Your Digital Program

Contents
Credits
Synopsis
Director's Note
An Interview with Clemence Williams
Biographies

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Credits

ADAPTER & DIRECTOR
KIP WILLIAMS

PERFORMER
MATTHEW BACKER

PERFORMER
EWEN LESLIE

DESIGNER
MARG HORWELL

LIGHTING DESIGNER
NICK SCHLIEPER

COMPOSER
CLEMENCE WILLIAMS

SOUND DESIGNER
MICHAEL TOISUTA 

VIDEO DESIGNER
DAVID BERGMAN

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
IAN MICHAEL

ASSISTANT VIDEO DIRECTOR
SARAH HADLEY

VIDEO EDITOR
SUSIE HENDERSON

FIGHT DIRECTOR
NIGEL POULTON 

VOICE & TEXT COACH
CHARMIAN GRADWELL

LIGHTING REALISER
CHRIS TWYMAN

PRODUCTION MANAGER
KIRBY BRIERTY

STAGE MANAGER
SARAH SMITH

DEPUTY STAGE MANAGER
BRIANA DUNN

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
BROOKE KISS

COSTUME COORDINATOR
SAM PERKINS

BACKSTAGE WARDROBE SUPERVISOR
SIMONE EDWARDS

ORIGINAL WIGS & MAKEUP BY
LAUREN A. PROIETTI

WIG STYLIST
SHARON CASE

LIGHTING SUPERVISOR
ADAM MCDOUGALL

HEAD LIGHTING TECHNICIAN
JESSE GREIG

LIGHTING PROGRAMMER
CORINNE FISH

SOUND SUPERVISOR
ANTHONY LORENZ

SOUND OPERATOR / TOURING HOD
AL BREMNER

VIDEO SUPERVISOR
MICHAEL HEDGES

DEPUTY VIDEO SUPERVISOR
CAMERON SMITH

CAMERA OPERATOR (STEADICAM)
BEN SHEEN

CAMERA OPERATOR (STEADICAM)
LUCY PARAKHINA

CAMERA OPERATOR (STEADICAM)
SAM HEESEN

FOCUS PULLER / STEADICAM SWING
TAHIRA DONOHOE BALES

STEADICAM / FOCUS PULLER SWING
JEN ATHERTON

VIDEO PROGRAMMER / OPERATOR
THOMAS BENSLEY

AV TECHNICIAN
CHLOE LANGDON

STAGING SUPERVISOR & HEAD MECHANIST
DAVID TONGS

AUTOMATION OPERATOR
JASON EDWARDS

STAGING TECHNICIAN
NATHAN SEYMOUR

REHEARSAL & PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHER
DANIEL BOUD

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Synopsis

Gabriel Utterson is a mild-mannered, quiet and unassuming lawyer who contents himself with observing the foibles and triumphs of others, rather than diving into life himself.

That is until one day he is told a horrifying and brutal tale of a crime that took place in broad daylight. Utterson becomes obsessed by the spectral figure at the centre of the story, Mr Edward Hyde, and determined to uncover the links between him and Utterson’s own friend: the upstanding Doctor Henry Jekyll.

What ensues is a spiralling descent into the seamy underbelly of Victorian London and the secret life of a man who presents a respectable visage to the world whilst living a shadowier existence under the cloak of night.

In a race to save his friend from danger, Utterson will come face to face with the shocking truth.

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Director's Note

By Kip Williams

I’m sure the majority of you know, on some level, the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, even if you haven’t read Robert Louis Stevenson’s nineteenth century novella. After all, the key elements of this modern myth occupy a prime position in our collective consciousness.

Most conventional readings assert that this is a story of split personalities and of the study of the duality of human nature, the dark and the light. The concept of a deep-seated, foundational binary is certainly present in the text, but when I read this book I see the narrative more as a challenge to or troubling of this idea rather than a straightforward acceptance of it. Even Stevenson himself, in the latter chapters of the novella, acknowledges that there are more than just two facets to any individual’s nature. So, while the Jekyll/Hyde myth has often been deployed as a shorthand for a person with two opposing sides to their identity, this production departs from that conventional reading, and instead explores the multiplicity at the core of the human experience, in turn offering a rebuke to those binaries that are so often used to regulate us and keep us from expressing the and exploring the myriad of impulses that exist authentically within us.

