La Boite hits the big time
La Boite Theatre is now one of our national performing arts companies after recognition and secure funding thanks to an agreement between the Queensland government and the feds.
The La Boite team is thrilled to now be considered a major national outfit with the funding that goes with it
Australia’s oldest continuing theatre company, Brisbane’s La Boite Theatre is hitting the big time. This Queensland company has just secured funding through the National Performing Arts Framework (NPAF) through a joint agreement between the Queensland Government and the Federal Government.
The company celebrates its 100th year in 2025 and this funding outcome will provide La Boite with increased stability, leveraging State Government investment to access additional new Federal investment as it transitions from the federal government’s four-year Organisations Fund.
Administered by Creative Australia, the NPAPF is a tripartite agreement that supports nationally significant performing arts companies with combined, multi-year funding.
La Boite joins the Partnership Framework as the seventh Queensland partnership organisation, alongside Queensland Ballet, Opera Queensland, Queensland Theatre, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Circa and Dancenorth and one of two new entrants to the framework nationally.
In a win for Queensland, other local arts organisations Circa and Dancenorth Australia have also secured uplifts through the framework from 2025-2028 which, coupled with additional investment into La Boite, will grow Federal Government investment in Queensland arts companies by $590,000 per annum over the forward four years.
Housed in the iconic Roundhouse Theatre at Kelvin Grove, the country’s only purpose-built theatre-in-the round, La Boite plays a crucial role in the local and national theatre sector.
Led by Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer Courtney Stewart, La Boite presents bold new work through an annual program of theatre productions, touring and its HWY festival of new and developing work.
The company provides significant employment and career development for artists and arts workers and has been a springboard for many nationally and international renowned performers, directors, designers, writers and technicians.
Queensland’s Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch says the upgrade “reflects the theatre company’s reputation as a producer of quality work and champion of diversity in the performing arts”.
“For almost 100 years, La Boite has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to creating new and impactful theatre experiences that connect artists, audiences and communities,” Minister Enoch says.
“The Miles Government has been a strong advocate for Queensland arts companies to secure its fair share of federal arts funding, and I am thrilled to see La Boite recognised for its national significance, which together with the uplifts secured by Circa and Dancenorth Australia have leveraged new Federal investment into the state.
“Our government, through the Creative Together roadmap, prioritises a strong and sustainable arts sector that supports employment opportunities for Queensland artists and arts workers who can share our stories on the global stage of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Chair of the La Boite Theatre Board, Adam Brunes describes it as “a monumental occasion … to enter the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework on the eve of the organisation’s 100th anniversary”.
“A century-old company is not just a business entity, it’s living testament to human ingenuity, ambition, determination, and the power of collective effort, for which the Queensland Government via Arts Queensland and the Australian Government via Creative Australia have been instrumental,” Brunes says.
“The confidence and security provided by this vital funding will ensure that La Boite is best positioned to make a significant cultural, social and economic contribution to the Australian community for another 100 years.”
