Co-founded by Kester Baruch (aka Frank Perkins/Kester Berwick) and Alan Harkness in 1931, Ab-Intra Studio Theatre was only active for a little over three years and yet had a marked influence on creative theatre practice in Adelaide and made a lasting impact on those associated with it. In her introduction to the company published in Australasian Drama Studies in 1988, Thelma Afford, previously Thelma Thomas recalls:
'Ab-Intra Studio Theatre was inventive, experimental, and probably the most genuinely creative of all the little theatres in Adelaide during the 1930s decade. Its distinguishing characteristics were an emphasis on the importance and beauty of visual communication with an audience, and highly individual methods of production ('Ab-Intra Studio Theatre in Adelaide 1931-35.' p.167).
Among the people who worked with the company, several went on to have major careers in Australian and internationally, including Thelma Thomas, Agnes Dobson, Robert Helpmann, and Max Afford.
Others known to have been associated with Ab-Intra were: Iris Thomas, Mina Bauer, Walter Dasborough, Joan Joske, and Phyllis Drummond, David Dawson, Frank Bailey, John Morgan, Mildred Field, Janet Cleland, Joanna Seith, Shirley Stevens, Marjorie Francis, Ruby Skinner, Lucy Willoughby, Ada Stephens, W. Kennedy, and H. Tideman.
Shortly after its inception Ab-Intra also attracted the attention of Dame Sybil Thorndyke during her visit to Adelaide in early 1932. Baruch and Harkness organised a private production of their debut production, The Demon's Mask for Thorndyke's company, and in return her producer rehearsed twice with the Ab-Intra actors on their next production, The Robe of Yama ('Actress Helps Ab-Intras,' p.7).
