Boasting Oscar nominees, beloved household names and emerging talent amongst its alumni, Flinders Drama Centre has this month celebrated 50 years of training Australia’s actors, directors and playwrights.
Established as the first professional acting training program in Adelaide, the inaugural graduates emerged in 1974 with the Centre going on to nurture a host of creatives including household name Noni Hazlehurst AM, Hollywood actor Xavier Samuel, Helpmann Award winning actors Cameron Goodall and Amber McMahon, as well as Oscar-nominated film-maker Scott Hicks.
Alongside global talent, Flinders graduates and staff have also driven the emergence of several important Adelaide theatre companies, including Red Shed Theatre, Brink Productions, Flying Penguin Productions, The Border Project and more recently CRAM Collective.
A unique program upon its establishment, Flinders’ Drama program saw traditional theatre and drama skills taught for the first time at a university, within a university degree.
From the moment Wal Cherry brought his unique brand of inspiration to Flinders as foundation Professor of Drama in 1967, Flinders University has fostered vibrant artistic excellence through its creative arts programs.
Current manager of Flinders Drama Centre and also Course Coordinator of the Bachelor of Performance Dr Christopher Hurrell says capturing this spirit of innovation and embracing bold new Australian works has set the Flinders Drama course apart from traditional acting institutions.
“We have always focused on nurturing the creative minds who will lead the industry into the future,” says Dr Hurrell, who also graduated from the program in 2001.
“Excellence in Drama is not just about doing the work, but learning how to make the work. I know the benefit of that, because it led to my career in theatre that has given me national and international opportunities.
“Flinders’ unique research-and-practice approach, pioneered by Professor Cherry in the 1960s and 1970s, and Professor Emerita Julie Holledge in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, has been revived and secured for the next generation of South Australian emerging artists.”
Following an extensive review in 2020, Flinders launched new Bachelor of Performance degrees this year, responding to the changing needs of the sector in light of emerging trends, technologies and platforms.
“These changes are crucial as there had to be innovation for progress, and for this to occur at Flinders will ensure the dynamic future of Drama in this country,” says Dr Hurrell.
Several events in November helped to celebrate the 50th anniversary, including the 2024 Wal Cherry Lecture, an alumni reception at Flinders city campus and the Flinders Drama Centre 50th anniversary production, presented by the third-year acting students and directed by Dr Hurrell.
2024 Wal Cherry Lecture, Adelaide Festival Centre
In 1982, Drama Centre alumnus Scott Hicks was commissioned by the South Australian Film Corporation to make a one-hour documentary about Jim Sharman’s ground-breaking 1982 Adelaide Festival. The resulting film, The Hall of Mirrors: A Festival, records an Adelaide on the cusp of an explosion of creativity. Scott Hicks went on to earn seven Oscar nominations for Shine, and Jim Sharman remains one of Australian theatre’s most beloved figures and successful exports.
The 2024 Wal Cherry Lecture, a biennial lecture celebrating the legacy of Flinders Drama Centre’s founder, brought together Scott Hicks and Jim Sharman in conversation, following a screening of the original 1982 documentary. Audiences were treated to a rare chance to watch the documentary on the big screen, followed by some of Australia’s most celebrated artists reflecting on their legacies and the role of the Adelaide Festival in driving creative innovation.
This special screening and conversation event was held on the 50th anniversary of Cherry’s Drama Centre production of The Fantasticks, featuring the first cohort of Drama Centre-trained actors, including Noni Hazlehurst, Neil Melville, Tom Considine and Douglas Gautier, which was performed at the newly opened Space Theatre in November 1974.
Prior to the lecture, Flinders’ City Campus also played host to the largest ever reunion of Flinders Drama Centre alumni, celebrating their innovative contributions to South Australia’s performance culture, including to the Adelaide Festival.
See photos from the alumni reception here and the 2024 Wal Cherry Lecture here.
Flinders Drama Centre 50th anniversary production
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht
Matthew Flinders Theatre, Flinders Bedford Park Campus
Flinders Drama Centre 50th anniversary production was presented by third-year actors and directed by Dr Christopher Hurrell. The play saw Brecht’s darkly hilarious parable on the rise of fascism in the 1930s, reimagined by the students of the Flinders Drama Centre to respond to the current ominous moment in world politics.