AustLit

The 'Street Arts Community Theatre Company's work spans the 1980s and into the nineties and represents a radically different approach to the role of a socially relevant theatre company. Street Arts pursued a broader developmental approach to theatre in a community context and has made a significant contribution to community cultural development in Australia' (Challenging the Centre, back cover).

Street Arts was co-founded in October 1982 by Pauline and Denis Peel and Steve Capelin and Andrea Lynch. Its inaugural project was the Community Circus Festival held at Musgrave Park in Brisbane's West End on 26 March 1983. From the start the founding members were intent on becoming more than a 'theatre company,' and therefore utilised any creative art form that answered the needs of each project. 'Thus the work had a strong music and visual art component.' Events were also typically infused with circus performance, community participation (including both performance and creative aspects), and community activism.