The Actors' Company

The Actors’ Company was a co-operative theatre company formed by a group of actors and directors in Sydney, Australia in 1975. It was the first serious attempt at a professional co-operative theatre in that city.

The company's name was inspired by the Actors’ Company founded by Ian McKellen and Edward Petherbridge in the UK in 1972. (The title was again used for an ensemble of actors created by the Sydney Theatre Company which functioned between 2006 and 2008.)

Between 1975 and 1979, the company staged more than 40 productions at various venues in Sydney, many of which then toured New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. The company was established in late 1974 by four actors and directors – Rodney Delaney, Matthew O'Sullivan, Betty Cheal and Lynne Porteous. The fledgling company, with Rodney Delaney and Matthew O'Sullivan as co-artistic directors, secured, for their opening productions, the building in King’s Cross that had been the Nimrod Street Theatre, the Nimrod company having moved to their new space in Belvoir Street, Surrey Hills. The Nimrod Street Theatre had been renamed the Loft. (Currently home to the Griffin Theatre Company, it is now known as the Stables Theatre.)

On Thursday, March 27, 1975 The Actors Company opened their first season. Dubbed a ‘Season of Anger’, it comprised John Osborne's “Look Back in Anger” directed by Rodney Delaney, with Matthew O'Sullivan as Jimmy Porter and Lynne Porteous as Helena and (two days later) “A Taste of Honey” by Shelagh Delaney, directed by Matthew O'Sullivan, with Rodney Delaney as Geoffrey and Betty Cheal as Helen. Neither play had been seen in Sydney for many years. They were performed on alternate nights for six weeks. The season returned a small net profit allowing token fees for the cast and crew. . With the success of this first outing, the group decided on a second season keeping to the same formula of two plays in repertoire, with the same cast where ever possible.

The Loft was no longer available. so the next season was staged in the Village Centre Playhouse, a converted church hall in Paddington. The season comprised the Australian premiere of “The Golden Pathway Annual” by John Harding and John Burrows, and Harold Pinter's “The Caretaker”.

The critics were unanimous in their praise and both productions were picked up by the Arts Council of New South Wales for a seven-week tour of regional centres.

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