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An analysis of the triennially funded theatre organisations of the theatre board of the Australia Council

A detailed analysis of the Theatre Board's triennially-funded companies over the period 1998-2002.

The report was commissioned by the Theatre Board and researched and written by Ian Roberts with associates Sandra Robertson, Michael Perry and Alison Richards, to examine the strengths and vulnerabilities of these companies and their contribution to Australian culture.

Overall, the report finds that the triennial companies make a very significant and demonstrable contribution to Australian culture.

They create most of the new, innovative work for the Australian theatre
They are the biggest international exporters of Australian theatre
They feed the wider industry with creative talent, ideas and styles of production
They provide significant access for the public to the Australian theatre and have an audience largely different from the major theatre companies but of a similar size

However:

the trend is that their costs will overtake their revenue within two years
they are increasingly reliant on non-core funding to finance their core business output - new innovative theatre, and
their capacity to further increase earned and other income is limited.