There is no doubt that, for once, the right company has been chosen to represent Australia. Firstly it is a group with a convincing track record, not only for discipline and properly researched and presented work, but also for freshness of artistic vision. It is also a company which is likely to benefit from interaction with the performance tradition of another culture. Entr’acte has shown that it can absorb influences from elsewhere without losing its identity.

Paul McGillick, Financial Review,
“Entr’acte upstages politicians”, Friday, April 24, 1987

Artistic Directors Elisabeth Burke & Pierre Thibaudeau co-founded Entr’acte, arguablythe first non-script-based professional theatre company in settler Australia. Known in 1979 as Sydney Corporeal-Mime Theatre, it changed its name to Entr’acte Theatre Ltd in 1982 when it was incorporated as a not-for-profit company with a board of directors. The artistic directors were both on the board. The company was formed to enable the Artistic Directors to create original work, achieve excellence in theatre craft (choreography and design), commission original compositions when possible, and create tour-ready productions. Twenty years, twenty shows, during which it was highly acclaimed for its visual literacy and theatrical depth.

Post-dramatic before the word gained currency, Entr’acte developed a praxis, grounded in research, that responded to the skills of new collaborators and the needs of the current theatre work. Together, actors, choreographers, musicians, scenographers, poets, designers and dramaturgs devised original full-length performances. These actors behave differently from text-based colleagues – they often manipulate, invert, or interact with the stage set to depict, for example, struggle, mischief or contentment. The performers understood the idea that when an actor stands on stage, all humanity stands up; the audience experiences a shift from passive observation to critical engagement.

The company’s reach was impressive. Entr’acte performed in metropolitan centres and regional towns from Sydney to Perth, and from Cygnet in Tasmania to Townsville in Queensland. Performances were coupled with lectures and workshops for professional performance companies, university departments and amateur groups across Australia.

Entr’acte’s oeuvre, incubated in Australia, was decidedly non-parochial. At times, multi- or bi-lingual, their movement and design-based work was honoured when they became the first theatre company (as distinct from an individual) to receive Cultural Exchange grants (3) from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to work in Indonesia. They also performed and gave workshops in London, Britain, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, Canada and at Tadashi Suzuki’s Toga Festival in Japan.

They were recognised with development and performance grants (theatre, dance, music, literature and touring) from the peak federal and state government bodies.

The archives of the company (yet to be deposited in a library) consist of programs, photos, negatives, film, slides (for on-stage and records), video (for on-stage and records), music composition tapes, production notes, funding applications, publicity, scenography design material, teaching material and more.