Discover the small and independent performing arts companies that keep Melbourne and Victorian audiences entertained.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z    ALL


Click to view the company details of 9minds
9minds
A local theatre company that is dedicated to the creation, production and promotion of Australian work.
more ...

Click to view the company details of A is for Atlas
A is for Atlas
A is for Atlas is an independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the collaborative development of Australian artists and arts practices, and to the evolution of our creative community.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Act-O-Matic 3000
Act-O-Matic 3000
The Act-O-Matic 3000 is a talented, hard working actors' company. The Age (May 2007)
more ...

Click to view the company details of Andrea Keller
Andrea Keller
Andrea Keller is a Melbourne-based composer, pianist and improviser. She has released three albums as leader featuring her original compositions and arrangements.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Angus Cerini - Doubletap
Angus Cerini - Doubletap
An inventive company exploring issues of social justice and masculinity.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Antechamber Productions
Antechamber Productions
Brian Lipson and Wendy Lasica have been working together for six years to produce small scale but high profile theatre work.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Anthos Theatre
Anthos Theatre
Anthos pursues an approach to theatre that encourages long-term creative collaborations between artists, delivering work that is fragile and bold, and leaves its audience courageous and inquiring.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Aphids
Aphids
Aphids is a strange creature: independent, non-profit, project-based and committed to artistic risk-taking behaviour. Aphids has been creating and producing collaborative performance projects that combine contemporary music and other art forms.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Arena Theatre Company
Arena Theatre Company
Arena Theatre Company creates dynamic, contemporary performances for young audiences. With a forty-year history, the company is Australia’s longest running producer of theatre for children and young people.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Australian Art Orchestra
Australian Art Orchestra
Led by Artistic Director, Paul Grabowsky, the 20-piece Australian Art Orchestra is a world leader in employing improvisation that ranges freely across styles, traditions and cultures to create truly 21st century music.
more ...

  
Australian Shakespeare Company
The Australian Shakespeare Company presents exciting, accessible and contemporary productions of Shakespeare and other dramatised classics in innovative and unique theatre performances.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Australian Vietnamese Youth Media
Australian Vietnamese Youth Media
Australian Vietnamese Youth Media aims to provide opportunities for Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese young people to learn, share, make and express themselves through various medium such as film, television, theatre, internet and other creative platforms
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Back to Back Theatre
Back to Back Theatre
Back to Back is a company of actors with intellectual disabilities – not constrained by convention, logic or the imperative to be normal.
more ...

Click to view the company details of BalletLab
BalletLab
BalletLab is regarded as one of the most visionary choreographic companies working in Australia today.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Bambuco
Bambuco
Bambuco builds vast structures from bamboo. Each project is proposed as a performance. Bambuco take your public space away from you for a period then return it transformed.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Bettybooke
Bettybooke
(deep) trash theatre. Creating original new works and radical re-workings of classical texts. They fuse live music, visually arresting imagery, choreographic movement and poetic text into dynamic works capable of thrilling, challenging and sometimes infuriating its audience.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Black Hole Theatre
Black Hole Theatre
Black Hole Theatre Inc was formed in 1993 in Melbourne by Paul Newcombe, Cliff Dolliver and Rod Primrose to create cutting edge visual theatre, using puppetry and animation.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Black Lung
Black Lung
The Black Lung is the resident company of The Black Lung Theatre, a curated independent theatre and art space, incorporating resident and visiting companies dedicated to new, experimental and devised theatre.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Blackbird Productions
Blackbird Productions
create & be creative excite & be excited challenge & be challenged
more ...

Click to view the company details of Blue Chair Theatre
Blue Chair Theatre
Prolific producers of quality independent theatre.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Born in a Taxi
Born in a Taxi
Established in Melbourne in 1989, Born in a Taxi produces original physically based works for arts and street theatre festivals, performance seasons, tours internationally and performs at over 100 corporate events each year.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Butterfly Club
Butterfly Club
The Butterfly Club creates and /or hosts cabaret shows that reflect the style of performance that cabaret was originally created for – shows that satirise modern life and enlighten audiences.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Captivation Musicals
Captivation Musicals
Writing and producing new musical theatre works
more ...

