The company in it's current form began life as Shakespeare Under the Stars in 1987 under the direction of Glenn Elston, who pioneered the experience of outdoor theatre in Australia. Glenn joined the Australian Shakespeare Company in 1998 as Artistic Director and Producer. He has since developed the company into Australia’s largest independent theatre company.Over the last thirty-years Glenn’s award winning annual outdoor productions of William Shakespeare’s texts and The Wind in the Willows have played to over a million people within Australia.The Australian Shakespeare Company performs and tours from regional cities, to remote and outback settings.
Performance spaces range from Melbourne and Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens to Kew Gardens and Beswick Falls in the Northern Territory. Audiences include families, seniors, tourists, students and young professionals, all of whom experience the magic of outdoor performances with some of Australia’s finest professional performers and creative artists.Although best known for performances in parks and gardens, the Australian Shakespeare Company has also created and continues to create extraordinary productions for a range of locations that are not only outdoors.
Productions previously have been site specific and adapted for particular communities and occasions.In 2010 the company launched the Young Bards education programme for 7 to 18 year-olds. With this programme the Australian Shakespeare Company extends its vision to continue to develop exciting, contemporary theatre produced the way Shakespeare intended; unshackled from traditional constraints, accessible and above all entertaining for everyone.
The Australian Shakespeare Company was founded in 1982 by British actor and director Neale Warrington, with co-founders Ivan Calnin, Laurence Balshaw-Blake, David Peake, Phillip Beckensall, Barry Robinson, Barry Berger and Rex Perry. Under the Artistic Directorship of Neale Warrington, activities included numerous Shakespeare productions in Melbourne and regional Victoria. A significant achievement during this period was the establishment of the Shakespeare on the River Festival in 1992 at Stratford in Victoria. This annual festival has played an important creative role in rural Victoria, growing to include over 20 different events over a two and a half week period.
The Australian Shakespeare Company’s work and tours have been supported by the Australia Council and Playing Australia, as well as generous in-kind support from corporate organisations.
Glenn Elston OAM, Artistic Director of the Australian Shakespeare Company, has redefined the theatre landscape by pioneering outdoor, family-friendly performances that have become a cherished summer tradition for over thirty-eight years.
Under his visionary leadership, the company has expanded from a modest group of 12 in 1987 to the largest independent theatre company in Australia.Glenn’s directorial brilliance is evident in his wide-ranging repertoire of Shakespearean classics—A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, Henry IV Part 1, Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, and As You Like It. Beyond Shakespeare, he has also crafted innovative stage adaptations including The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, Jungle Book – The Next Chapter, Toad’s Birthday Party, Caribbean Pirates at the Polly Woodside, Alice in Never Neverland, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and a Picnic with Cole Porter.
For 16 years, he has co-presented Walking with Spirits—a moving tribute to the ancient Aboriginal Corroboree tradition at Malkgulumbu (Beswick Falls)—and produced two major tours through Northern Australia, further broadening his impact on the nation’s cultural fabric.Glenn’s collaborative ventures include producing and co-producing an array of local, national, and international shows such as The Sir George Martin in Concert, David Strassman, Hair – The Musical, Two Up with Wendy Stapleton and Glenn Shorrock, Julian Clary, Piaf, Torch Song Trilogy, and Barbara Cook.
His children’s production, Jungle Book The Concert Show, not only toured regional Australia but also featured at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, garnering critical acclaim with six five-star reviews for Noel Tovey’s Little Black Bastard presentation.In recognition of his profound influence on Melbourne’s cultural profile, the Melbourne City Council awarded him a prestigious Melbourne Award in 2014.
Since 2016, Glenn has further expanded his artistic footprint internationally by producing and directing at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, with productions including The Wind in the Willows, Tinkerbell and The Dream Fairies, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Alice in Wonderland.
