Our Story

Slingsby produces and tours original theatre for family audiences and young people aged eight years and over. Founded in 2007, Slingsby is based on Kaurna Meyunna Yerta in Adelaide, South Australia.

Slingsby creates emotionally powerful theatrical experiences that renew wonder in our world and explore the role we each play in building a happy and harmonious society. We are passionate about meaningful storytelling that captivates, challenges, and inspires optimism.  By telling stories of wonder, hardship and hope, Slingsby builds connections and joy within our community. 

Each Slingsby show is an invitation into a magical world. The company’s signature world-worn aesthetic is embedded in each show, transporting audiences to a time and place that is at once familiar and new.

We collaborate with Australia’s finest artists across diverse disciplines and cultivate international theatrical alliances.

Our productions have been presented in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Singapore, Norway, China and India, earning the company a global reputation for excellence in theatre-making for young audiences.  

The company’s first work The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy was an international success and has been performed over 800 times worldwide. Recent works including The Young King and Emil and the Detectives along with our international collaboration The Boy Who Talked to Dogs have further established Slingsby’s standing as an eminent theatre maker.

A brace of local, national, and international awards is a testament to Slingsby’s leadership in the industry and the company’s profound impact on its multi-generational audience. Slingsby’s many accolades include three Ruby Awards, a prestigious Victor Award (People’s Choice) – International Performing Arts for Youth Showcase and a Helpmann Award (Best Presentation for Children).

View a trove of Slingsby productions here. 

Our People

A person with short, side-shaved hair and glasses is wearing a suit jacket and collared shirt, smiling slightly while looking at the camera. The photo is black and white and framed in a circular border.

Andy Packer

CEO & Artistic Director

Andy is an award-winning director of theatre, music theatre and opera. He has also worked as creative producer of multidisciplinary arts programs, creative director of large-scale events and festival director. In 2007 he co-founded Slingsby.

Andy has also directed productions and events for Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, State Opera South Australia, State Theatre Company South Australia, Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide Chamber Singers, Australian String Quartet, Windmill Theatre, Restless Dance, Tutti Ensemble, Rundle Mall Management Authority, the International Astronautical Federation and the World of Wearable Art.

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A woman with shoulder-length hair wearing glasses and a dark top looks directly at the camera with a slight smile, posed against a plain light background.

Karen Vance

Finance & Admin Officer

Karen is an experienced finance and administration professional who has worked across small businesses, non-profit organisations, and arts institutions including Artlink magazine, the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, and SALA. Alongside her administrative and financial expertise, Karen is also a practising visual artist and designer. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management and a Bachelor of Visual Arts.

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Smiling older person with curly hair, wearing a patterned vest over a light shirt, photographed in black and white with a plain background—Quincy Grant exudes warmth and character in this timeless portrait.

Quincy Grant

Composer

Quincy has spent his life being a freelance composer and musician, and written hundreds of works for soloists, chamber ensembles and orchestras that have been performed in many decades of concerts. 

He has written the music for over forty theatre works, for companies all over Australia, including two operas. 

He has played and written for many bands over the decades, in many different styles – the most recent being the despicable gypsy-influenced band Golonka and the folk outfit Miranda Bede. 

He has toured to many countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.   

He is co-director of The Firm, a company that presents concerts each year featuring Australian classical musicians in programs of new Australian music along-side carefully chosen repertoire.

Quincy lives in Adelaide with his dear Anna, and has three children: Arland, Clara and Miranda.

 

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A person with short, curly gray hair and round glasses smiles warmly. They are wearing a dark top, and the background appears to be wooden panels. The photo is black and white and framed in a circular crop.

Wendy Todd

Designer

For Slingsby, Wendy’s work has included The Young KingMan Covets Bird, and The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy (Set & Costume Design), The Boy Who Talked to Dogs and Emil & The Detectives (Set Design) and, most recently, A Concise Compendium of Wonder – The Tree of Light,  The Giant’s Garden, Childhood of the World, (Environment Design).

Wendy’s Set & Costume Design credits include Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Tim Overton/Wickedly Good Productions), The Thing That Matters and Touch & Go (Sally Chance Dance), Seashore (Sally Chance Dance/Dream Big), Vaudeville (Brink Productions/Rory Walker), Land + Sea (Brink Productions), Supernature and North/South (Australian Dance Theatre), The Lighthouse (Patch Theatre), Picaresque (Robyn Archer, Adelaide Festival), Long Tan (Brink Productions/State Theatre Company South Australia), Babyteeth, Blasted and Pornography (State Theatre Company South Australia). Wendy also designed the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s opening, closing and family galas from 2016 to 2018 (Adelaide Festival Centre).

Wendy’s Set, Costume & Lighting Design credits include Symphonie de la Bicyclette (Brink Productions/Hew Parham) and The World Is Looking For You (Control Party).

For Adelaide Festival Centre, Wendy’s event designs include Adelaide Cabaret Festival (Co-designer 2015-2019) and Adelaide Guitar Festival (2016). Late-night club designs for Adelaide Festival include Blinc Bar (Designer, 2015), Lola’s Pergola (Design Assistant/Coordinator 2014), Barrio (Design Coordinator 2012-2013), and Persian Garden (Assistant Designer 2006, 2008). Wendy also designed the biannual Bowerbird Design Markets from 2013 to 2017.

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Our Mission

To lovingly craft original, beautiful, complex, life-affirming, heartfelt and richly rewarding, theatre for adults and young people and to be internationally recognised for:

  • ‘coming of age’ and ‘getting of wisdom’ stories; 
  • exceptional telling of uplifting stories built on inspirational scripts and narratives; 
  • stories that celebrate the beauty of humanity’s journey: life, death, hope and our desires to live rich and meaningful lives; 
  • creating immersive, theatrical worlds; 
  • a unique aesthetic that is complex and at once new and familiar; 
  • cultivating an intimate connection between audience and performers.

Learn about Slingsby’s development processPaths Less Travelled, in our Creative Manifesto.

We are now committed to creating bold new work that challenges the status quo, delivers unforgettable experiences for audiences, and addresses one of the biggest global threats facing generations: the climate emergency.

As a company that aims for social impact on an intergenerational audience, it is incumbent upon Slingsby to reduce its climate impact. A Concise Compendium of Wonder tackles the global climate crisis with urgency and hope, in both theme and practical action.

 

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR WORK

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