Season 2026 Foreword by Dianne Toulson

As I write this, my final season foreword for Theatre Works, I am filled with a deep mix of pride, gratitude, and a sense of completion. After eight years as Executive Director, I will be stepping down in July 2026. Announcing this with a long lead time allows for a careful, considered transition (the kind of transition this organisation deserves) and ensures that the complex, multi-faceted work of leading Theatre Works can be handed over with clarity, stability, and care.

When I joined Theatre Works, the organisation was facing the very real possibility of closure. What has happened since is nothing short of transformational; not because of any single person, but because of the artists, staff, board members, partners, donors, and audiences who refused to let this place fade. Together, we rebuilt the organisation’s foundations and then pushed far beyond what seemed possible.

In 2025, we achieved the highest box office results in Theatre Works’ 45-year history, a more than 50% increase on any previous year. That achievement belongs to every artist who took a creative risk, every staff member who worked beyond their remit, and every audience member who chose to spend an evening with us.

The 2026 season represents the pinnacle of this collective effort. It is the most expansive, ambitious and inclusive program I have ever had the privilege to build. Two works that have been personal passion projects for me will tour nationally, taking stories made here in St Kilda to audiences across the country. Three productions will feature on the VCE curriculum, ensuring that students engage with bold, artist-led Australian theatre that speaks to their world. Our stages - both the Acland Street Main Stage and our beloved Explosives Factory - will host a program that spans debut creators to master storytellers, reflecting an artistic community that is as wide and diverse as Melbourne itself.

But the work has not only been artistic. The physical transformation of our spaces has reshaped who we are. The main venue now has the infrastructure and technical capacity that artists have deserved for decades. And the creation of the Explosives Factory, from a dusty shell into a living, breathing hub for development and performance, remains one of the proudest achievements of my career. Watching artists claim that space, fill it, transform it, and make it their own has been one of the quiet joys of these years.

This job has been hard. It has been beautiful. It has broken me open more than once, and it has also rebuilt parts of me I didn’t know were lost. Everything Theatre Works has achieved has been a shared effort between artists, staff, board, partners, donors, and audiences. I carry all of you with me as I step toward the next chapter.

For now, though, I leave you with the 2026 season: a celebration, a culmination, and a love letter to what independent theatre can be.

Here’s to the future and to the extraordinary artists who will shape it.

EXPLORE SEASON 2026