Yasmina Reza is a French playwright and novelist, based in Paris whose works have all been multi-award-winning, critical and popular international successes. Her plays, Conversations After a Burial, The Passage of Winter, Art, The Unexpected Man, Life x 3, A Spanish Play, God of carnage, How you play the game, Bella Figura, Anne-Marie the Beauty and James Brown wore Hair Rollers have been produced worldwide and translated into 35 languages. In 1995, Art premiered in Paris and went on to win the Molière Award for Best Author. Since then, it has been produced world-wide and translated and performed in over 30 languages. The London production received the 1996-97 Laurence Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award and the Tony award in 1998 in New York.

Her play, God of Carnage opened on 8 December 2006 at the Schauspielhaus in Zurich, directed by Jürgen Gosch, received the Viennese Nestroy-Theatreprize for the best German-language performance of the season. In Paris on 25 January 2008 at the Theatre Antoine, Yasmina Reza directed the play with Isabelle Huppert. In London, God of Carnage, translated by Christopher Hampton opened on 25 March 2008 with Ralph Finnes, Tamsin Greig, Janet McTeer and Ken Stott. In New York, the play opened in February 2009, directed either by Matthew Markus with Jeff Daniels, James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis. For the second time, Yasmina Reza won the Tony award. Her adaptation of the play for Roman Polanski movie “Carnage” won the Cesar of best script. Since she directed How you play the game, Bella Figura, Anne-Marie the Beauty and James Brown Wore Hair Curlers in Paris.

Novels include: Hammerklavier, Une Desolation, Adam Haberberg, Dans la Luge d’Arthur Schopenhauer, Nulle Part, L’aube le Soir ou la Nuit. (This novel Dawn, Dusk and Night, has been translated over 40 countries and was printed in April 2008 in America – Knopps editions.) The novel Happy are the happy has been translated worldwide and won the award Le Monde. The novel Babylone, published in 2016 won the prestigious Renaudot award. Her last novel Serge has had a huge success in France. Yasmina Reza directed her first movie Chicas in 2010.

Christopher Hampton wrote his first play, When Did You Last See My Mother? at the age of eighteen; its production in London made him the youngest playwright on record to have a play in the West End.  Since then, his plays have included The Philanthropist, Savages, Tales from Hollywood, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, White Chameleon, The Talking Cure, Appomattox, All About Eve, A German Life and Visit from an Unknown Woman. He has written the libretti for three Philip Glass operas and co-written three musicals including Sunset Boulevard. He has translated plays by Ibsen, Molière, von Horváth, Chekhov, Yasmina Reza (including Art and God of Carnage), Daniel Kehlmann (The Mentor, Christmas Eve) and Florian Zeller (The Son, The Father, The Mother, The Truth, The Lie, The Height of the Storm and The Forest). His plays, musicals and translations have so far garnered four Tony Awards, three Olivier Awards, five Evening Standard Awards and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award.

Hampton’s many screenplays include Dangerous Liaisons, Total Eclipse, The Quiet American, Atonement, Chéri, A Dangerous Method, The Father and The Son (the last two with Florian Zeller). He both wrote and directed Carrington, The Secret Agent and Imagining Argentina. His television work includes adaptations of The History Man, Hôtel Du Lac, The Thirteenth Tale and The Singapore Grip. Prizes for his film and television work include two Oscars, three BAFTAs, a European Film Award, a Writers’ Guild of America Award, the Prix Italia, a Special Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Hollywood Screenwriter of the Year, and The Collateral Award at the Venice Film Festival for Best Literary Adaptation.

Lee Lewis is one of Australia’s leading directors awarded an OAM in 2024 for her services to Australian theatre. Over the last 20 years, she has directed over 80 productions across all the State Theatre companies and around the country. As Artistic Director of Griffin Theatre Company, she discovered, developed and produced over 50 new plays by Australian playwrights across eight seasons. Highlights included the first productions of the global hit Prima Facie by Suzie Miller and The Bleeding Tree by Angus Cerini, both of which she directed.

Last year, her critically acclaimed national tour of Gaslight captivated audiences around the country. She has directed several of David Williamson’s comedies including the highly successful production of Rupert for Melbourne Theatre Company which toured to the Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C. and had a run at Sydney’s Theatre Royal. Her adaptation of Twelfth Night for Bell Shakespeare is still on the Victorian school’s syllabus.

As Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre, she steered the company through COVID shutdowns and floods, returning to live performance earlier than most. Her credits there include First Casualty by Lt. Col. Christopher Johnston – the only professional production in the world of a play written by a currently serving member of the armed forces – and the Australian premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things by Nia Vardalos and Tom Kail. Her tenure also saw the first production of Boy Swallows Universe and the commissioning of Round The Twist: The Musical, which premiered in Brisbane in 2024.

Charles Davis is an award-winning set and costume designer whose work spans theatre, opera, dance and film. He has designed for major companies including Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, West Australian Opera, State Opera South Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, The Australian Ballet, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Stephanie Lake Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, Griffin Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre, Red Line Productions. His work has also featured at major festivals such as Sydney Festival, Rising, Perth Festival, Brisbane and Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Notable opera and dance credits include Rusalka (Opera Conference), Illume (Bangarra), The Chronicles, Manifesto (Stephanie Lake Company), Circle Electric (The Australian Ballet), La Bohème, (West Australian Opera and Opera Queensland), La Traviata (Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, West Australian Opera), Médée, Artaserse, The Coronation of Poppea (Pinchgut Opera), Breaking Glass, Biographica (Sydney Chamber Opera).

His theatre credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Do Not Go Gentle, No Pay? No Way!, Rules for Living, The Real Thing, The Wharf Revue (Sydney Theatre Company), Twelfth Night (Bell Shakespeare), Buyer and Cellar, The Kitchen Sink (Ensemble Theatre), An Act of God (Darlinghurst Theatre Company).

Charles won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Stage Design of an Independent Production for Happy Days and is a recipient of the Mike Walsh Fellowship. Artaserse for Pinchgut Opera won the International Opera Award for Best Rediscovered Work. He also received the Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship for design in The Performing Arts for his outstanding design work.

Paul Jackson APDG is a multi-award-winning lighting and set designer, dramaturg and theatre maker whose practice encompasses theatre, opera, dance, music theatre, concerts, and live events. Paul has designed lighting for The Australian Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Berlin Staatsballett, West Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet, Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Black Swan Theatre Company, Gordon Frost Organisation, The Production Company, Bell Shakespeare, Malthouse, Belvoir, Queensland Theatre, Chunky Move and many others.

Paul has collaborated with some of the most influential directors and choreographers including Barrie Kosky, Benedict Andrews, Neil Armfield, Michael Kantor, Marion Potts, Lee Lewis, Sarah Goodes, Matt Lutton, Anne-Louise Sarks, Paige Rattray, Simon Phillips, Andrew Upton, Adena Jacobs, Kip Williams, Anouk van Dijk, Philip Adams, Simon Stone, Peter Evans, Stephanie Lake, Cathy Marston,  Sam Strong, Lucy Guerin, Gale Edwards, Tom Wright, Kate Champion and Philip Seymour Hoffman. A key creative on several Australian performance pieces, his work has featured in festivals and programmes in the United States, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Paul was also an Artistic Associate and Resident Artist at Malthouse Theatre from 2007 to 2013, and an Artistic Associate at Melbourne Theatre Company from 2022 to 2024.

Paul has received numerous accolades, including a Helpmann Award, two Sydney Theatre Awards, seven Green Room Awards, six Australian Production Design Guild Awards and an Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship. He has also been recognised with over 40 award nominations across the Helpmann, Green Room, APDG, Sydney Theatre and Matilda Awards.

Max Lambert is one of Australia’s leading composers and musical directors, whose work spans theatre, dance, film and television. He has written music for every major theatre and dance company in the country and played piano on Play School for over a decade.

In 2000, Max served as Musical Director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games, later leading music for the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games, the Shanghai Expo, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and most recently, the World Expos in Dubai (2022) and Osaka (2025).

As a writer and composer, Max has created and collaborated on numerous Australian musicals including Hot Shoe Shuffle, The Boy From Oz, Darlinghurst Nights and Miracle City. His film work includes Happy Feet (George Miller) and orchestrations for Jane Campion’s Sweetie. He also co-wrote Tivoli for The Australian Ballet and Berlin for Sydney Dance Company, where he performed with Icehouse.

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to Australian music, Max was awarded the Order of Australia in 2024.

