2023 was another huge year for Patch! Over 56,000 children and their families experienced a Patch show this year across 90 venues.

This was made possible thanks to generous support from our funding bodies – the South Australian Government through the Department for Education and the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. We also thank our many philanthropic supporters for helping us to share the magic of theatre with young audiences.

Our acrobatic adventure I Wish... impressed family audiences at Arts Centre Melbourne in January. A spectacular start to our 2023 season!

We relocated our home-base to a fabulous new Kent Town location at 63 King William Street. Our multi-use space features a workshop, rehearsal space, and set storage, along with administration offices. The new space has improved our day to day work lives, saving time and allowing us to create and play whenever inspiration strikes.

ZOOOM continued to wow audiences across the globe as it was performed in the US, Canada, and South Australia. The touring cast performed 93 times and over 25,000 audience members shared their dark, danced, and helped our lost star return home.

Feedback from US & Canada ZOOOM tour.

Interactive installation Sea of Light impressed audiences across the country this year as over 16,000 children drew, explored, and delighted in the experience. More than 5,500 of these children saw Sea of Light in regional areas, from Ulverstone in Northern Tasmania, to Cairns in Far North Queensland.

In South Australia we impressed families at DreamBIG Children's Festival in Adelaide and SALT Festival in Cummins, brightened SA libraries at Lit For Life festival, visited Hawthorndene Primary School as part of their NAIDOC week event, and invited patients at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital to explore Sea of Light in the Starlight Room.

When the installation was presented at at SALT Festival in Cummins on the Southern Eyre Peninsula, visitor numbers were more than four times the town's population of 500 people!

This year, our in-school experience Spark travelled further than we could have imagined. We performed Glow & Tell and Once Upon a Jar to over 4,000 children at 51 schools across the state, including Yalata Anangu School in Aboriginal Community Yalata – 1000km from Adelaide.

See our 2023 Spark achievements

Delivering Spark in schools across regional South Australia is made possible thanks to funding from the Department for Education and the generous support of James & Diana Ramsay Foundation, FWH Foundation, John T Reid Charitable Trust, Lang Family Foundation, and an anonymous foundation.