Our story thus far…
It is only fitting that our first blog be about our origins, which go back - as cliche as this might sound - to a dark and dingy little theatre - no longer in existence, unfortunately - in Surry Hills (Sydney), called The Tap Gallery. (The Tap Gallery still operates as an art gallery but it’s iconic little theatre space is no more.)
‘Dingy’ is perhaps too harsh a word - ‘quaint’ would be more like it. There was a small black-box theatre upstairs that seated around 40 and an art gallery downstairs. ‘Back in the day’ (it closed its theatre space in 2014) The Tap Gallery was one of the only places around that provided a legitimate space for independent theatre with its simple but functional, and low cost, facilities.
It was here, at The Tap Gallery, in 2013, that a group of actors banded together to put on Oscar Wilde’s rarely performed Salome. Frances Attard (see below) was the inspiration for this with her exotic looks making her destined to play the role of the capricious princess. Company O Artistic Director, Andrew O’Connell adapted Wilde’s Salome conflating a myriad of Wilde’s characters into two ‘guards’, kind of like a chorus, both of whom commented on what was being played out. O’Connell, himself, played Herod.
Frances Attard and Vivian Tselios in rehearsal for Salome.
Having to come up with a company name in order to register their show at The Tap Gallery, "‘Company O’ was a name that was decided on at the last minute and a name that has stuck! ‘O’ for the surname of the founder, Andrew O’Connell, ‘O’ for Oscar Wilde, the author of the play the company first produced, and ‘O’, we later thought, the circle, symbolising unity!
Company O then had a hiatus until 2015 with Artistic Director, Andrew O’Connell moving back to his hometown, Perth. The company was back on stage at the start of 2016 with Oleanna, by David Mamet, produced for Fringeworld (Perth), in 2016.
Company O followed up with Thom Pain, a Pulitzer-nominated monologue written by Will Eno, and performed by Andrew O’Connell, which was nominated for a Fringeworld Theatre Award in 2017.
In 2018, Company O produced new Australian work. ‘Stuck’, written and directed by Andrew O’Connell, had its world premiere in Perth in March, 2018, and enjoyed another season in September, 2018 at The Sydney Fringe.
2019 saw Company O put on another rarely performed play - Diary of a Madman - based on the short story by Nikolai Gogol, and adapted for the stage by David Holman, Neil Armfield & Geoffrey Rush.
This year, in 2020, thanks largely to how well the ‘COVID’ situation has been managed here in Western Australia, Company O premiered another new Australian work - professional premises - written and directed by Andrew O’Connell and very well received.
Our previous shows can be seen here (scroll down).
Looking ahead, Company O has at least one show planned for 2021 - which we’ll tell you about soon! - as well as offering some unique acting, writing, and directing courses.
Well, let’s stay in touch - here’s to more innovative and exciting theatre!
Please check out our website and don’t be afraid to say hello!
