Our vision: A world where theatre is reimagined and audiences are inspired.
Our mission: To bring new stories to the stage with a focus on women-driven and Australian works.
Our values: Empathy, inclusion and originality
New Ghosts Theatre Company was founded in Perth in 2015 by Artistic Director Lucy Clements. The name “New Ghosts” comes from the philosophy that our concept of space is influenced by the events we have seen take place within them. In each space we activate, New Ghosts Theatre Company would acknowledge the history of story telling and performance that came before us there, while being dedicated to creating new stories and experiences.
Originally created as a platform to showcase Lucy’s own play, Fracture, New Ghosts Theatre Company would soon grow to be much larger. Relocated herself and the company to Sydney in 2016, Lucy expanded her passion and expertise for directing new Australian work when she worked with local playwrights Sam O’Sullivan and Katy Warner, which resulted in their two new plays, The Wind in the Underground and Paper Doll respectively. Lucy kept her ties with Perth, bringing both shows back to Perth’s FRINGEWORLD festival, where they performed to sold-out audiences.
As Lucy continued to direct more local and international plays, she noticed a trend in the audition room. On average, Lucy would see four women for every one man in auditions, despite having less roles to offer them. To address this, she founded the IGNITE Collective – a women-led, inclusive collective of theatre makers from across the nation, formed with the mission of putting new women-driven stories on Australian stages.
To date, NGTC has presented four Australian and seven World Premiere plays – five of which were through the IGNITE Collective – which have played on stages across Perth, Sydney and Darwin. Together, these productions have showcased over 100 Australian theatre makers, and created 30 new stage roles for young female performers.
In 2022, NGTC’s production of Albion won Best Independent Production at the Sydney Theatre Awards, with Lucy also winning Best Direction of an Independent Production for the same play.
In 2020, New Ghosts incorporated and received Charity status with the ACNC. NGTC is currently run by a Board of Directors. Learn more about the NGTC Board here.
Photo credit David Hooley
NEW GHOSTS THEATRE COMPANY 