Brink Productions Reveals Stephen Nicolazzo as New Artistic Director

Brink Productions has announced the appointment of talented theatre maker Stephen Nicolazzo as the new Artistic Director. Stephen is a theatre director, dramaturg and creator and works across theatre, comedy, dance and contemporary performance.

Most recently Stephen was Co-Artistic Director of Western Edge and is a member of the Associate Artist Advisory Panel at Melbourne Theatre Company under the Artistic Direction of Anne Louise Sarks. He was the founder and Artistic Director of Little Ones Theatre, an independent company focused on innovative queer theatre-making.

Stephen is a Green Room Award winner for Best Direction (The Happy Prince) and has been nominated a further three times (Psycho Beach Party, Dracula, and The Moors). His works have won 12 Green Room Awards and been nominated for a total of 41 since 2012.

In taking on the role, Stephen says “I am truly thrilled to be taking on the role of Artistic Director with Brink. I cannot wait to be a part of its future and to honour its legacy as one of this country’s leading independent theatre companies. It is a rare thing, to be able to lead with an independent voice and I do not take that privilege and opportunity lightly. It is a bloody gift.  A gift that Brink have managed to constantly keep vibrant, challenging, beautiful, and held each time they have made work. And I am just so very moved to be part of that.

I want to speak to this diversity of experience whenever I make a work. I want to speak to those unseen. I want to share battle scars with audiences and artists, and present this with fire, fury, and compassion. No holding back. Ever. And of course, always wanting it to entertain and break some hearts. We have the opportunity, as Australian practitioners, to present diverse lived experiences in a variety of gut-bursting theatrical forms. And this is what I hope to bring to Brink’s next chapter of story-telling.”

Brink’s Chair Trish Hansen said “After an extensive and rigorous recruitment process, led by the excellent REA consulting team, the Board of Brink are very excited to be appointing Stephen to lead the artistic vision and direction of the company. Building on Chris Drummond's phenomenal legacy, Stephen's reputation for masterful, unique and provocative theatre making will appeal to Brink's insatiably curious, loyal audiences while stimulating and attracting new ones. Stephen also brings vast experience in company management along with his strong reputation and trusted national networks. We are confident that he will make a vital contribution to the South Australian performing arts ecology and beyond.”  

Minister for the Arts, the Hon Andrea Michaels MP has also said “Congratulations to Stephen on his appointment as the new Artistic Director of Brink Productions. He brings a wealth of experience to the role and we look forward to working with him to deliver fantastic theatre productions for South Australia.” 

Stephen will commence his role in a part time capacity from December 2023 and will join the team full time in April 2024.

"A director whose name every theatre lover should commit to memory is Stephen Nicolazzo... theatre craft at its most masterful. Nicolazzo is somehow capable of simultaneously summoning the savage and the sublime, revealing wrought, raging truths, and dark, sexual impulses, wrapped in the smoothest satin" Maxim Boon, The Music