Click to view the company details of Chamber Made Opera
Chamber Made Opera
Chamber Made Opera is Australia’s leading development and production house for contemporary opera, music-theatre and cross-genre works.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Christopher Hale Ensemble
Christopher Hale Ensemble
Emerging from the vibrant creative music scene in Melbourne, the Christopher Hale Ensemble has quickly earned a reputation as one the country’s finest and most distinctive improvising groups.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Chunky Move
Chunky Move
Chunky Move constantly seeks to redefine contemporary dance within an ever-evolving Australian culture. The company’s work is diverse in both form and content, including a number of works for the stage, site-specific projects in its home city of Melbourne, and new-media and installation work.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Circus Oz
Circus Oz
Circus Oz is Australia’s anarchic pioneer of contemporary circus.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Commonplace
Commonplace
commonplace is committed to presenting thought-provoking new theatre.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Company In Space
Company In Space
Company in Space are leaders in the field of performance and new technology.
more ...

  
Courthouse Youth Arts Centre
We are the Barwon region’s No.1 venue for youth arts and culture.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Cracked Actors
Cracked Actors
Cracked Actors are an independent theatrical production company founded in 2007 and committed to providing quality and affordable entertainment for everybody.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Dancehouse
Dancehouse
WELCOME TO DANCEHOUSE, Australia's premier centre for contemporary dance, combining research, training and performance.
more ...

Click to view the company details of David Chesworth Ensemble
David Chesworth Ensemble
David Chesworth Ensemble features a vast array of orchestral and exotic instruments in a feast of striking, scraping, blowing, shaking, pushing, pulling and plucking.
more ...

Click to view the company details of David Corbet
David Corbet
David Corbet is a Melbourne-based multidisciplinary artist working primarily in dance and music. He has developed and created work as a musician, composer, dancer, choreographer, director and editor.
more ...

  
Dezfouli/Bollinger Productions
Northcote playwright Liza Dezfouli and sad-core country crooner t.k. bollinger (Fairfield) combine their talents to create works that are honestly innovative. More than musicals or cabaret, their productions make for unusual and deeply satisfying theatre. Their current production is Festina Lente/Hasten Slowly.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Dislocate
Dislocate
Dislocate was born out of the desire to combine the exciting form of circus with the intricacies of language and the humanity of theatre. On the street, in theatres and in the air, Dislocate has spellbound audiences worldwide.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Duo Sol
Duo Sol
Recognised as one of Australia’s premiere ensembles, the multi-award winning Duo Sol, Caroline Almonte (piano) and Miki Tsunoda (violin), perform with exhilarating energy, technical virtuosity and great sensuality, creating a remarkable rapport with the audience.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Eagle's Nest Theatre
Eagle's Nest Theatre
Eagle's Nest Theatre is one of Melbourne's most prolific unfunded theatre companies. It is a not-for-profit cultural organisation dedicated to producing the work of emerging and more established artists.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Echelon Productions
Echelon Productions
Echelon Productions is a theatre production company that aims to provide greater opportunities for independent theatre throughout Australia.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Eleventh Hour
Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour began because: William Henderson and Anne Thompson wanted to work over time with an ensemble of artists who shared both their fascination with the possibilities of language and theatre space and their wish to rediscover a genuine process of composition in the theatre.
more ...

  
Ellis Prater Productions
EPP's desire is to create interesting, accessible theatre that crosses generations and brings new audiences to the theatre.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Ennio Morricone Experience
Ennio Morricone Experience
The members of The Ennio Morricone Experience, Patrick Cronin, Graeme Leak, Dan Witton, David Hewitt and Boris Conley, are multi-arts performers with strong backgrounds in theatre, comedy, contemporary dance, film and a plethora of musical styles. They share an interest in new music, sound effects and unusual performance making.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Fenestra Theatre Productions
Fenestra Theatre Productions
Creating and mentoring performance and events.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Finucane & Smith
Finucane & Smith
Moira Finucane is one of Australia’s most extraordinary performance artists. Her collaboration with award winning theatre creator and director Jackie Smith has created the signature work of Finucane & Smith.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Fly-On-The-Wall Theatre
Fly-On-The-Wall Theatre
Award-winning Fly-On-The-Wall Theatre is one of Australia’s most distinctive and popular young theatre producers. No other theatre company in Melbourne, perhaps Australia, lavishes such attention on aesthetic and mise-en-scene.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Flying Fruit Fly Circus
Flying Fruit Fly Circus
Albury-Wodonga’s Flying Fruit Fly Circus has established itself as one of the world’s premier youth performing arts companies.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Full Dress Productions
Full Dress Productions
Full Dress Productions is a Melbourne-based, independent theatre production company which produces unique, sustainable performing arts projects to engage, inform and entertain audiences across Australia.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Green Cyc Productions
Green Cyc Productions
Green Cyc Productions endeavours to produce innovative and exciting theatre for a modern audience. Green Cyc's core work is with Shakespeare, but has recently ventured into the genre of children's theatre.
more ...

top of page
  
Hayloft Project
The Hayloft is a theatre laboratory. Each Project is based on a series of questions and hypotheses; investigations, not only into our chosen subject matter, but also interrogations of the form of theatre itself.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Helen Herbertson
Helen Herbertson
Melbourne-based performer, choreographer and creative collaborator Helen Herbertson’s imaginative and highly theatrical work regularly presents in Australian and overseas festivals.
more ...

