Who we are
PURPOSE
Steps & Holes is an award-winning multidisciplinary theatre company that platforms the archetype of ‘the fool’ to promote a spirit of curiosity, reveal universal truth and unite diverse audiences. We explore robust ideas and generate timeless stories through the intersection of music, movement, text, design and puppetry to create physically dynamic, visually arresting theatre. Our work achieves both intimacy and a sense of the epic and provides space for reflection, ignites the imaginative spirit and awakens our humanity.
VISION
To ignite the imaginative spirit, spark intellectual enquiry and awaken our humanity.
VALUES
Beauty: We seek beauty in the stories we tell, the people we connect with and in the staging of our works.
Integrity: We champion emotional and intellectual honesty at the heart of our work and through the choices we make.
Art: We promote the utility and necessity of art as critical for connection, reflection and good thinking.
Courage: We are fearless in our artistic decisions; we are brave and ambitious in pushing our company forwards.
THE STORY OF STEPS & HOLES
When I was a little girl, I used to play a game with my Dad when we went on summer holidays. In the pool, Dad would put me on his shoulders and walk down “steps,” but every so often he would hit a “hole” and we'd plunge beneath the water at great speed. The thrill of never knowing when a hole would appear created a certain magic, an aliveness – it was pure play between child and adult and the shock of hitting the water never failed to elicit unbridled glee.
In 2017, my Dad passed away from cancer. He was 66. I wanted his spirit to be part of the thing I was going to build. It felt right that the company be named after this game, where the joy rests on the frontier between order and chaos, in the beauty of simplicity and in trusting the unknown.
- Kate Walder, Founder and Artistic Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Tanya Goldberg | Chair
Executive Manager, Arts Culture and Events, Waverley Council
Fred Linker | Company Secretary
Commercial and Technology Lawyer, Founder Linker Legal Pty Ltd, General Counsel
Georgia Videan | Treasurer
Associate Director at Barings (European Real Estate Debt)
Kathy Baykitch
Head of Community Engagement, Sydney Jewish Museum
Jessica Block
Development Consultant, Jessica Block Consulting
Rosie Connolly
Chief of Staff to the CEO, Foxtel Group
Rebecca Spicer
Producer Theatre & Dance, Sydney Festival
Kate Walder
Artistic Director, Steps & Holes
FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
KATE WALDER
Kate is a director, performer, movement director and writer. Since graduating from the WAAPA Music Theatre BA and Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, she has worked across a range of theatrical contexts but focussed primarily on the creation of new works across Australia and internationally.
Key credits (co-creator, director and/or performer):
Soul Trading (Steps & Holes/ATYP), Beetle (Legs on the Wall), Il Trovatore (Opera Australia), 21 Forster St (Steps & Holes/The Q - Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre), Trestle (Legs on the Wall), I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You (Rehearsal Director: The Good Room/ ATYP/ Critical Stages), Le Voyage (Steps & Holes), Le Vide (Steps & Holes), Roomba Nation (Hurrah Hurrah/Old 505), Satellite (Steps & Holes/Old 505), The Story of the Little Gentleman (Ricca Festival, Japan), BAD (The Old Fitz, Adelaide Fringe), La Dispute (Soho Theatre London, Edinburgh Fringe), BBC Dr Who Symphonic Spectacular (Sydney Opera House), Spring Awakening (Assistant Director: ATYP), The Void: Best of Sydney University Revue (Seymour Centre). As writer: Soul Trading (commissioned by ATYP and published by Playlab Theatre). World premiere by Canberra Youth Theatre (Canberra Theatre Centre), Sydney premiere presented by Steps & Holes.
Awards and Accolades:
* Sydney Theatre Award Nominee; Best Production for Young People (Soul Trading), 2023
* Canberra Ovation Award; Best Original Work or Adaptation (Soul Trading), 2022
*ATYP Junior Foundation Commission Winner (Soul Trading), 2019
*Sydney Fringe Best in Design Award, Best in Physical Theatre Nominee (Le Vide), 2019
*Sydney Fringe Critics Choice (Le Voyage), 2018
*Inner West Council Artist Development award (Le Voyage), 2018
Kate has also trained with leading multidisciplinary companies Theatre du Complicite and Frantic Assembly (UK). She has taught for NIDA, Sport for Jove, NAISDA, ATYP, The Arts Unit (NSW Gov DoE), Artology, NORPA, Monkey Baa, Chopt Logic and Sydney Theatre School, and directed/choreographed major secondary school productions including Chicago, The Addams Family, Alice and Into the Woods.