In the context of Victorian England, and the Gothic novel in particular, the binary most ripe for exploration and dissection is the split between the public and the private. In their championing of such a prescriptive and puritanical idea of ‘virtue’, the Victorians (unwittingly or wittingly) created their own boogeyman – a demimonde of debauchery and depravity that exists behind closed doors and down dingy alleyways, right alongside polite society. In Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde the imposition of these two extremes literally causes Jekyll to compartmentalise himself into two distinct personae. But I don’t think the narrative is necessarily suggesting these two personae are inherent or inevitable but, rather, the symptom of an individual trying to grapple with the expectations of a moral code that leaves very little room for error and grey areas. In a sense, we’re focussing on the ‘monsters without’, as well as the ‘monster within’, and, specifically, how the latter is shaped and informed by the former.

Another element of the original text brought to the fore in this adaptation is the friendship between Jekyll and the often-overlooked protagonist of this story: Gabriel Utterson. Early in the novella, Stevenson describes Utterson as being “almost” envious of those he observes giving into their desires. This is in contrast to Utterson’s own restrained and measured character, and sets up a parallel mystery that mirrors the revelations around Jekyll and Hyde. Both characters, Jekyll and Utterson, begin as enigmas of sorts but through their friendship we discover two truths.

The first truth is that even within the most intimate of relationships (platonic or otherwise) there are still parts of ourselves that we keep buried. The second is the human need to find spaces and people with whom we can share our true self, in all its authenticity, complexity and contradiction. These two elements dance like spectres in the background of Stevenson’s novella, but when I came to write the adaptation, they sang out to me like sirens. This production seeks to express them more richly and in ways that perhaps Stevenson could only hint at in his era. If it is the moral regulation of a society that deems one thing a monster, it is perhaps in the safety of a friendship that might permit it to be seen otherwise.

I am so grateful to Marg Horwell, Nick Schlieper, Clemence Williams, Michael Toisuta, David Bergman, Ian Michael, Sarah Hadley, Susie Henderson, Nigel Poulton, Charmian Gradwell, and all of our production team for collaborating to create this show – I have relished our work together. I am also so incredibly thrilled and honoured to be working with performers Matthew Backer and Ewen Leslie again, two phenomenal artists who imbue this work with such humanity and revelation, and whose performances carry within them the many layers of a being that their characters desperately seek to give breath to.

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An Interview with Clemence Williams

Every element of a production like Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the work of a highly talented creative and production team. We sat down with Composer Clemence Williams to discuss the rich and cinematic score she has created for this spectacular show.

How does it feel to be working with the creative team from The Picture of Dorian Gray?

It’s pretty extraordinary to be back with the same group, especially after starting to take Dorian on tour. To be revisiting a process while starting fresh on a completely new story and style and idea feels amazing. There’s a lot that’s familiar, but there’s a lot that’s new. I suppose a language has developed now, so it’s a faster process to get the ideas, while at the same time, tunnelling into the unknown. In some ways I feel like it’s a darker show, because we don’t have the levity of Oscar Wilde. I think we’re really plummeting into the depths of our souls here, so it’s scary. Though there’s certainly a place for lightness in the work, and I think considering the darkness and the tumult of it, we’re in fact searching for moments of release.

Where do you start with a show like this?

Kip always has a strong vision when beginning a pre-production period, so the first part of any creative process is all of us aligning our ideas. Then we’ll go about creating a sound palette. Kip will collect music that is influencing the creation of his vision, and then we’ll listen to that together, and I’ll kind of go away and write my own music that responds to that aural language or is in counterpoint to that language. We talk a lot about stylistic qualities, for example: Kip is really interested in the genres of noir and the detective story in this production which, in terms of our shared body of work, is a bit of a throwback to our work on A Cheery Soul. There’s less cheekiness, but there is still that sense of mystery and intrigue that we’re channelling.

One of the really amazing things about Kip’s shows is the wealth and variety of styles he calls on for inspiration. Can you tell us about where you went for inspiration, artworks, genres, etc?

