Glenn Elston has made an enormous contribution to Melbourne and Australia’s artistic and community life, pioneering open-air theatre in Australia with a vision to make theatre accessible.
Helping establish the Australian Shakespeare Company 27 years ago, and now as its Artistic Director, Glenn has worked hard to develop the organisation into Australia's largest independent theatre company.
Every summer Melbourne's iconic Royal Botanic Gardens are a hive of activity with 25,000 Melburnians, Victorians, national and international visitors enjoying Shakespeare Under the Stars and family favourite The Wind in the Willows. The company has since played to over a million people with critically acclaimed annual summer seasons, indoor shows and indigenous festivals, concerts and plays.
The success of Glenn's approach is reflected in the thousands of returning theatre goers of all ages who have turned the seasons at the Royal Botanic Gardens into a traditional summer activity, helping raise the profile of Melbourne as an arts and cultural centre for tourism.