Five Female Directors in Meanjin to Look Out For
One of my hobbies (and my jobs) is consuming theatre and I must say that I consume a lot of it. A lot of the theatre that I’ve consumed have been directed by some incredible women who have bedazzled me by the way they make, shape and form stories and worlds on stage. Here’s a few of them that you should keep your eyes peeled out for.
Image via Room to Play
Heidi Manché
Director of the Hive Collective and Room to Play as well as the founder of Brisbane Youth Theaytr, Manché has directed a number of productions on Brisbane stages, her most recent work being The Bull, The Moon & the Coronet of Stars at Metro Arts, a play which moved, delighted and soared into my heart. She transforms and physicalises prose in a way that I’ve never seen a director do before. Manché creates worlds that allow for the prose of the playwright carry the weight of each relationship, movement, touch and breath, placing the prose at the centre of the narrative which I find simply divine.
Image via Music Industry Inside Out
Alethea Beetson
In my second year of my under-grad degree in fine arts drama, I went into the lecture hall to find this beautiful woman setting up her computer who had this aura about her, I couldn’t quite describe it but I felt myself twitching in my seat; counting down the minutes until the lecture was to start. I soon found out that this woman was Kabi Kabi + Wiradjuri artist Alethea Beetson, the artistic director of Digi Youth Arts and a master at the craft of storytelling. Since that lecture, I have seen many works by Digi Youth Arts works, installations and community events curated under Beeston’s guidance and vision; all each with a powerful voice and commentary on Indigenous voices and culture. I cannot wait to see what works Alethea and the team at Digi Youth Arts create this year.
Bridget Boyle
The latest work I’ve seen Boyle direct was David Megarrity’s The Holidays, in which she crafted a conceptual world featuring large scale projected displays full of hues of colour and intriguing fragments of the characters imaginations. I love the way Boyle added moments of humour, comedy and nuance to such a conceptual narrative, allowing us to ponder, dwell and laugh at the same time, which isn’t a bad combination if you ask me… I’ve engaged with many of Boyle’s work and it’s always the feeling in my stomach that I remember; the feeling of laughter, the feeling of lightness and a sense of playfulness. You can check out more of her work at Debase Productions.
Image via Scenstr
Xanthe Jones
Xanthe Jones in the Artistic Director of the Brisbane Immersive Ensemble, a theatre company primarily focused on ensemble-driven immersive works. I’d never experienced immersive theatre prior to seeing one of Jones’ productions and I’m still always left spellbound by the way Jones manages to wrap the narrative around you. As a storyteller myself, I always find it so fulfilling and energising to see Jones’ works as, as I wind my way between the characters rooms or performance space, I am creating my own story. Or at least my own version or perspective of the story which leaves such a delicious aftertaste on the mind.
Image credit: Dylan Evans Photography
Sanja Simić
Currently La Boite’s Creative Producer, I first engaged with one of Simić’s directorial works about a month ago. The work was Naked and Screaming, the performance venue was La Boite and the stagecraft was extraordinary. Such detail through such a minimalistic set. The auditorium become the battleground for the two central characters and Simić transformed it into a battleground full of symbols and a feast for the senses as it played on our own feelings of loss, grief, hope and love. Simić has such a powerful voice and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