Bernard Herrmann is a huge influence on my work generally, but specifically for this piece. Particularly, scores like the film score for Hitchcock’s Vertigo have been a huge inspiration.

I think particularly his instrumentation and his approach to creating suspense: lots of musical phrases that stay open ended rather than resolved, creating a sense of the unknown or a question going unanswered. It’s about creating tension. I think that’s what I mean about searching for moments of release: because there’re so many moments of tension and sustain, when we do ‘pop the bubble’, so to speak, it feels incredibly relieving for the audience.

So, that’s certainly where I started and the process of composing has been about evolving and devolving from that place into a more modern sensibility to match the contemporary take on the book that this production is embodying.

Cinema in general is an inspiration for this work, and the way a movie soundtrack immerses the audience. Kip and Michael (the production’s sound designer) are using surround speakers and rear speakers to immerse the viewers in the very middle of the sound, almost as if you’re inside the characters’ minds.

Unlike on Dorian, you’re working with a Sound Designer, Michael Toisuta, on this project, rather than performing both roles yourself. What does this new arrangement allow you extra time to work on?

Often the role of sound designer and composer is in one, and you are doing two jobs because you are creating content as well as designing and executing that content within the theatre space. On top of that, on a show like this, you’re also making a film, including highly technical stuff like pre-recording audio for timing in the actors’ earpieces, etc. There’s only so much that one person can do. Having someone else and a larger team on this show has enabled me to write a lot more music and create more of an original score, which is my strength and my passion. It’s hugely freeing, and it’s exciting because you’re not bouncing ideas around in your own head. You actually have another human to do that with. Sound designing is an immensely creative role as well, so to have another creative brain to shape the sonic landscape with you is a gift.

Like Dorian, this show integrates a lot of live video. What are the challenges and opportunities of cine-theatre?

The challenge and the beauty of composing for a video show, and especially a show that has pre-recorded material, is that you have to go on the imaginative journey with the director. Because you can’t see the material (as the audience will see it) until quite late in the process – you have to trust your own creative imagination to be able to design for what is (at the early stages) a hypothetical scene. This is unusual for theatre, of course, because it’s so often about responding to the ‘live-ness’ of a scene. In this production though, which is so much about mystery and the attempt to find objective answers to very subjective questions, the act of imagining the play and composing for that imagined world feels very aligned with the characters’ experience, trying to connect the dots of the case. In a sense, the creative team and I are all trying to solve the mystery at the heart of this show along with audiences and Utterson himself.

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Biographies

Kip Williams
Director

Kip Williams is the Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Sydney Theatre Company (STC).

While at STC he has directed The Tempest, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Julius Caesar, Playing Beatie Bow, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lord of the Flies, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Cheery Soul, The Harp in the South: Part One and Part Two, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Three Sisters, Cloud Nine, Chimerica, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, All My Sons, The Golden Age, Love and Information (a co-production with Malthouse), Suddenly Last Summer, Children of the Sun, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and Under Milk Wood, and was Associate Director on Andrew Upton’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac and Dramaturg on Sarah Goodes’ production of Orlando. In 2016, he directed a reading and short film of Daniel Keene’s The Hungry Mile.

For Melbourne Theatre Company, Kip adapted and directed August Strindberg’s Miss Julie. For Sydney Chamber Opera, he directed with Elizabeth Gadsby a gender-flipped production of The Rape of Lucretia (a co-production with Victorian Opera and Dark Mofo), An Index of Metals, The Lighthouse and the double bill Ich Habe Genug and Nunc Dimittis. For Malthouse Helium and US-A-UM he directed an all-female production of Lord of the Flies, for Tamarama Rock Surfers he directed Fallout at the Old Fitz Theatre, and for the Sydney Writers’ Festival he directed 1001 Nights. For the 18th Biennale of Sydney he directed Through The Gates (also for Sydney Chamber Opera). For Princeton Theatre, New Jersey, he directed Fifth of July, for National Theatre, Melbourne, he directed One For the Road, and for NIDA he directed productions of Lord of the Flies and Samuel Beckett’s Not I.

