Created to address a dissatisfaction with Australia's theatrical climate, the APG focused primarily on producing new works by then-emerging Australian writers such as Barry Oakley, Jack Hibberd, Kris Hemensley, Bill Garner, John Romeril, Steve J. Spears and David Williamson.
In 1970 the APG was officially formed and then set up a theatre in a former pram factory in Drummond Street, Carlton.
Here, and in other venues throughout Melbourne and other parts of Australia, the ensemble presented alternative, experimental, avant-garde and radical plays, musical comedies, vaudeville, stage shows, street theatre and circus acts, using comedy, drama, music and dance to entertain and, in some cases, to turn the spotlight on its concerns about social, political and feminist issues.
The ensemble also produced a record album (The Great Stumble Forward: Matchbox and the APG at the Pram) and a feature length film (Dimboola).
APG actors, writers and performers had a major impact on the nature and content of live theatre in Australia.