The SA State Theatre Company has announced its 2016 season program at a spectacular preview launch featuring actress Lisa McCune, who will appear in the play Machu Picchu, which is sponsored by Flinders.

In addition to its role as a presenting partner of the STC, the University has numerous ties to the State’s premier theatre company.

Artistic Director Geordie Brookman is a Flinders drama graduate, as is Resident Director Nescha Jelk, who will direct next year’s performances of Gorgon and Straight White Men.

Also included in the program is an adaptation of the classic Moliere comedy Tartuffe by award-winning playwright and Flinders alumnus Philip Kavanagh.

Flinders University’s Strategic Professor of Creative Arts, Julian Meyrick, says the new program reveals a wonderfully diverse, uniformly strong season, with some stand-out new Australian work.

“Machu Picchu by Sue Smith is a highlight, and so is Things I Know to be True by Andrew Bovell and co-presented with the UK company, Frantic Assembly,” Professor Meyrick said.

“Paul Kapsis in Rumpelstiltskin is bound be imaginatively audacious and no doubt hilarious.  The lighter tone in the season is appealing, but there’s a lovely balance too. Look out for the add-ons, particularly Red Sky Morning and The Red Cross Letters.

“I am personally looking forward to Elena Carapetis’s Gorgon.  Her play at the Bakehouse earlier this year, The Good Son, marked her out as South Australian playwriting talent.  Overall, it’s a terrific program: muscular, varied and rich in theatrical talent.”