Kip directed the short films B, Bee & Mee and Walk, as well as music videos for Guineafowl, including "Little Fingers" and "Botanist", which were listed in ABC’s RAGE 50 list of the top music videos for 2009. In 2015, Kip won the Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play for his STC production of Suddenly Last Summer. In 2016, his production of Miss Julie won the Green Room Awards for Best Production, Best Direction, and Best Digital Media Design and Integration. He also won the 2018 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Director for The Harp in the South: Part One and Part Two, which also won Best Production and Best New Work. At the 2021 Sydney Theatre Awards, Kip won Best Direction of a Mainstage Production for The Picture of Dorian Gray which also won Best Mainstage Production. At the 2022 Sydney Theatre Awards, Kip Won Best Direction of a Mainstage Production for Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

He has completed a Master of Dramatic Art in Directing at NIDA and a Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communication) at University of Sydney. Kip now sits on NIDA’s Board of Directors.

Matthew Backer
Performer

Sydney Theatre Company: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Cloud Nine, Chimerica, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Orlando, Machinal. Other Theatre: Bell Shakespeare: The Tempest, Henry V. Belvoir: Kill the Messenger. Queensland Theatre: Nearer the Gods, Switzerland, Brisbane. New Theatricals: Jersey Boys. Griffin Theatre Company: Ladies Day, Uncanny Valley. Hayes Theatre Co: Only Heaven Knows, Young Frankenstein. Peach Theatre Company: The History Boys. HotHouse Theatre: Frenzy for Two. Theatre Works: Private View. Short Film: Ghosted, Echo Pines, Butter, Whispers Among Wolves, The House, Chicom, Latte e Miele (Milk & Honey), Boiling Point. Film: Marley, Someone, This Time Maybe. TV: Play School, The Twelve, Joe vs. Carole, Born to Spy, Five Bedrooms, Harrow, Operation Buffalo, Home and Away, Dead Lucky, History Hunters, Deadly Women, Fresh Blood (I’m With Stupid). Audio Books: Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman, Infinite Splendours by Sofie Laguna, Anything But Fine and Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden. Other: Host of ABC Kids Listen’s Story Salad. Awards: 2016 Broadway World Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), 2016 Matilda Award for Best Actor in a Play (Switzerland), 2017 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Only Heaven Knows). Training: NIDA, Upright Citizens Brigade, New York, Second City, Los Angeles.

Ewen Leslie
Performer

Sydney Theatre Company: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Julius Caesar, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Trial (with Thin Ice/Malthouse), The War of the Roses, Gallipoli, The Serpent’s Teeth, Riflemind, Dead Caesar (with Push). Other Theatre: Melbourne Theatre Company: Hamlet, Richard III. Belvoir: Ivanov, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Wild Duck, The Promise, Paul. The Naked Theatre Company: Shakespearealism. Tamarama Rock Surfers: Cross Sections. Old Fitzroy Theatre: This Blasted Earth. Film: The Daughter, Peter Rabbit, The Nightingale, Sweet Country, The Mule, The Railway Man, Dead Europe, Sleeping Beauty, Three Blind Mice, Katoomba, Kokoda, Jewboy. TV: The Gloaming, Operation Buffalo, The Luminaries, The Cry, Rake, Safe Harbour, Top of the Lake, Redfern now, Devil’s Dust, Mabo, My Place, Lockie Leonard, Love My Way, The Junction Boys, All Saints, The Road from Coorain, Wild Cat, Bush Patrol, The Gift, Ship to Shore. Awards: 2017 AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama, 2010 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor and Green Room Award for Richard III, 2009 Helpmann Award and Sydney Theatre Award for The War of the Roses. Positions: Member of the STC Actors Company in 2008. Training: WAAPA.

