L to R: Michaela Cantwell, Rory Walker, Ksenja Logos, Bill Allert, David Mealor, Cameron Goodall
THE BEGINNING
Brink Productions began in 1996 when seven young actors identified a gap in the cultural life of South Australia.
Inspired by the great theatre ensembles of the world, Michaela Cantwell, Lizzy Falkland, Victoria Hill, Richard Kelly, David Mealor, John Molloy and Paul Moore shared a vision for a new theatre company that would put great writing and acting at the heart of its collaborative practice.
In 1998, Brink was awarded the South Australian Government’s New Theatre Venture, transforming the organisation from a dedicated collective to a public company limited by guarantee. Between 1996 and 2004 the company produced more than 20 shows. In 2000 Brink presented the world premiere of Howard Barker’s 9-hour epic The Ecstatic Bible, in co-production with his UK company Wrestling School for the Adelaide Festival of Arts.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR APPOINTMENT
In 2004 Chris Drummond was appointed Artistic Director, bringing a vision to create original theatre through collaboration with artists from different disciplines and backgrounds. His productions at Brink have been presented by most major theatre companies in Australia.
In 2008 Brink staged the world premiere of When the Rain Stops Falling by Andrew Bovell, in collaboration with visual artist Hossein Valamanesh, at the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Brink toured the original production nationally in 2009/10 and the play has gone on to have countless new productions around the world. In 2018 Brink staged its acclaimed adaptation of Memorial by Alice Oswald at the Adelaide and Brisbane Festivals and Barbican, London as part of the worldwide Centenary of Armistice commemorations. That same year The Aspirations of Daise Morrow (an adaptation of Patrick White’s Down at the Dump) toured nationally and internationally with sell out seasons at the Galway Festival and 5-star reviews in Edinburgh.
Brink’s plays have entered the canon and school curricula, are the subject of PhDs and have been published here and overseas. A number of Brink’s plays have also received new productions from companies including the Almeida, the Lincoln Center, Teatro Español, Tim Robbins’ The Actors’ Gang, Black Swan Theatre Company and Tasmania Performs. Additionally, Chris is increasingly invited into training facilities such as NIDA, Flinders University and AC Arts to share his process with the next generation of theatre makers.
Chris Drummond resigned as Artistic Director after 19 years in August 2023, but continues to work with Brink on special projects.