Click to view the company details of HotHouse Theatre
HotHouse Theatre
HotHouse Theatre is the largest and most successful theatre company in regional Australia.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Hoy Polloy
Hoy Polloy
Hoy Polloy is an independent Melbourne theatre company dedicated to producing contemporary theatre that will resonate, challenge and entertain audiences.
more ...

Click to view the company details of IRAA Theatre
IRAA Theatre
Founded in Rome in 1978, IRAA Theatre has toured its productions in 18 countries on four continents. In the last five years Renato Cuocolo and Roberta Bosetti have been more interested in performance as an art as well as installation, where there is an element of life and theatre overlapping.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Ilbijerri
Ilbijerri
Ilbijerri is the longest-running Indigenous theatre organisation in Australia.
more ...

top of page
  
Impro Melbourne
Impro Melbourne is Victoria's premier improvisational theatre company performing in theatre venues around Melbourne.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Impro Melbourne Inc
Impro Melbourne Inc
Impro Melbourne Inc is an improvisation- based theatre company performing in venues across Melbourne since 1996. Shows include Theatresports™, comedy-based improvisation and genre based long form plays - all improvised.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Interior theatre
Interior theatre
Formed by two theatre-maker/performers in 2004, interior theatre is most interested in exploring the smaller things in life that cannot be explained in words, and the audience's interaction with performers in intimate environments.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Josephine Fisher
Josephine Fisher
Actor, writer,singer and independent theatre producer.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Kage
Kage
Kage is one of Australia’s leading contemporary physical theatre companies. The award-winning company was formed in 1996 as a platform for the creative partnership of Kate Denborough and Gerard Van Dyck.
more ...

Click to view the company details of KumQuat Theatre
KumQuat Theatre
Two redheads - a lesbian and a jew walk into a bar...
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of La Mama Theatre
La Mama Theatre
La Mama was established in 1967 to nurture new Australian theatre practice and has since played a vital role in the development of the Australian dramatic voice.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Little Ones Theatre
Little Ones Theatre
Little Ones Theatre is an ensemble of theatre-makers encompassing writers, directors, actors, and designers dedicated to bringing original, tender, and soulful Australian work to Melbourne stages. We want to make theatre with heart.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Lucy Guerin Inc.
Lucy Guerin Inc.
Lucy Guerin Inc is based in Melbourne and is committed to developing and touring new dance works with a unique movement sensibility.
more ...

  
Lunchtime Theatre
Lunchtime Theatre creates short 30-40 minute theatre and cabaret pieces designed for the lunch break. Melbourne directors, designers, actors and writers working together.
more ...

  
Lyric Opera of Melbourne
Presenting an eclectic mix of operas to dazzle, challenge and entertain.
more ...

  
Magnormos
Magnormos seeks to fill a void in musical theatre development in Australia - giving voice to unsung (or rarely sung) musical theatre material, and providing a variety of platforms for its further evolution.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Malthouse Theatre
Malthouse Theatre
Malthouse Theatre is dedicated to building on Playbox Theatre’s three decades of leadership in the nation’s cultural and imaginative life through recognising, and being alive to, the changing dynamics of theatre and theatre practice in contest with the contemporary imagination.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Mayhem Productions
Mayhem Productions
Producing solo cabaret shows for Miss K in Melbourne and touring Australia wide along with Mayhem Cabarets every now and again.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Melbourne French Theatre Inc.
Melbourne French Theatre Inc.
MFT promotes cross-fertilisation bridging Australian and French-speaking cultures through theatrical means.
more ...

  
Melbourne Fringe
Melbourne Fringe was founded in 1982 and is an umbrella organisation supporting and advising a large number of independently-run arts companies, artists and events.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Melbourne Playback Theatre Company
Melbourne Playback Theatre Company
Formed in 1981, Melbourne Playback Theatre's talented ensemble of professional actors and musicicians have engaged a wide range of audiences with this unique form of improvised theatre bringing the audience's personal stories to life.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Melbourne Workers Theatre
Melbourne Workers Theatre
For the past 17 years, Melbourne Workers Theatre (MWT) has created provocative and inspiring new Australian work celebrating cultural diversity and class consciousness.
more ...

top of page
  
Mimic Mass
In Mimic Mass performances sound and image come together and dissipate in a continual cycle of transitory and recalled moments.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Museum of Modern Oddities
Museum of Modern Oddities
The Museum of Modern Oddities (MoMO) is an ephemeral museum created, collected and curated by Katy Bowman and Neil Thomas in collaboration with local artists.
more ...

