Plan Your Visit to the State Theatre Centre
Black Swan’s new home is the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, a brand new complex that will provide an excellent venue for theatre in Perth. All Black Swan productions will be performed here beginning in 2011.
The State Theatre Centre of WA is located in the heart of Perth, on the corner of Roe Street and William Street (the blue star in the map below).
The State Theatre Centre features:
- the 575-seat Heath Ledger Theatre
- the Studio Underground, an intimate performance space
- associated rehearsal rooms
- state of the art theatre technology
- The Courtyard, a multi-purpose outdoor events space and functions area
- spacious foyers and public amenities, including bar facilities for each performance space
As part of the WA Government’s Percent for Art Scheme, the State Theatre Centre has two unique public artworks. The artwork commissions reflect the contemporary nature of the architecture and contribute to the audience experience with the venue.
The first of the artworks is an interactive light installation that will engage audience members as they enter the venue. “Comets” by artist Matthew Ngui features a bed of LED lamps installed underneath the semi-translucent glass entry to the venue. Shining upwards, the lamps not only give illumination to the space but also amongst other things, through computer software, sense movement that will cause light traces (comet-like tails) that shadow audience members as they enter the Centre.
The second artwork by Audrey and Arif Satar is a sound installation that is integrated within the fabric of the building at the James Street walkway entrance. Engaging the senses, the soundscape is coupled with a series of stainless steel panels featuring text and imagery. Together they will take audience members on a journey to tell the story of the history and cultural significance of the site of the State Theatre Centre.
Both artworks will engage audience members from the very moment they enter the venue, building anticipation and telling a story long before the curtain goes up.
The Western Australian Percent for Art Scheme allocates up to one per cent of the estimated total construction cost of the State’s capital works projects to commission WA artworks. Since its inception in 1991, the scheme has and continues to provide new professional and economic opportunities for West Australian artists and many other crafts and trades, creating art that improves both the quality of the built environment and the value of public spaces.
