Final curtain call for Slingsby
The Childhood Of The World, premiering at Adelaide Festival 2026, marks the final show for Adelaide theatre company Slingsby. SALIFE speaks to co-founder Andy Packer about the little company that could – and did.
“The impossible is achievable.” Andy Packer, artistic director and chief executive officer of Slingsby, reflects on his years building an award-winning theatre company with pride.
Formed in 2007 with arts professional Jodi Glass, Slingsby’s productions – created for audience members aged eight and older – have garnered international acclaim. They’ve clocked 15 industry awards, including a Helpmann Award for Emil and the Detectives (2018), and have toured 12 countries across four continents.
It’s worth celebrating.
“I mean, really, I’m just a kid from Campbelltown, and we made a company that toured the world,” Andy smiles.
“And then we went, ‘That’s enough’.”
Slingsby’s new show The Childhood of the World – the final installation of triptych, A Concise Compendium of Wonder – will be its last. The organisation announced in 2024 that it would wind up operations after missing out on federal government funding.
Premiering at the 2026 Adelaide Festival, The Childhood of the World follows The Tree of Light and The Giant’s Garden, which are designed to transport audiences to “another world”.
There’s a sense of relief, Andy says, in putting together their final production.
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“There will be sadness, of course, but the clarity of that decision is incredibly freeing,” he says.
“We’re experiencing something almost no company gets to experience, which is considered, conscious winding up of a company.”
While Andy can’t pick a favourite production, there have been highlights.
“The 2009 tour – we were 18 months old as a company and we were invited to 120 countries around the world,” says Andy, in reference to the company’s inaugural production hit, The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy.
“Then there are other magical moments including having two, three-week seasons on 42nd Street, New York, for two different productions.
“Also being in regional South Australian communities … being at the local Foodland and seeing kids from the school you’ve just performed at, and them recognising you. Having those conversations with audience members where you think – yeah, this has shifted something for them. That kind of thing is really powerful.
“We did have this saying early on: Yorke Peninsula one day, New York the next. And the mix of those is really important.”
For Andy, it’s that impact on younger audiences that is most rewarding – and critical.
“You know the impact you have in giving that audience a sense of hope for the future; a sense of shared empathy for their own predicament and the predicament of others, may shape the rest of their lives,” he says.
“You’re in at the ground floor.”
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Slingsby’s shows are immersive – scent drifts, lighting shifts and sound curls around the audience, creating an atmosphere that feels both intense and otherworldly.
The Childhood of the World took this a step further, with the launch of The Wondering Hall of Possibility – a regeneratively designed, transportable wooden theatre, nestled amid Moreton Bay Figs at the Adelaide Botanic Garden for the Festival.
It’s exemplary of how the company has worked to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years. The structure can be taken down and rebuilt, over and over.
“I really like the idea of ephemeral buildings; ephemeral structures – really interesting temporary spaces that live on in your memory,” Andy says.
“That’s what this project will be for Adelaide audiences, which is beautiful. And then, hopefully, we get to deliver that around Australia, and why not the world? The show and the building can have a life beyond the company.”
While Slingsby’s winding up will “leave a bit of a gap” in local theatre, Andy’s optimistic about handing on the baton.
“I think we have some incredible emerging companies at the moment like CRAM Collective and Rotpunkt, who we’re really honoured to be able to support at times with our space,” he says.
Andy’s wish? That locals would get more excited about homegrown theatre – especially for youth.
“Patch, Windmill, Slingsby, we’ve had these conversations for a long time – we all love each other’s work,” he says. “There is simply no other city in the world that has three companies of this quality making work for children. The world knows it, Adelaide seems to just not appreciate it. I’m not sure how we crack that nut. But we do make excellent work here.”
And with that, Andy hopes audiences rally around Slingsby’s final chapter, which premieres at Adelaide Festival and runs from February 18 to March 15.
“The audience wants to step into the dream of theatre, and we take them by the hand,” Andy says. “We help them let go of themselves.
“And then they can return with a bit more hope for the world.”
Tickets are still available for Slingsby’s Whyalla shows.
This article first appeared in the January 2026 issue of SALIFE magazine.
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