Click to view the company details of NICA
NICA
The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) is Australia’s centre of excellence and innovation in contemporary circus arts. NICA is dedicated to developing and nurturing talented young contemporary circus performers via a three year degree, the Bachelor of Circus Arts. NICA also offers short courses, social circus workshops, training programs and houses the Circa NICA agency to service all your circus entertainment needs.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Natalie Cursio
Natalie Cursio
Natalie Cursio is an independent choreographer creating primarily live performance work but also exploring dance in the context of public space, film, photography and fashion.
more ...

  
National Institute of Circus Arts
NICA is Australia's centre of excellence for professional training in contemporary circus arts.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Not Yet It's Difficult
Not Yet It's Difficult
Not Yet It's Difficult has a unique presence in Australia’s contemporary performing arts culture as a research unit, a producer of industry development programs and contemporary events maker.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Omniprop Productions
Omniprop Productions
What happens when a bunch of classics scholars decide to stage the most ancient plays in existence?
more ...

  
Opposable Thumbs
Opposable Thumbs is the collaboration of three of Australia’s brightest young circus and sideshow artists - Lilikoi Kaos, Manx & Gordo Gamsby.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Panther
Panther
Working across improvisation, documentary and research into cultural trends, Panther create immersive and intimate performance environments in response to social events and happenings
more ...

Click to view the company details of Peepshow Inc
Peepshow Inc
Peepshow Inc combines visual and physical theatre with puppetry to create unique image-based theatre.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Petty Traffikers Inc.
Petty Traffikers Inc.
An award-winning company committed to the theatrical re-interpretation of Australia's literary heritage. Critically acclaimed for their robust, energetic adaptations of CJ Dennis, Henry Lawson and Shakespeare among others.
more ...

Click to view the company details of PipeDream
PipeDream
Pipe-Dream. (Noun) 1. A pipe dream is a fantastic hope that is generally regarded as being nearly impossible. Such ideas usually need events to flow in just the right direction to be realized, as a plumbing pipe might. 2. A fantastic notion or vain hope. [From the fantasies induced by smoking a pipe of opium.]
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Platform Youth Theatre
Platform Youth Theatre
Platform Youth Theatre strives to create innovative, original theatre of high calibre by people aged 16 to 26 from all backgrounds and abilities through an emotionally and physically empowering process.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Polyglot Puppet Theatre
Polyglot Puppet Theatre
Polyglot is recognised nationally and internationally for making unique theatrical events which explode the predictable, invite the impossible and capsize our view of the world.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Post
Post
post devise new work that is totally radical.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Ranters Theatre
Ranters Theatre
Established in 1994, Ranters Theatre is committed to producing contemporary, text-based theatre that is pared-back, raw, and immediate. The approach focuses on stripping away the artifice of acting in order to release unconscious human behaviour.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Red Stitch Actors' Theatre
Red Stitch Actors' Theatre
Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre is an independent theatre company established in 2001 by actor/producer Vincent Miller. In its first three years Red Stitch Actors' Theatre has given more than 500 performances of over 20 outstanding international plays not previously seen in Melbourne.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Ros Warby
Ros Warby
Ros Warby is a Melbourne-based dancer and choreographer. Her solo work has been presented in Australia, Europe and the USA to critical acclaim
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Running Blind
Running Blind
Running Blind is a Melbourne based company, dedicated to creating politically charged, cross-platform performance installations.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Sanctum Theatre
Sanctum Theatre
Sanctum Theatre is a collaboration of award-winning practitioners of puppetry, performance, visual and sound art.
more ...

  
Shy Tiger Productions
Shy Tiger presents thought-provoking, quality theatre for a wide general audience that is entertaining, relevant and accessible to contemporary audiences.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Simon Ellis
Simon Ellis
Melbourne independent performance maker specialising in dance, movement and media-based projects.
more ...

  
Sky Works
Circus acts for festivals and events – Asphyxia performs hula hoops, magic, sign language, ladders, clown characters and more…
more ...

Click to view the company details of Snuff Puppets
Snuff Puppets
Snuff Puppets are a unique phenomenon: a company that directly challenges both puppetry and performance by producing works of extraordinary scope and epic proportions.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Soubrettes
Soubrettes
Sassy, intelligent and very funny cabaret. The Soubrettes (Alice Carter and Tania Kyriakou) tantalise audiences with a dark and saucy night of intelligent satire and hilarious songs.
more ...

