The Melbourne Theatre Company (popularly known as MTC) is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, and has its own theatre, Southbank Theatre]– which houses the 500-seat Sumner and the 150-seat Lawler – located in Melbourne's Arts Precinct in Southbank. Despite being recognised as Victoria's State theatre company, it comes under the auspices of the University of Melbourne. Currently, it offers a Mainstage Season of ten to twelve plays each year, a season of new and emerging works (Neon Festival of Independent Theatre), and an Education Season along with affiliate writers programs. It has a current subscriber base of 19,816 people and plays to a quarter of a million people annually.