STC Announces Surplus in 2013

At its Annual General Meeting today (May 19, 2014), Sydney Theatre Company (STC) announced an operating profit of $431,000 for 2013, on a turnover of $35M.

Releasing the Company’s Annual Report, Chairman David Gonski said: “The 2013 program, the last by Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett as STC’s Co-Artistic Directors, proved to be enormously successful in both artistic and commercial terms, attracting rave reviews and extraordinary attendances across the year.”

289,338 tickets were sold for the sixteen seasons presented in the Company’s four Sydney venues, with a further 29,581 attendances for touring shows in Western Sydney, regional NSW and interstate.

The season included nine new Australian works, including the world premieres of The Secret River, Vere (Faith), Fury, Super Discount, Storm Boy, Dance Better at Parties and Little Mercy in addition to Benedict Andrews’ and Andrew Upton’s new adaptation of Genet’s The Maids.

2013 also saw:

•   The launch of Suncorp Twenties, a scheme providing $20 tickets to all performances (except opening nights), sponsored by Suncorp

•   A doubling of STC’s School Drama program, a partnership with The University of Sydney that provides primary teacher professional development in utilising drama-based strategies to enhance literacy outcomes in primary education – 52 teachers in metropolitan and outer Sydney, regional NSW and, for the first time, in South Australia courtesy of a partnership with State Theatre Company of South Australia and Flinders University

•   The signing of long term leases on the Company’s Walsh Bay premises (at The Wharf and Sydney Theatre), allowing the Company to develop long term plans to renew facilities as The Wharf reaches its 30th year as a theatre complex in 2014

•   The largest single philanthropic gift to an Australian performing arts company when the Packer family and the Crown Foundation donated $15M towards STC’s capital fund

•   An increase in general donations of 15%

•   An increase in subscriber numbers of 3733, to 16,922 
“The strong artistic program was backed up by great performance across the business,” says Executive Director Patrick McIntyre. “The investments made behind the scenes over the last couple of years are paying off.” 
“We are particularly proud of the efficiency of the organisation. In 2013, our base recurrent subsidies from Federal and State governments represented 7% of our budget, and more than 100% of these subsidies were spent directly on performers’ wages and fees to other creative artists, not including the costs of new play commissions, readings and workshops, and in-house artistic staff.” 

From media release.

Image: Trevor Jamieson, Miranda Tapsell and Iain Grandage in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Secret River © Heidrun Löhr