Click to view the company details of St Martins Youth Arts Centre
St Martins Youth Arts Centre
Melbourne's home of young and emerging theatre makers.
more ...

Click to view the company details of State of Flux
State of Flux
State of Flux is a Melbourne dance company that has been teaching, performing and researching for the past decade.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Store Room
Store Room
The Store Room is committed to the development and presentation of Melbourne's finest independent theatre and theatre makers.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Strange Fruit
Strange Fruit
Since 1994, Strange Fruit has specialised in large-scale, outdoor public performance that combines sculpture and installation with circus and dance, with a theatricality that is uniquely its own.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Stuck Pigs Squealing
Stuck Pigs Squealing
Since its establishment in 2001, Stuck Pigs Squealing has explored themes of love, desire, power and memory through the playful re-examination of classic texts.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of Suitcase Royale
Suitcase Royale
In a world shrouded in the pitch darkness of war and political strife, the Suitcase Royale stands as a luminescent flashbulb of truth exploding before our eyes.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Tashmadada
Tashmadada
Tashmadada is a contemporary performance company committed to bringing together arts practitioners, as well as providing a forum for discussion about the arts.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Theatre @ risk
Theatre @ risk
"Yet again, Theatre@risk occupies the cutting edge of contemporary Melbourne theatre" - The Age. Theatre @ Risk is brave, inventive and exciting theatre.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Theatre in decay
Theatre in decay
Theatre in decay has risen to become one of Melbourne’s best known independent theatre companies, producing original shows in venues such as the Store Room, La Mama, Theatreworks, and pubs, subways, hotel bedrooms, city rooftops, alleys and inside parked cars.
more ...

  
Think C.O.N.T.E.M.P.
Promoting Independant Contemporary Artists
more ...

Click to view the company details of Three to a Room
Three to a Room
Three To A Room is an exciting new Melbourne-based theatre company, founded by actors for actors, with a view to creating artistic opportunities for ourselves and our peers, and to showcase the work of up-and-coming playwrights on a national and international stage.
more ...

top of page
  
Two Blue Cherries
Two Blue Cherries is an independent Melbourne theatre company dedicated to the development of Australian theatre.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Urban Dream Capsule
Urban Dream Capsule
Since its groundbreaking debut at the 1996 Melbourne Festival, The Urban Dream Capsule has been presented at major festivals in Gent, Galway, Wellington, Chicago, Montreal, London, Perth, Sao Paulo and Singapore to widespread critical acclaim.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Venture Capital Theatre
Venture Capital Theatre
Venture Capital Theatre is dedicated to creating theatre that reaches across artistic borders and steals for the good of the art.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Walking Into Bars
Walking Into Bars
Walking into Bars is a group passionate about creating new pieces of independent theatre. We only perform and develop contemporary Australasian works.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Welcome Stranger
Welcome Stranger
Welcome Stranger was established in 2002 by a group of Performing Arts graduates from Monash University. It was established as a performance group to create challenging work not necessarily confined to the theatre in its influences or outcomes.
more ...

  
White Whale Theatre
Northcote-based theatre company specialising in groundbreaking new Australian work.
more ...

top of page
Click to view the company details of WishingWell Productions
WishingWell Productions
WishingWell Productions is a new independent theatre company that aims to produce quality theatre that is fun, exciting and poignant, and that has relevance to, though not exclusively, the queer community.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Women's Circus
Women's Circus
The Women's Circus is known for making adventurous, large-scale performances in unusual places.
more ...

Click to view the company details of X:machine productions
X:machine productions
x:machine is a fluid ensemble of artists with a collaborative approach to performance, technology and the role of the audience.
more ...

Click to view the company details of Yumi Umiumare
Yumi Umiumare
Born in Hyogo, Japan, Yumi is a Japanese butoh dancer and the creator of original butoh cabaret works.
more ...

Click to view the details of Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School
Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School
Dr Sketchy's is what happens when cabaret meets art school. The perfect antidote for boring, typical art classes.

more ...

Click to view the details of The IMPRO CAVE 08
The IMPRO CAVE 08
Cap off your weekend with a night of hilarious spontaneous theatre!

more ...

Click to view the details of The Late Henry Moss
The Late Henry Moss
Following on from highly successful productions at Chapel Off Chapel in 2007, Human Sacrifice Theatre brings you a new play by Sam Shepard - The Late Henry Moss.

more ...