The Trust

The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust - universally known as The Trust - was the foundation stone of the performing arts companies and training institutions now enriching Australian cultural life. Created in 1954 by banker, Dr H C (Nugget) Coombs, to nurture and develop the performing arts in a new Elizabethan Age, the young monarch agreed to be its patron. This unique organisation then spawned the independent ballet, opera and theatre companies, and their professional training schools, providing performance of the highest quality in each discipline. Author Brian Adams conducted extensive interviews with the key players who contributed to this cultural revolution and tells the exiting and often turbulent rise and fall of this iconic institution.