Salty Theatre

How did your creative journey begin? Salty Theatre began like all great business adventures…over Thai Food. Established in 2018, Salty Theatre (ST) is a female-led boutique theatre company co-founded by Australian theatre, dance and cabaret veteran Sarahlouise Younger (a Slytherin) and Canadian theatre and screen veteran Ashley Taylor Tickell (a proud Gryffindor); match made in heaven really! Both starting in Theatre as kid performers it was a meeting of minds and creative souls as we decided to debut our first show at The Butterfly Club in 2019 which (we couldn’t believe) sold out. From there what was just a way to keep our artistic bellies full morphed into a full-scale company in a little under four years and an ability to keep on our toes as we navigated this new post 2020 world. We are so grateful to have the support of Aintree Group Chartered Accountants & Business Associates, who have nurtured the company through volunteer Board advisory and literally transformed the way in which we want to create theatre in Australia. Our creative practice has traversed decades of professional engagements and accolades in Australia, Canada, the US, the UK, Singapore and Malaysia. We are proud to say at Salty Theatre we have quickly garnered a critically acclaimed reputation for producing high-quality Australian premieres and new work -described by the arts community and media as an “underground highlight” (Cameron Woodhead –The Age), “someone to watch” (ArtsHub) and “the answer to off-Broadway in Melbourne” (Youshouldseeitmelb). We are all about the #humblebrag

How would you describe your practice? At Salty Theatre, we foster the creative abilities of performers and artists in all stages of their careers and have created different avenues within our company to support this. We offer internship/s (SALTY CREATIVE INTERNSHIP), writing/composing residencies (THE HATCH LAB MUSICAL THEATRE RESIDENCY PROGRAM/ THE HATCH LAB MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP/HATCHLING) Certificate 4 program in Musical Theatre (SALTY THEATRE TRAINING GROUND) 2024/

Our values support cutting-edge arts practice through fostering curiosity, creating through discovery-based practice and a commitment to igniting the imaginations and wellbeing of Australian communities. Salty Theatres ethos combines cultivating global collaboration and connection while fostering Australian talent. This has been achieved by debuting the works of creative teams from America, Canada and the UK with international practitioners being able to develop relationships with our artists in a more personalised way during the rehearsal process. Salty Theatre is committed to supporting creative careers and addressing skills gaps within the Arts industry. By offering space within our Theatrical productions and combining our company with our education wing, Salty Theatre encourages a new way of working artistically. We focus on the development of practical skillsets unique to the creative industries allowing emerging Artists to forge stronger career paths in a confident and informed way.

Our innovative approach to traditional practices in casting and auditioning have allowed us to improve the employment experience of artists contracted in our company. We are proud advocates for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and female-female identifying representation within the Arts. We believe representation matters and have dedicated our practice to represent the cultural and racial face of Australia’s modern-day population on our stage/s. What are you working on right now? Right now, we are in rehearsals for our strictly limited return season of Voldermort and the Teenage Hogwarts Musical Parody which will run from July 6 – 9 at the George Jenkins Theatre in Frankston.

We are also commencing pre-production for Top Gun! The Musical which will be our Ballarat debut! We are so excited to bring this award-winning, very clever, satirical piece of musical theatre to the historic Ballarat Mining Exchange from September 7 – 17. And because we like a challenge, this will be followed by The Australian Premiere season of Strange Sings! The Parody Musical which will be at The Meat Market in Melbourne in November. Salty Theatre will be the Australian Executive Producers as Stranger Sings does a “global takeover” with our US and UK productions all opening around the same time. We have unofficially dubbed this our #netflixandchill season. To top ALL THAT off we are developing our school SALTY THEATRE TRAINING GROUND which will provide open classes and masterclasses in dance, acting and audition rep in 2023 followed by out Cert 4 in 2024 in both Ballarat and Melbourne. Yes, we are tired…very, very tired!

What is your connection to Ballarat? Sarahlouise is a proud Alumna of the 2005 graduating company BA Music Theatre Performance from Arts Academy (or back then Ballarat Academy of Performing Arts. After moving back to Melbourne and later working in Singapore and the UK, Sarahlouise moved back to Ballarat becoming a sessional teacher at the Arts Academy for Dance and later a vocal tutor for BCMA all while co-directing Salty Theatre’s Melbourne hub.

How would you describe the creative community in Ballarat? Ballarat is held with deep affection for being a nurturing space for creative expression. After deciding to open Salty Theatre in Ballarat we have been embraced by such a rich tapestry of creatives and performing artists who have been so incredibly helpful and supportive as we commence opening our company in “The Rat”.

Can you give us three words to sum up your inspiration? FOSTER. CREATE. IGNITE.

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