Sydney Theatre Company was formed in December 1978, following the closure of The Old Tote Theatre Company the month before. The then Premier, Neville Wran, approached Elizabeth Butcher, who had been seconded from the National Institute of Dramatic Art to administer the Old Tote, and asked her to set up a new state theatre company, to perform in the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. Butcher established its legal identity and managerial structure, and proposed the name, Sydney Theatre Company. With John Clark (Director of NIDA) as the Artistic Adviser of the first season, five theatre companies were invited to produce six plays to be presented by STC as the 1979 Interim Season in the Drama Theatre. The first production, by The Paris Company, was "A Cheery Soul", by Patrick White, Australia's Nobel Laureate for Literature, directed by Jim Sharman, featuring Robyn Nevin as Miss Docker.