How a 40 Under 40 alumni is maintaining a century-long lineage of creativity
This year, Australia’s oldest continually running theatre company turns 100. A birthday this big needs fitting celebrations and, as chief party planner, La Boite’s artistic director Courtney Stewart has been pulling out all the stops to ensure 2025 is the theatre’s most memorable year yet.
How does one define success in the creative arts industry? Is it measured by acclaim or revenue? Does the number of bums on seats carry more weight than award recognition? Perhaps success is measured by how long something exists. Well, no matter which criteria you use to judge, La Boite Theatre is undoubtedly an overwhelming success according to every metric.
This year, La Boite celebrates 100 years of artistic innovation. It’s an incredible milestone for any organisation, let alone one dedicated to theatrical endeavour. In an age of impermanence, La Boite has endured as a pillar of creative expression – a reliable source of boundary-pushing theatre and a nurturing ground for local talent.
For La Boite’s artistic director Courtney Stewart, being at the helm of Australia’s oldest continuously running theatre company no doubt comes with a certain amount of pressure. But for Courtney, who was appointed La Boite’s 18th artistic director in 2022, being able to contribute to a century of uninterrupted storytelling is more a point of pride.
The InDaily 40 Under 40 alumni, who holds a Bachelor of Creative Industries degree from QUT, has put in the hard yards to ensure that the 2025 program not only maintains the theatre’s ongoing lineage of exceptional programming, but also lays the foundation for another 100 years of creativity.
“I had looked into where the organisation began and it kind of came out of this little theatres movement in Brisbane,” says Courtney of her curatorial approach. “The vision at all of those companies was to create work that spoke to a moral standpoint that pushed the boundaries of representation and drove towards trying to find ways to push for social cohesion.
“La Boite has continued to try and unearth untold stories and share perspectives that get people to open their minds and consider things from a different standpoint. I feel like that was a north star for me, in terms of pulling the 100-year program together.”
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In 2025, Courtney has worked to ensure that the theatre celebrates the past, revels in the present and looks ahead to the future. Influenced by ideas of legacy and longevity, this year’s program is a hybrid of sorts, with a four-strong slate of mainstage productions (including a modern retelling of Macbeth as well as cross-genre productions We’re All Gonna Die!, Congratulations, Get Rich! and WhiteFella Yella Tree) punctuated by a three-month play-reading series called La Boite Encores.
This series shone a light on iconic fan favourites from the La Boite archives. In consultation with all past and present living artistic directors of La Boite, Courtney selected ten of the theatre’s greatest hits – reuniting original cast members and directors, and pairing them with emerging Brisbane talent to give audiences a new perspective on trailblazing works like The Matilda Women, Holding the Man, Prize Fighter and Single Asian Female.
Though the selection process wasn’t easy, Courtney tells us that all of the works picked for La Boite Encores exemplified the theatre’s reputation for championing works that would go on to have a lengthy lifespan and profound impact on the country’s creative consciousness.
“La Boite’s contribution to the Australian canon has been quite remarkable,” explains Courtney. “Aside from Holding the Man, the ones that rose to the top were works that the company had commissioned. Almost all of the others went on to tour, or went on to have multiple lives.”
When it came to putting together this year’s mainstage program, Courtney wanted La Boite to reflect the current state of the world and touch on the urgent conversations that are coming to a boiling point. This year, the program examines topics such as ambition and power, the ongoing climate crisis, and intergenerational trauma, among others. While serious topics, Courtney stresses that beneath the weighty subject matter is an undercurrent of positivity.
“Programming is such a game of Tetris,” says Courtney. “I’m really really firm on having programming pillars around the works that we select and they need to speak cohesively to a theme for the year. While [the mainstage shows] are wildly different, they all speak to this theme of transformation and hope.
“Looking at the state of the world, what I want to be able to give to our audiences is that shot of hope – it’s so important for me that people don’t lose hope. I want to remind us all that we have agency, that we have a say and that say is so important – it counts and it matters.“
With an eye toward the future, this year La Boite upgraded its flagship artist development initiative Assembly into ASSEMBLY+. The inclusive and artist-led program, which looks to nurture the next generation of Queensland’s storytellers, saw a number of emerging creatives – nine writers, nine directors and 18 actors – come together to collaborate and create a number of original short works for the stage.
After six weeks of masterclasses, creative workshops and industry mentorship, the ASSEMBLY+ program culminated in June with two public showcases at the iconic Roundhouse Theatre. What will likely become a fixture of La Boite’s operations moving forward, ASSEMBLY+ is looking to build new pathways for artists in Queensland and foster long-term, sustainable careers in the arts.
“I think for me as an artist, what benefited me the most was long-form, deep engagement and investment from companies,” says Courtney. “While the previous model of Assembly was amazing and fantastic, I wondered what would it be like if we threw six months behind these artists and gave them more time at the company, more time with each other and more time to develop work.”
As La Boite moves into its second century of operations, Courtney is eager to push the company’s national and global impact, with international collaborations in the works. Also driving Courtney’s efforts is a desire to change perceptions about Queensland theatre, both at home and further abroad.
“There’s such a cultural cringe in Brisbane – creatives feel that people have this low opinion on cultural output from Brisbane,” says Courtney. “But I think that La Boite’s hundred-year history is actually a great case to debunk that myth. People actually really do appreciate perspectives that are grown in Queensland because they’re super unique – there’s a more regional feel to it in a way, but they still have global resonances.
“For me it was really about showing ourselves back to ourselves and saying we’re awesome – Queensland creatives are great!”
When asked what she hopes her tenure will be remembered for, Courtney’s overarching desire is to have left the company in a better spot than when she was given the opportunity to steward it.
“This company belongs to artists – it always has and I think it always will,” says Courtney. “I want people to have felt that I’ve listened and that everyone’s been able to have a say in the way the company is shaped, while still keeping a vision that’s ambitious, cohesive and future-focused.”
The InDaily 40 Under 40 Awards program is helping to bring attention to a new generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders in the state. This year’s 40 Under 40 will be announced at the gala awards dinner on Thursday August 21. Follow us to be the first to see this year’s 40.