Wal Cherry

Walter John Cherry (10 May 1932 – 7 March 1986) was an Australian theatre director, producer, and manager. He was also an academic, playwright, and drama scholar. He was Foundation Chair of Drama at Flinders University in Adelaide from 1967 until around 1980, and also held other positions at the university. Over his career, he directed over 86 performances; wrote a novel and two plays; collaborated on film scripts; published articles and delivered papers in Australia and the United States; and served on many committees.

Early life and education Walter John Cherry was born on 10 May 1932 in Ballarat, Victoria to Victorian parents Walter Joseph Cherry, a commercial artist, and Vera White.

He attended St. Patricks College in Ballarat, and Geelong High School.

As the co-founder and director of the Emerald Hill Theatre Company in Melbourne, Victoria in 1962, Cherry gained a reputation in the early 1960s for innovative programming and bold productions, particularly of Australian plays. Along with George Whaley, he experimented with different acting forms and approaches to theatre, After encountering financial difficulties, the company closed in 1966; however it had inspired a "new wave" of Australian theatre, which grew in Sydney and Melbourne from the late 1960s. with many successful actors, directors, and playwrights among its alumni of the centre.

While at Flinders, Cherry continued his contribution to professional Australian theatre off-campus. He was a key member of the board of the nascent South Australian Theatre Company (later State Theatre Company of South Australia). In that position, he drove significant changes in the direction of the company, but his objective of a continuing close link between the SATC and the Flinders Drama Department was never realised.

Flinders University holds a biennial Wal Cherry Lecture. In 2024, Scott Hicks' 1982 documentary film about the 11th Adelaide Festival of the Arts under artistic director, Jim Sharman, titled The Hall of Mirrors: A Festival, was screened at the Space Theatre in the Adelaide Festival Centre, followed by a conversation with the two men. In 2024, the lecture was presented by the Assemblage Centre for Creative Arts at Flinders, in partnership with the Helpmann Academy and the Don Dunstan Foundation.

Selected works Martine (1961) Waters of the Moon (1961) The First Joanna (1961 screenplay)