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Profits or losses for state theatre companies five years on from COVID?

What do the balance sheets of some of our flagship theatre companies tell us about how they are building back?

21 Jan 2025 22:58

Jo Pickup

theatre audiences: Four elderly female actors sitting onstage on chairs amongst long grass against a black backdrop.

Performing Arts

Are state theatre companies out of the woods and moving towards the sun? For most, the post-COVID build back is steady. Pictured is MTC’s production of ‘Escaped Alone’ by Caryl Churchill. Photo: Pia Johnson.

Looking back on Australia’s state theatre companies’ 2020 annual reports is sobering reading, and offers a stark reminder of the apocalyptic feelings gripping the sector in the early days of the pandemic.

In one such report, a state theatre company Board Chair chose a single line from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to summarise the experience:

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Jo Pickup

ArtsHub's Arts Feature Writer Jo Pickup is based in Perth. An arts writer and manager, she has worked as a journalist and broadcaster for media such as the ABC, RTRFM and The West Australian newspaper, contributing media content and commentary on art, culture and design. She has also worked for arts organisations such as Fremantle Arts Centre, STRUT dance, and the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of WA, as well as being a sessional arts lecturer at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).