Essential Theatre is run by Artistic Directors Amanda LaBonte and Sophie Lampel and was founded in 1997.

Since 2003 we have been recognised as a leading national touring theatre company known for its professional and creative presentation of Shakespeare in the Vines, a unique tour of Shakespeare's much loved works to some of Australia's spectacular wineries and gardens.

Our initial aim was to produce theatre that would entertain, inspire and provoke audiences to think in a fresh way about their own lives. In the early stages we were awarded and recognised as a prominent young theatre company producing new works including our self penned play Triple Acorn which saw us invited to attend the Shorelines Writer's Festival in 1999 as guest performers.

As with many independent theatre makers our focus changed and we decided to travel overseas in our mid twenties and embark on our own personal adventures across the globe. Upon our return we still had the hunger to continue Essential Theatre but we wanted to make sure this time we would create and develop something with continuing strength and longevity . Our focus changed, and as artists we learned to look at Essential Theatre from a business perspective - this is when Shakespeare in the Vines was born!

Shakespeare in the Vines has seen us travel across the country to many fantastic regions including McLaren Vale, The Mornigton Peninsula, Margaret River and the Hunter Valley to name a few. Every year the tour continues to grow and we are reaching more people in each state year by year. We are absolutely thrilled to be nearing ten years of touring.

In August of 2009 Sophie was invited to travel over to London where she spent a month working at the Globe Theatre as part of their international fellowship program which focuses on giving international actors the opportunity to work at the home of Shakespeare. This opportunity was inspiring especially the work she did alongside text expert Giles Block and director Timothy Walker. Their knowledge and passion for Shakespeare's words was exceptional. Sophie worked with them to bring the role of Imogen from "Cymbeline" alive. This piece was presented as part of the fellowship performance "The Invention of Self" on the Globe stage.

Essential Theatre is constantly growing and we are very pleased to now have the time and opportunity to develop our business. We are expanding our corporate activities and are also excited to be making plans to produce a contemporary play in Melbourne. We are currently accepting play submissions with a commitment to nurture an Australian voice and we look forward to announcing our Melbourne season in the near future.

A decade and counting since we started, we are a successful self funded independent theatre company and are excited about what the future holds for us!