Season 2017

I have planned the 2017 season as your loving and committed outgoing Artistic Director of Black Swan. As such, I have chosen to plan the season like a constant gardener. I have pruned to ensure there is space to honour the past, celebrate the present and assist in launching the future. I have planted seeds in the hope that new plants will emerge, offering delight, solace and a healthy sense of carefully managed chaos.

And so the 2017 season is a plethora of possibilities, a joyous garden running wild, but nurtured with love and shaped by experience.

Black Swan was built on daring foundations. A theatre company created to explore Andrew Ross' joyous, aspirational vision of what theatre might become with cross-cultural casting, Australian interpretations of the classics, music, dance and a spattering of new forms profuse with Western Australian imagery. Thanks to Andrew Ross, Black Swan’s identity is infused with a pioneering spirit and a love of collaboration that stretches artists and audiences alike.

I am proud of the role I have played in ensuring Black Swan’s future with our Rio Tinto Black Swan Commissions, our Rio Tinto $20 Tickets, our live broadcasts and our various groundbreaking programs to engage audiences and artists alike. The future of Black Swan State Theatre Company now rests with your new Artistic Director, Clare Watson. Clare will oversee the 2017 season and launch her own directing debut at Black Swan. Clare has chosen a play with the intriguing title: Let the Right One In, which signals an adventurous shift in the company’s programming.

Like any careful gardener, I am sad to leave the garden I have so lovingly tendered, but I know I leave behind a theatre that is rich in talented artists. So push back the gate to the secret garden and discover a magical sanctuary of wild aspirations and hidden treasures.

With great love and gratitude.

KATE CHERRY
Artistic Director