 sydney theatre company (stc) is an australian theatre company based in sydney, new south wales. the company performs in the wharf theatre at dawes point in the the rocks area of sydney, as well as the sydney theatre (to be renamed the roslyn packer theatre walsh bay as of march 2015sydney theatre to be renamed) and the sydney opera house drama theatre. ==history==  sydney theatre company was formed in december 1978, following the closure of the old tote theatre company the month before. the then premier, the hon. neville wran, approached elizabeth butcher who had been seconded from the national institute of dramatic art to administer the old tote, and asked her to set up a new state theatre company, to perform in the drama theatre of the sydney opera house. butcher established its legal identity and managerial structure, and proposed the name, sydney theatre company. with john clark (director of nida) as the artistic adviser of the first season, five theatre companies were invited to produce six plays to be presented by stc as the 1979 interim season in the drama theatre. the first production, by the paris company, was a cheery soul, by patrick white, australia's nobel laureate for literature, directed by jim sharman, featuring robyn nevin as miss docker. in june 1979, richard wherrett, then one of nimrod theatre's co-artistic directors, was appointed artistic director of stc to plan and organise activities for the 1980 season. the first stc-produced play was the sunny south, 1 january 1980, by george darrell, with music by terence clarke, directed by richard wherrett, assisted by john gaden. in its early years the company operated out of several rented premises around the city, producing 38 productions in five separate venues. elizabeth butcher, stc administrator, was given the task of finding one location that could house all the activities of the company, and a theatre. after an extensive search, butcher had the vision to propose the derelict walsh bay wharf 4/5 as stc's new home, immediately envisaging the capacity of the building to fulfill all requirements of space, location and additional venue. more than three years of obstacles budgetary and bureaucratic overcome, on 12 september 1983, nsw premier, the hon. neville wran, announced that the state government had approved the expenditure of $3.5 million to finance the re-cycling project. the 60-year old ironbark timber wharf warehouse built to load cargo onto ships tied up alongside, was converted into premises suitable for creating, producing, performing and enjoying theatre, without sacrificing its historical integrity or context. the wharf was offic
Companies_based_in_Sydney Sydney_culture Theatre_companies_in_Australia