July 1 2024
One of Canberra's leading theatrical figures, Stephen Pike, died on Saturday, June 29, at the age of 69 following complications from heart surgery.
Pike had a long career in Canberra as an actor, writer, director and producer. He also nurtured and encouraged the city's emerging talents.
His first role was in the chorus for Tempo's 1978 production of Calamity Jane and he appeared in many other musicals including Godspell, Hair, Chicago, Chess and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Pike also played Jean Valjean in two Canberra Philharmonic Society productions of Les Misérables, one of which won him a Combined Area Theatre Award.
He was also a prolific director for theatre companies around Canberra and in Queanbeyan: his musicals included Blood Brothers and Chicago and his plays including the premieres of Canberra playwright Duncan Ley's The Burning, In Cold Light, and When in Rome.
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| Stephen Pike. Picture by Karleen Minne |
Pike won a Canberra Critics Circle Award in 2012 for, as the citation read in part, "his confident and imaginative direction of the Queanbeyan City Council's production of Hair".
In 1982 Pike purchased his own restaurant, The Bellows, where The Sweet Shock Company performed more than 400 performances combining cabaret and comedy. In 1990 he opened Tarzan's Theatre Restaurant where he produced, directed and/or performed in many shows, two of which also won him CAT Awards.
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| Rehearsing Chess at the Q in Queanbeyan, from left, Lexi Sekuless, Stephen Pike, Adrian Flor and Derek Walker. Picture by Gary Schafer |
Pike directed the 1997 and 1998 finale concerts for the Canberra Festival and was artistic director for the 2000 National Christmas Tree and Carols in front of Parliament House as well as directing and being a judge for the Combined Area Theatre Awards.
He was business manager for Canberra Repertory Society for several years and was the first program director for the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, programming local and touring productions there for more than a decade.
Pike's successor at the Q, Jordan Best, said, "He was so important to me - I wouldn't have the career I had without Stephen. He said to me once that he loved opening doors for me because I would push right through them and grab the chance with both hands."
When Best formed her own theatre companies, Pike programmed her productions including Love Song and suggested she apply to take one production, Playhouse Creatures, to the 16th Mondial du Théâtre in Monaco. She did and was successful.
Back home, Pike told touring company HIT Productions about Playhouse Creatures and the show went to venues in Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
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| Stephen Pike, long time Canberra actor, director, and arts administrator, with photographs of his early acting days. Picture by Katherine Griffiths |
Jarrad West, co-founder of Everyman Theatre, said, "Stephen Pike was our first vocal champion and supporter.
"We got our start, really, when he put us in the very first Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre season back in 2009 with Canberran Duncan Ley's In Cold Light. All of us involved in Everyman will be forever grateful for his support and friendship - he really was one of a kind and gave as much as he could to the arts community here, championing local performers and companies whenever and wherever he could."
First published at The Canberra Times, July 1 2024
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