Six Women to Watch Out For in Australian Theatre Right Now
Meet the women taking to the stage (and a few from behind the scenes) who are making waves in Australian theatre.
Although March is Women’s History Month, and so a seemingly ideal time to champion talented female creatives, we wholeheartedly believe any time is a great time to shine the spotlight on leading ladies. Though, all we have is now — so we’re bringing some sensational women in theatre to the front.
Historically, the involvement of women in this artform has been extremely restricted. While being forbidden from taking to the stage, female characters were often played by men. The result of such exclusion? Stories exclusively being told through the same cultural lens, resulting in a lack of representation (that extends beyond women).
However, fast forward to 2023, and women are now not only wearing the pants (and the petticoats, and the stage wigs) but they’re often also making them. From costume designers to choreographers, leading ladies to those in behind-the-scenes leadership roles, a growing number of women are making an impressive — and much-needed — impact on the Australian theatre industry.
Together with Sydney Theatre Company, in celebration of all the women in theatre, here are six women we think you need to watch out for in Australian theatre right now.
Claudia Karvan
Small-screen spectators will be more than familiar with Claudia Karvan, the Sydney-based actor and producer who’s appeared in more than a few iconic Aussie TV shows (like Bump, The Secret Life of Us and Puberty Blues).
However, the AACTA Award-winning actor also has some serious credentials on stage — a realm she returns to 25 years later with Sydney Theatre Company and State Theatre Company South Australia’s new production of Edward Albee’s Tony Award-winning black comedy The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?. In this gig, Karvan stars as Stevie, a role that requires her to take a considered approach to the themes of marital drama and adulterous affairs (after all, that’s what happens when a humble farm animal bursts the bubble of domestic bliss). Her double-decade of career highs demonstrate why she’s remained in the spotlight.
While Karvan was stirred to make the swap from screen to stage because of the “immense privilege” of being involved with an Albee classic, she admits the thrill of working in live theatre was instrumental in influencing her new choice of office.
“I am so excited to be in the company of live humans, night after night,” Karvan says. “I’m looking forward to finding the nuances and the new details each night, but also to relish in both the discipline and simplicity of it.”
Renée Mulder
In stage circles, Renée Mulder has a well-earned reputation for her innovative approach to costume design. Holding a Bachelor of Design in Dramatic Art from NIDA, as well as a degree in Interior Design from Queensland College of Art at Griffith University, she has drawn on both professional qualifications and personal passions to continually create show-stopping ensembles for the stage. And in the process, established herself as one of the nation’s premier costume designers.
A Sydney Theatre Company stalwart, Mulder’s racked up a number of impressive credits since her first production in 2009. This includes the complex period costumes that clothed the entire cast of Children of the Sun (2014); and the cardboard castle, poo-emoji hat and ninja-nun outfit for the hilarious kid-approved performance of Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark (2016).
Her current Sydney Theatre Company projects? Mulder is working on camp creations for the side-splitting take on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, which hits the stage in October, as well as November’s The Seagull (an Andrew Upton adaptation of the Chekhov masterpiece starring Sigrid Thornton).
Shari Sebbens
Shari Sebbens is a Bardi and Jabirr-Jabirr actor-turned-director who tirelessly advocates for Indigenous theatre. Knowing that conscious casting is required to accurately reflect the diversity of the Australian experience, her involvement in projects is both strategic and spirited. “I’m a big believer in knowing exactly where you came from to know where you’re going,” she tells Sydney Theatre Company.
In 2019, she made the leap into the realm of directing, nabbing Sydney Theatre Company’s distinguished Richard Wherrett Fellowship for emerging and developing directors — going on to become a Resident Director at the company. And in 2022, together with the multi-talented Zindzi Okenyo, she brought Jasmine Lee-Jones’s acclaimed seven methods of killing kylie jenner to Australian audiences.
Today, Sebbens’ work with the company sees her bring American classic Fences to the Australian stage for the first time, while later in the year she’s set to co-direct with Zindzi again with Is God Is (a collaborative production between Sydney Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company).
Anchuli Felicia King
It requires a special skill to take a significant text from the past and transform it into something of the day for new audiences. Though, that’s exactly what adapter and playwright Anchuli Felicia King is doing with Wong Shee Ping’s The Poison of Polygamy (first published in 1910), which notably is the first-ever published novel by a Chinese-Australian author.
Co-produced with La Boite Theatre in Brisbane, Wong’s words travel from the page to the stage with King skilfully telling the story of blackmail, betrayal and broken promises against the backdrop of the Victorian Gold Rush and Melbourne’s Chinatown.
However, proving she is not just a queen of the stage, King has showcased her skills working with HBO, Amazon Studies, Warner Brothers and Binge. Today, she continues to wear many hats — including that of dramaturg, sound designer, projection designer, creative consultant and writer, developing several of her original ideas into productions with studios and commissioners.
Joanna Murray-Smith
Having penned plays that have gone on to be produced around the world — including on Broadway and London’s West End — Joanna Murray-Smith is one of the most prolific women to watch in Australian theatre right now. Headlining these examples is her latest co-production with Sydney Theatre Company and Canberra Theatre Centre, Julia.
While those familiar with Australian politics will need little introduction to our former — and first-female — PM, as well as her famous declaration that she would “not be lectured about sexism and misogyny” by Tony Abbott, Julia offers a fictionalised yet intimate insight into the person behind the politician.
And although the speech itself was sensational, Murray-Smith, one of Australia’s most esteemed and celebrated playwrights, has ensured it isn’t packed away in the press halls of Parliament House by bringing it to the theatre stage now — ten years later.
A combination of authentic excerpts from Gillard’s original speech and a fantastically imaginative approach to writing has delivered an unmissable viewing experience — now Murray-Smith’s signature.
Henrietta Enyonam Amevor
While Sydney Theatre Company works with a number of iconic female actors, it makes a mission of discovering up-and-coming talents as well. Among them is Henrietta Enyonam Amevor, who after being an understudy on A Raisin in the Sun (2022), appears in this year’s Hubris & Humiliation and Is God Is (with Melbourne Theatre Company).
Amevor has recently been in front of the camera too. The Sydney-based Ghanaian-born artist has been playing the character of Talia on Stan’s Bump, an Australian comedy-drama series created by Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro.
Right now if you book a package of three or more plays at Sydney Theatre Company, you’ll save on tickets and skip the transaction fees. For more information and to nab your tickets, head to the website.
Images from top: Claudia Karvan by Matt Byrne, Renée Mulder and Alexander Berlage by Prudence Upton, Shari Sebbens by Prudence Upton, Anchuli Felicia King by Brynne McManimie, Joanna Murray-Smith by Prudence Upton, Henrietta Enyonam Amevor by Prudence Upton.