Queensland Theatre Company

The company has a strong history of development programs and has always aimed to encourage artistic growth across the state. There is an emerging artists program, writing program, including the Queensland Premier's Drama Award, and regional partnerships program.

Emphasis is also placed on developing and inspiring young people through the company's education and youth program, with programs including The Scene Project, Youth Ensemble, Theatre Residency Week, Young Playwrights and other master classes. 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 the original 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 David Waters. Many Queenslanders including Babette Stephens and Diane Cilento have worked with the original Queensland Theatre Company during their careers. A large number of Sydney and Melbourne based actors have performed with the company. This has been considered controversial as it has reduced the number of opportunities for Queensland-based actors within the state funded professional theatre.

The foundation Artistic Director was Alan Edwards. He was succeeded in 1988 by Aubrey Mellor, Chris Johnson, Robyn Nevin and Director/playwright Michael Gow. In 2010, Wesley Enoch took over from Michael Gow as Artistic Director and became the first Murri to head a state funded theatre entity in Australia. Other directors have included Gale Edwards, Joe McCallum, Rodney Fisher, Arnie Neeme and Murray Foy. In 2019 it was announced that Artistic Director Sam Strong would be stepping down and that Lee Lewis would succeed him.

The current chair of the company is Elizabeth Jameson.

For almost thirty years the Queensland Theatre Company used the purpose built 600 seat SGIO Theatre in Turbot Street, Brisbane, as their chief venue for productions. In 1996 they moved to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre at South Bank. Queensland Theatre is based in its own complex at South Brisbane. It performs in the much smaller venues than the original SGIO Theatre, named after two well known Brisbane theatre actors, Bille Brown and Diane Cilento. It has in the past performed in the Playhouse Theatre, Cremorne Theatre]] and at one time in the Lyric Theatre, all part of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

Productions have included: many Shakespeare's plays presented in the Roma Street Parkland Amphitheatre (formerly called the Albert Park Amphitheatre), as well in the Lyric Theatre and the Playhouse at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.[2] Other productions have included: Black Diggers, Macbeth (directed by Michael Attenborough), 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. In 2017 the company staged a production of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage starring Sydney-based actors Marta Dusseldorp and her husband Ben Winspear.[3]

• Official website
• Royal Queensland Theatre Company, plays presented until 2001, The Australian Live Performance Database (list incomplete)
• Queensland Theatre Company, plays presented from 2001, The Australian Live Performance Database (list incomplete)