Performing Lines began life in 1982, as the Australian Content Department of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. In May 1990, the Department incorporated as Performing Lines, an independent non-profit organisation.

Performing Lines has worked with over 50 Australian companies. Some of the successes include Nigel Jamieson and Paul Grabowsky’s extraordinary collaboration with Indonesian artists, The Theft of Sita; Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman’s The 7 Stages of Grieving, William Yang’s Blood Links, Shadows, & Objects for Meditation, and Kate Champion’s Same, same But Different.

Other productions produced and/or toured by Performing Lines include Melbourne Workers Theatre's Who's Afraid of the Working Class?, the Griffin Theatre Company's production of Andrew Bovell's Speaking in Tongues and Hilary Bell’s Wolf Lullaby, ur/faust by Benedict Andrews, Leah Purcell in Box the Pony, Ranters Theatre Company's Features of Blown Youth, White Baptist Abba Fan by Deborah Cheetham, as well as physical theatre shows by Club Swing, Rock 'n' Roll Circus and Legs on the Wall.

Of the outstanding shows presented by Performing Lines, several have notably influenced the national theatrical agenda. Performing Lines toured Robert Merritt’s The Cake Man to Denver, Colorado in 1982 – the first time an Australian Indigenous production received an invitation to a World Theatre Festival. Other significant works include Jack Davis’ The Dreamers, No Sugar and Honeyspot, Meryl Tankard’s first work as a choreographer and director, Echo Point, Handspan Puppet Theatre’s Secrets and Four Little Girls, Sydney Front’s Don Juan, Sally Morgan’s Sister Girl and the Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae.

More recently, Performing Lines has produced or toured some of the most exciting and significant contemporary theatre and dance practitioners, including Lucy Guerin, Tanja Liedtke, version 1.0, Chamber Made Opera, Jenny Kemp, Back to Back Theatre, Margaret Cameron & Linsey Pollak.

For detailed information on past productions, visit Previous Tours.