Artistic Director/ Co-CEO

We are looking for an Artistic Director with courage and imagination — someone who can honour our legacy while guiding us into an ambitious future.

• Australia’s most innovative and progressive new work company
• A distinctive and vital place in Melbourne and Australia’s cultural landscape
• Significant opportunity to honour our legacy while guiding us into an ambitious future

Malthouse Theatre has a distinctive and vital place in Australia’s cultural landscape. For more than four decades, we have been a crucible for bold artistic expression, consistently championing work that challenges, provokes and illuminates the complexities of contemporary life.

As Australia’s most innovative and progressive new work company, we prioritise the voices of artists who explore provocative content and form. In a rapidly changing world, our purpose remains clear: to create theatre that is urgent, resonant and daring.

Our rich history, evolving from the pioneering spirit of Playbox Theatre Company, has been shaped by countless artists, staff members, audiences, donors and partners. Together, they have forged Malthouse’s identity as a company unafraid to take risks and push boundaries. We question, create and share contemporary culture through memorable experiences in large and small scale performances for Melbourne audiences and the stages of the world.

Our home in the historic Malthouse building — on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, to whom we pay our deepest respects — is more than a collection of performance spaces. It is a creative commons, a site for ideas and stories that contribute to the cultural conversation of our city and nation.

Our artistic reach spans mainstage works, initiatives that support emerging theatre-makers, dynamic festival partnerships, comprehensive education programs and deep community engagement. We pursue an artistic mission that is unbounded on a scale that is deliberately compact, delivering impact far beyond our size.

Malthouse is led by a Co-CEO model, with the Artistic Director and Executive Producer working in close partnership and alignment with the Board. We seek a leader who embodies this collaborative spirit and brings a bold artistic vision. The ideal candidate will have a strong curatorial voice, a commitment to innovation and the ability to build meaningful relationships with artists, audiences, and stakeholders.

This is a pivotal moment for Malthouse. In the face of ongoing challenges to the performing arts sector, there are opportunities to redefine theatre’s role and resonance in society. We are looking for an Artistic Director with courage and imagination — someone who can honour our legacy while guiding us into an ambitious future.

Please contact the consultant assisting the Board to obtain the link to the Information for Candidates site that has details of Malthouse, the role and the application requirements:

Tony Grierson

AEGEUS Executive Search    

P: +61 8 7160 2383

E: malthouse@aegeus.asia