companies are assured of access to all of the country's available new plays and that the responsibility to respond to these works is efficiently and effectively fulfilled.

3. Are you looking for any particular kind of material?

State Theatre Company is committed to producing a wide range of repertoire. There are no restrictions on content, however writers are encouraged to be aware of the current work of the company.

4. How long should a playwright expect to wait to hear from us?

State Theatre Company does not provide any form of assessment of scripts except through participating in the PlayScript program.  Writers are encouraged to obtain feedback from script development agencies such as Playwriting Australia, or further assistance from the SA Writers Centre or the Australian Writers Guild.