Marg Horwell
Designer

Sydney Theatre Company: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Avalanche - A Love Story (with Barbican Theatre), How To Rule The World. As Costume Designer: The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui, Lord Of The Flies. Other Theatre: Theater Basel: Unsere Kleine Stadt. Malthouse Theatre: Because The Night, Blasted, Melancholia, Caravan, The Testament Of Mary, The Real And Imagined History Of The Elephant Man, Revolt She Said. Revolt Again, I Am A Miracle, Edward II, The Good Person Of Szechuan. Melbourne Theatre Company: The Truth, The House Of Bernarda Alba, Birdland, Peddling, Cock, Constellations, Marlin, The Dream Life Of Butterflies, The Water Carriers, Circle Mirror Transformation. Performing Lines: Anthem. Circa: Leviathan. Chunky Move: Common Ground. Dee & Cornelius: Love, Big Heart, SHIT, Savages. Angus Cerini Doubletap: Save For Crying, Resplendence, Wretch, Chapters From The Pandemic. Sisters Grimm: Lilith The Jungle Girl, La Traviata, Summertime In The Garden Of Eden. Opera: English National Opera: Salome. Opera Queensland: The Marriage Of Figaro, The Sopranos. Victorian Opera: Lorelei, The Happy End. Awards: Ten Greenroom Awards and Three Sydney Theatre Awards for her work in Theatre and Opera.

Nick Schlieper
Lighting Designer

Sydney Theatre Company: includes The Tempest, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Playing Beatie Bow, Wonnangatta, The Real Thing, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Harp in the South: Part One and Part Two, Saint Joan, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Three Sisters, Chimerica, The Present, Macbeth, Waiting for Godot, The Maids, Gross und Klein, Uncle Vanya, Hedda Gabler (2006 & 1986), A Streetcar Named Desire, The War of the Roses, The City, Les Parents Terribles. As Set and Lighting Designer: Endgame, Face to Face, Baal (with Malthouse), Death and the Maiden (with Melbourne Theatre Company). Other Theatre: MTC: As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Richard III, Hamlet, The Visit, The Tempest and Set and Lighting design for Photograph 51 and North By Northwest. Malthouse: Set and Lighting Design for Pompeii L.A. Belvoir: Opening Night, Packer and Sons, Ghosts, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure and Set and Lighting Design for Once in Royal David’s City. Musicals: includes Love Never Dies (Australia, Tokyo, Hamburg, USA), Priscilla (Australia, West End, Broadway). Other overseas work includes productions for The Royal Shakespeare Co, the State Theatre companies of Bavaria and Hamburg, Schillertheater Berlin, Theatr Clwyd Wales and the National Theatre of Norway. Opera: many productions for Opera Australia including Tosca, Elixir of Love, Tannhäuser, Trovatore, Falstaff. Salzburg Festival: Lear, Médée. Hamburg State Opera: Billy Budd, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Bavarian State Opera: The Devils of Loudun. SOSA: Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Awards: 6 Green Room Awards, 6 Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Lighting (Chimerica, The Serpent’s Teeth, The War of the Roses, Baal) and Best Set Design (Baal, Endgame), and 5 Helpmann Awards (Bennelong, Bush, The War of the Roses, Love Never Dies, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead).

Clemence Williams
Composer

Sydney Theatre Company: As Composer and Sound Designer: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Blithe Spirit, Death of a Salesman, Grand Horizons, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Banging Denmark, Lethal Indifference. As Composer: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Playing Beatie Bow, A Cheery Soul. As Associate Director: Fun Home (with Melbourne Theatre Company). As Assistant Director: Saint Joan. Other Theatre: MTC: Heisenberg, Torch the Place, Arbus and West. Bell Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet. Belvoir: The Wolves. Ensemble: A View from the Bridge. Old Fitz: Chorus, A View from the Bridge, Wind in the Underground, Paper Doll, The Wolves. KXT: A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing. Old 505: Little Borders. New Theatre: Chapel Perilous. New Fitz: Wind in the Underground Paper Doll. Periscope Productions: Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons. As Director: Sydney Chamber Opera: Breaking Glass (Commute, The Invisible Bird). Red Line: Chorus. Sydney Conservatorium/NIDA: The Magic Flute. Seymour Centre: Unfinished Works. New Theatre: The Cherry Orchard. KXT: Transience. Edinburgh Fringe: Chamber Pot Opera. PACT: The Threepenny Opera. JackRabbit Theatre: FINDR. As Assistant Director: Sydney Chamber Opera: La Passion de Simone, Notes from Underground. Sydney Conservatorium: La Calisto. Film: Last Night, Noli Me Tangere. Awards: 2021 APRA AMCOS Art Music Award for Best Live Performance (Commute). Training: Sydney Conservatorium, NIDA.