David has been working with System Sound for more than 20 years on a broad range of musical disciplines and theatre. He has been Head of Sound for numerous tours throughout Australia, South Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including The Phantom of The Opera, Cats, Wicked, Mary Poppins, King Kong, Spamalot and Kinky Boots. He has been Production Sound Engineer for Groundhog Day, Moulin Rouge!, Girl From The North Country, Jersey Boys, Legally Blonde, Les Miserables, Beautiful, School of Rock, The Book of Mormon, In the Heights and Billy Elliot. Associate Sound Design credits include Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Chicago, The Boy from Oz, Come From Away and Wicked. Other Productions include No Love Songs, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Rising – The Art of Mini Golf, North by Northwest, Ladies in Black, Jasper Jones, Singin’ in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz and Dream Lover.

Rodney Rigby founded Newtheatricals; a producing group operating across Australia and on Broadway.

Worldwide, Ceilidh (Kay-lee) a new musical, North American Premiere Baltimore 2025.

On Broadway: Water For Elephants (North American tour 2025-26 and Broadway), Good Night, Oscar starring Tony Award Winner Sean Hayes, Come From Away (also Australia, North American tour, London – Winner of four Olivier Awards including Best Musical, Toronto), Diana, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Children Of A Lesser God, Rocky, Catch Me If You Can and Lend Me A Tenor. Off Broadway productions: David Bryne’s Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, Here Lies Love and Helder Guimarães: Verso. Regional: Marie (Little Dancer).

In Australia: No Love Songs, Gaslight, Come From Away 2019-2023, Darkness, Jersey Boys 2009-13 and 2018-19,  Blue Man Group, The Addams Family,  Rock of Ages, Boeing Boeing, Mum’s the Word 2: Teenagers, Burt Bacharach and the Sydney Symphony, The Woman in Black, Jamie Oliver Live, Bryn Terfel – In Recital, David Campbell – Wild with Style,  Anthony Warlow – Under the Stars, Stuff Happens, Leader of the Pack, Lesley Garrett and Anthony Warlow – The Magic of The Music, Via Dolorosa (written and performed by David Hare), La Fura Dels Baus XXX and The Helpmann Awards (2001, 2004 and 2005). Awards include Live Performance Australia Life Member, Olivier Award for Best Musical 2019 (Come From Away) six Helpmann Awards including Best Musical 2010 (Jersey Boys) and Best Play 2006 (Stuff Happens), two Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Musical Production (Jersey Boys), eighteen Greenroom Awards and four-time Tony Award nominee.

Marriner Group manages and operates five of Melbourne’s major and most iconic theatres, live music and events venues including the Princess Theatre, Regent Theatre, Comedy Theatre, Forum Melbourne and Plaza Ballroom. Founded in 1986, and with four decades of experience, we are dedicated to providing an exceptional world-class experience across all of our venues and ensuring the future viability of our theatres on the world stage. We continue to host, produce and invest in a diverse range of productions spanning from independent theatre and local artists to large-scale commercial musicals. We pride ourselves in welcoming thousands of patrons through our doors each week and aim to create a memorable experience for each and every one.

Paul Wheelton AM is a distinguished Australian businessman and philanthropist known for leading one of Australia’s largest Budget Rent-a-Car franchise groups and for his extensive charitable work focused on children, education, and women’s empowerment. Paul’s philanthropic journey is a story that’s still unfolding. Like the man himself, his philanthropy is distinguished by high engagement and a tremendous spirit of personal generosity. Paul has active involvement in several charities including Bali Children Foundation, Life Education Australia, Guide Dogs Victoria and the Order of Australia Association Foundation. Investing in people is a priority and being associated with Rodney Rigby for Newtheatricals in bringing “Art” to life for Australians to appreciate is another part of his current focus of making a powerful difference.

State Theatre Company South Australia is the state’s leading professional theatre company and a resident artistic company of the Adelaide Festival Centre.

With a legacy spanning more than five decades, the company commissions, performs and tours theatrical productions of new and existing, classic and contemporary Australian and international works – and strives to make, present and promote phenomenal and inclusive theatre that enriches South Australian and Australian culture.

The company is also committed to championing a broad range of voices, including First Nations peoples and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds – and ensuring access for all audiences. State Theatre Company South Australia is committed to providing platforms, pushing boundaries and being recognised for high quality and large-scale theatrical storytelling that is both ambitious in vision and deeply connected to community.