[1] The theatre was designed by ARM Architecture (Ashton Raggatt McDougall), and opened in January 2009 with a production of Poor Boy starring Guy Pearce.

The theatre is adjacent to the Melbourne Recital Centre venue on Southbank Boulevard, with the two buildings constructed simultaneously.

The distinctive geometric shapes on the theatre's facade were inspired by the paintings of the American abstract expressionist artist Al Held.

[3] The theatre contains two performance spaces: the 559-seat "Sumner", and the smaller "Lawler" with 150 seats.

These were named after director John Sumner and playwright Ray Lawler respectively.