Michael Toisuta
Sound Designer

Sydney Theatre Company: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Australian Graffiti. As Composer and Sound Designer: Top Coat, White Pearl (with Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta). As Associate Sound Designer: Disgraced. Other Theatre: CAAP: Perahu-Perahu. Kwento: Ate Lovia. TerryandTheCuz: Made in America. Belvoir: The Sugar House, Windmill Baby. Bell Shakespeare: Richard III. National Theatre of Parramatta: Flight Paths. Griffin & State Theatre Company South Australia: Masquerade. Legs On The Wall: My Bicycle Loves You. Mosman Art Gallery: Island of Shadows. PYT Fairfield: Swimming Pool. DeQuincey Co: Framed. Short Film: Dance Diaries: Woodville, Dance Diaries: Sydney, Hairpin, Jyoti, Woodlands. Video Art Installation: Asia Pacific Triennial 2018: Habitat 2018, Art Gallery of NSW: Habitat 2017, Cairns Art Gallery: Dengung Hyena. Cross-Artform: Bundanon Trust Siteworks: Double Landscape.

David Bergman
Video Designer

Sydney Theatre Company: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Julius Caesar, Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical (with Global Creatures), The Hanging, The Long Way Home, The Effect (with Queensland Theatre). As Video and Sound Designer: A Cheery Soul, The Wharf Revue (2009-2018). As Sound Designer: Playing Beatie Bow. Other Theatre: As Video, Composer and Sound Designer: Seymour Centre/Sydney Festival: Museum of Modern Love. As Composer and Sound Designer: Griffin Theatre Company: Green Park, Superheroes, First Love is the Revolution. Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta: Zombie Thoughts. Darlinghurst Theatre Company: Maggie Stone. State Theatre Company South Australia: The Gospel According to Paul. Seymour Centre: Made To Measure. NIDA: Salem, Another Country. As Video Designer: Belvoir: Blue. Bangarra: Sandsong, Spirit: A Retrospective, Knowledge Ground. Sydney Chamber Opera: Breaking Glass. Monkey Baa: Possum Magic, The Peasant Prince. As Sound Designer: Sydney Opera House: RENT. Belvoir: At What Cost, Packer and Sons. Monkey Baa: Josephine Wants To Dance. Curveball Creative: Who’s Your Baghdaddy. Hayes Theatre: Merrily We Roll Along, The Rise and Disguise of Elizabeth R, Catch Me If You Can. ATYP: Spring Awakening: A New Musical. Awards: Sydney Theatre Award for Best Stage Design of a Mainstage Production for The Picture of Dorian Gray (with Marg Horwell), and a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Sound Design of a Mainstage Production for Green Park. Training: NIDA.

Ian Michael
Associate Director

Sarah Hadley
Assistant Video Director

Sydney Theatre Company: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. As Assistant Director: Grand Horizons. As Live Camera Operator: The Picture of Dorian Gray. Other Theatre: As Director: Griffin Theatre Company: You’ve Got Mail (Batch Festival). KXT: Are We Awake?, Tongue Tied. 505 Theatre: SAFE. The Blue Room Perth: You’ve Got Mail. As Live Camera Operator: Perth Festival & LiveWorks Sydney: The Second Woman. As Video Designer: The Old Fitz: Chorus. As Assistant Director: The Old Fitz: The Humans. KXT: The Walworth Farce. NIDA: Ex Machina, SIX. Film: Last Night, Noli Me Tangere, Spark Bird. Commercial: Sydney Theatre Company Season Trailer ‘21/’22. Training: NIDA, UNSW.

Susie Henderson
Video Editor

Sydney Theatre Company: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Wharf Revue: Good Night and Good Luck. As Video Designer: The Lifespan of a Fact. Other Theatre: As Video Designer: Critical Stages: Black Sun Blood Moon. Griffin Theatre Company: Wherever She Wanders. Blush Opera: Chop Chef. BONTOM: Homesick. As Video Systems and Content Designer: Belvoir: Stop Girl. As Video Associate: House of Sand: That Was Friday. The Australian Ballet: Sylvia. Training: NIDA.

