Having been identified by the Australia Council’s Theatre Board in 2010 as one of only six emerging key organisations, Adelaide based The Border Project are living up to their reputation as an ambitious, innovative company with various upcoming projects and an expanding organisation.

Established in 2002, The Border Project have had a series of extremely successful and critically acclaimed productions to date (Trouble on Planet Earth, Highway Rock ‘n’ Roll Disaster, Vs Macbeth). Recent collaborations with the Windmill Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, and the Adelaide Festival have all contributed to raising the profile of an experimental company whose dynamic, playful and interdisciplinary approach sets us at the forefront of Australian contemporary theatre.

They are currently working on a show called Half Real- an interactive performance that further builds on the success of the innovative Zigzag controller – first seen in the award-winning production of Trouble on Planet Earth, Half Real is co-produced with Country Arts SA’s Local Stages Initiative and will be developed as part of the Varcoe’s Residency in Mount Gambier. The show is touring regional South Australia before heading to the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne for a three-week season as part of the Melbourne Festival from 26 September – 15 October 2011.

The company is also underway with a major new project for 2012, which will mark some of the most exciting work undertaken yet. With inaugural funding from Arts SA’s Festival Commissioning Fund, The Border Project is creating a ground-breaking new work in collaboration with the Adelaide Zoo for the 2012 Adelaide Festival. This ambitious new creation will transform the Zoo into a giant performance installation where the animals become the subject in a unique work of art.

Artistic Director for The Border Project, Sam Haren said:

"This installation performance takes the existing structure of the Zoo – its animals, exhibits, historical spaces and overall layout – and reimagines them to view the animals through a new lens. Investigating the way we represent animals in popular culture, the depth of their importance in our mythology, and what fears they awaken in us, this project is concerned with the conflicted way we see ourselves in relation to other animals and to our own animal instincts."

These upcoming projects characterise The Border Project’s passion to both make theatre that speaks to an audience that have become disconnected from conventional theatre, but also to explore new ways to invigorate the contract between audience and performer in a live event.

In order to mount such a challenging outdoor production, as well as maintaining a programme of regional and national touring shows which currently requires a group of six core artists - one director and five performers who form The Border Project, has required them to expand their core staff in 2011. New Executive Producer, Nichola Miles has joined The Border Project with experience in commercial producing, international touring and expertise in marketing:

“I’m thrilled to be joining The Border Project at such an exciting time. As well as enabling the company to realise some of its more ambitious ideas alongside its core works, I plan to focus on empowering The Border Project to become a sustainable force in the long term and to realise their full potential on a national and international level.”

The Border Project will also be boosted in 2011 by two technical ‘geeks’ – Logan Macdonald and Michael Marner – thanks to the Australia Council’s ‘Geeks in Residence’ program. Between them the pair will assist the company in developing their ongoing engagement with technology and theatre.

This increase in activity and staff has called for relocation to independent new offices at the Peel St Chambers in the heart of the vibrant Adelaide arts district – giving the company a new home befitting its ongoing needs.

The continually growing reputation of the company, and its exciting partnerships with artistically aligned companies and events, inspires The Border Project to create genuinely innovative, risky work into the future and steady organisational expansion is making all this and more, possible.