Black Swan State Theatre Company
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| Address | State Theatre Centre of WA, Level 1, 182 William Street Perth, Western Australia Australia |
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| Production | A Streetcar Named Desire; As You Like It; Dust; The Seagull; Laughter on the 23rd Floor; Gasp!; Flood; The House on the Lake |
| Website | |
| http://www.bsstc.com.au/ | |
Black Swan State Theatre Company (formerly The Black Swan Theatre Company) is Western Australia's state theatre company. It runs an annual subscription season in Perth at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, tours its productions regionally and interstate, and screens live broadcasts around the state. Black Swan's Artistic Director is Kate Cherry; past artistic directors include Andrew Ross and Tom Gutteridge.
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The Black Swan Theatre Company (1991-2008)
Black Swan’s inaugural production was Twelfth Night in 1991. The Australian’s Alison Farmer claimed that the new company “soared triumphant”, and that “at last West Australian theatre can be said to have found its own unique way of dealing with the Bard”.
Black Swan’s founding Artistic Director was Andrew Ross; he held the position until 2003. Black Swan’s office and rehearsal room was located at the Old Masonic Hall in Nedlands, and its productions were performed in various theatres around Perth. Black Swan won critical and popular acclaim for both its world premiere productions and locally inspired reinterpretations of international theatre classics. Some of its landmark productions from this period include Bran Nue Dae, Sistergirl, Tourmaline, Corrugation Road (winner of The Age Critics’ Award), The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea, Cloudstreet and The Odyssey.
Following Ross’ departure in 2003, Peter Kingston was engaged as Black Swan’s acting Artistic Director until the appointment of Tom Gutteridge in 2004.
Black Swan State Theatre Company (2008-)
In 2008, Black Swan was rebranded Black Swan State Theatre Company, an event which coincided with the appointment of Kate Cherry as the company’s new Artistic Director.
In 2011, Black Swan became one of two Resident Companies in the new State Theatre Centre of WA (the other is Perth Theatre Company). Since then, all of its productions have been performed there in either the Heath Ledger Theatre or the Studio Underground. In its first year at the State Theatre Centre, Black Swan presented the world premiere of Rising Water, the first piece written by acclaimed Western Australian novelist Tim Winton specifically for the stage. In the same year, Black Swan was the first Australian theatre company to broadcast a live stage performance, when Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Kate Cherry, was broadcast in real time to audiences across regional Western Australia.[1]
Current Artistic Director
Black Swan’s Artistic Director is Kate Cherry, who was appointed to the position in 2008. Cherry was previously an Associate Director for Melbourne Theatre Company and Playbox Theatre, and has additionally directed for Sydney Theatre Company, Adelaide Festival, Brisbane Festival, Glenn Street Theatre, Oz Opera, Hit Productions, Ensemble Theatre NYC (New York), Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, Massachusetts), American Conservatory Theatre and the California Shakespeare Festival (California).[2]
Cherry’s critical successes include Helpmann and Green Room nominations and awards, as well as a Gielgud Award for Best Emerging Director of the Classics in the United States. She has been the recipient of an NYC Drama League Fellowship and a Williamson Leadership Program Fellowship.
Commissions, programs and past ensembles
Rio Tinto Black Swan Commissions
Black Swan commissions new productions in partnership with the Rio Tinto Group. This partnership has so far produced four mainstage works: Aidan Fennessy’s National Interest (2012), Hilary Bell’s The White Divers of Broome (2012), Hannie Rayson’s The Swimming Club (2010) and Kate Mulvany’s The Web (2009). A fifth play, The Damned (2011) by Reg Cribb, received its premiere in the Studio Underground at the State Theatre Centre of WA. Writers currently under commission include Hilary Bell, Damon Lockwood, Caleb Lewis, Suzie Miller, Hellie Turner, and Brendan Hanson and Tim Cunniffe. (Writers Ingle Knight and Tommy Murphy are also under commission for Black Swan having won the Richard Burton Award for Playwriting.)
Resident Artists Program
Black Swan’s Resident Artists Program (formerly the Emerging Artists Program) supports up to five emerging artists annually by offering a year-long involvement working on a minimum of two Black Swan productions. The Resident Artists Program provides access to training, funding opportunities, mentoring and state-of-the-art theatre practice in order to facilitate learning and performance.
Emerging Writers Group
Black Swan’s Emerging Writers Group (formerly the Young Writers Program) ushers a selected group of writers through a yearlong process of writing and devising a new work for the theatre. Members must complete a full length play by the end of the year. Three completed plays are chosen for full readings by a professional cast; in addition, one play is selected to be part of the Blue Room’s ‘Summer Nights’ season the following year.
The HotBed Ensemble (2006-2010)
The HotBed Ensemble was Black Swan’s professional development program for emerging Western Australian artists directed by Adam Mitchell. The program included exclusive skills development and workshop opportunities with local, national and international artists, and the opportunity to create original, contemporary work. More than a third of the HotBed artists went on to work in Black Swan's mainstage program.
The HotBed Ensemble produced The Shape of Things (2010), Yellow Moon: The Ballad of Leila and Lee (2010), The Dark Room (2009), pool [no water] (2009), Caucasian Chalk Circle (2008), Portraits of Modern Evil (2008), The Laramie Project (2007), Falling Petals (2006) and Woyzeck (2006). The Shape of Things, Yellow Moon and Caucasian Chalk Circle all received Equity Guild nominations; Caucasian Chalk Circle won two Equity Guild Awards (Best Director and Best Newcomer), and The Shape of Things won five (Best Production, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Design). In 2011, the HotBed Ensemble was replaced by the Emerging Artists Program (now the Resident Artists Program).
Recent awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Production | Nominee | Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Actor | Arcadia (play) | Scott Sheridan | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Actress | Arcadia | Whitney Richards | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor | Arcadia | Nick Maclaine | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress | Arcadia | Adriane Daff | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Caitlin Beresford-Ord | Yes |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best New Play | The Damned | Reg Cribb | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor | The Damned | Greg McNeill | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress | The Damned | Polly Low | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Production | When The Rain Stops Falling | When The Rain Stops Falling | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Director | When The Rain Stops Falling | Adam Mitchell | Yes |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Actor | When The Rain Stops Falling | Steve Turner | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Actress | When The Rain Stops Falling | Julia Moody | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Actress | When The Rain Stops Falling | Alison van Reeken | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Design | When The Rain Stops Falling | Bryan Woltjen | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Design | The White Divers of Broome | Bruce McKinven | - |
| 2013 | Equity Guild Award for Best Design | The White Divers of Broome | Trent Suidgeest | - |