Nigel Poulton
Fight Director

Sydney Theatre Company: The Tempest, The Lifespan of a Fact, A Raisin in the Sun, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Top Coat, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Blithe Spirit, Triple X (with Queensland Theatre), Grand Horizons, Appropriate, Playing Beatie Bow, Rules for Living, The Deep Blue Sea, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Lord of the Flies, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, How to Rule the World, Mary Stuart, Harp in the South: Part One and Part Two, The Long Forgotten Dream, Blackie Blackie Brown (with Malthouse), A Cheery Soul, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, St Joan, Three Sisters, Dinner, Muriel’s Wedding The Musical (with Global Creatures), Black is the New White, Speed-the-Plow, The 27 Golden Age, The Present, Switzerland, Macbeth, Noises Off, Cyrano de Bergerac, Romeo and Juliet, The Removalists, Romeo & Juliet (Education). Other Theatre: includes productions with The Finnish National Ballet, The Australian Ballet, The New York City Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera, Washington Opera, Opera Australia, Cameron Mackintosh, Bell Shakespeare, Circus Oz, MTC, QT, Belvoir, La Boite, Playbox, Kooemba Jdarra. Film: includes Poker Face, Thor: Love and Thunder, Escape from Spiderhead, Operation Rainfall, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Deadline Gallipoli, The Water Diviner, Winter’s Tale, Vikingdom, Salt, I Am Legend, The Bourne Legacy. TV: includes Deadlock, Nautilus, Sea Patrol, The Good Wife, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, 30 Rock, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Positions: Teaching positions at NIDA, ACA, AFTRS, USQ. Awards: Green Room Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Melbourne Stage. Certifications: Certified Intimacy Director & Intimacy Coordinator with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC), Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors; Instructor, Fight Director and past President of the Society of Australian Fight Directors Inc, Honorary Fight Director with Fight Directors Canada.

Charmian Gradwell
Voice & Text Coach

Sydney Theatre Company: The Tempest, The Lifespan of a Fact, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Fun Home (with MTC), The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Mary Stuart, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Harp in the South: Part One and Part Two, The Long Forgotten Dream, Saint Joan, Blackie Blackie Brown (with Malthouse Theatre), Still Point Turning, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Lethal Indifference, Top Girls, Dinner, The Father (with MTC), Black is the New White, Talk, Chimerica, A Flea in Her Ear, All My Sons, Disgraced, Hay Fever, Arcadia, The Golden Age, King Lear, The Present, Suddenly Last Summer, After Dinner, The Long Way Home, Travelling North, Machinal, Waiting for Godot, Romeo and Juliet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Storm Boy (with Barking Gecko), The Maids, Mrs Warren’s Profession, Sex with Strangers, Under Milk Wood, Gross und Klein, Bloodland, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Uncle Vanya, A Streetcar Named Desire, The War of the Roses, Tot Mom. As Director: The Comedy of Errors. Other Theatre: As Voice & Text Coach: QT: Triple X (with Sydney Theatre Company). Royal Shakespeare Company: The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, The Canterbury Tales (tour), A Winter’s Tale, Pericles, Days of Significance, Macbeth, Macbett, The Penelopiad, Noughts and Crosses, The Comedies London Season, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The London Gunpowder Season, Romeo and Juliet, Comedy of Errors. As Dialect Coach: Musicals: Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical (with Global Creatures), Aladdin, Assassins, The Lion King, Mary Poppins, The Tap Brothers, Xanadu The Musical. As Director/ Trainer: A year with Space 2000 in Kaduna, Nigeria. Film: As Dialect Coach: Elvis, Peter Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Reaching for the Moon, Truth, Ginger & Rosa. Other: Voice trainer for London School of Puppetry. Member of London Shakespeare Workout, which brings Shakespeare into UK prisons. Training: Central School of Speech and Drama, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

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Festival for the Future

Adelaide Festival is proudly Carbon Neutral and you can help us reduce our impact on the environment further! This year, Adelaide Festival has partnered with Reforest and Trees for Life to support the Mannavale farm bushfire recovery project in Adelaide Hills. 

Plant one for the planet as part of your Adelaide Festival experience. You can learn more about the project, take action and track your impact here. 

Your contribution through Reforest will help repair the damage caused by both bushfires and historical land clearing, and help Trees for Life plant a range of native species to restore an area of forest habitat for native wildlife. 

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