JANICE MULLER
Stage Director
A little about me....
I have always been drawn to considering and investigating the human experience. I began my professional life as a nurse in a regional city in Queensland, where I encountered a lot of life and death, plus everything in between. A fascination with sound and storytelling led to an immersion in radio broadcasting, study at AFTRS and volunteering at 2SER in Sydney. I made programs, wrote my own documentaries, spent a couple of years in the newsroom at ABC Radio and held various roles as a news reader/journalist and presenter in various commercial stations. Along the way I studied physical theatre, made lots of small shows with friends and watched great professional productions. Eventually my fascination with the visceral power of live performance and the way that stories could be told theatrically, led me to theatre studies at UNSW and later at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Since then, I've worked for over 25 years as a theatre and opera director, producer, curator, writer and dramaturg, on a diverse range of projects across Australia and internationally. My work has been presented at major arts festivals, theatre venues large and small and in site-specific locations.
In 2016 I was Director in Residence at the Malthouse Theatre and have in recent years directed four new productions for the company.
Directing opera has been a more recent passion. It brings together several of my favourite things - electrifying music, great drama, bodies in space, complex dramaturgy, history and politics. I've had the privilege of directing the world premiere of two incredible new Australian operas: Ned, composer Luke Styles, libretto Peter Goldsworthy (Lost and Found opera/Perth Festival) and Biographica, composer Mary Finsterer, libretto Tom Wright (Sydney Chamber Opera/Sydney Festival). In 2023 I worked as associate director to Sarah Giles on her acclaimed new production of La Traviata for Opera Queensland (since toured SOSA/WA Opera and OA.)
Throughout my career I've been very fortunate to receive financial and artistic support to allow me to travel and observe production processes and great artists at the Komische Oper and Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, Théâtre de Vidy, Lausanne, Teatro Centro, Seville and The Company Theatre, Mumbai to name a few. In 2001 I received an Australia Council stipend to participate in the international residency for writers and directors at the Royal Court Theatre in London, which was a life-changing experience.
From 2018 to 2022 I served as a board member for Arena Theatre Company, a dynamic children's theatre company based in Bendigo..
I have also frequently taught or mentored younger artists at educational institutions such as the Victorian College of the Arts, TAFE, the National Theatre St Kilda, St Martin's Youth Arts Centre and atyp.
Contact:
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2023, Diploma of Languages, German, UNE
1998, Graduate Diploma Theatre Directing, Victorian College of the Arts
1992-1996, BA Arts, Theatre Studies, UNSW, Sydney
1989, Certificate in Radio Broadcasting, AFTRS
SHORT COURSES
2021, Introduction to Screenwriting, Jonathon Ogilvie, AFTRS
Writing for Television, Susan Bowers, AFTRS
2002, TESOL certificate, IFS Berlin
CREDITS
2023
director, Garage Girls, La Mama Courthouse, created with The Shift Theatre & Three Birds Theatre (2024 regional tour VIC)
creative development, Pony Cam, Malthouse Theatre
2022
associate director to dir. Sarah Giles, La Traviata, Opera Queensland, WA Opera, State Opera South Australia
director, Leviathan by Julian Lenarch, creative development, La Boite Theatre, Brisbane
director, Oedipus Doesn't Live Here Anymore by Daniel Evans, graduate production, National Theatre School St Kilda
acting coach, ACCOCo Young Singers Program, Melbourne
2021 Nov-Dec - Internship, Komische Oper, Berlin, Katya Kabanova by Leoš Janáček, directed by Jetkse Mijnnsen.
director, creative development Chasing Elevation, by Jean Tong, Malthouse Theatre
casual tutor, MA directing course, VCA School of Drama.
2019 director, world premiere, Ned composer Luke Styles, libretto by Peter Goldsworthy, Perth Festival/Lost & Found Opera
director, world premiere, Australian Realness by Zoey Dawson, Malthouse Theatre
2018 director & co-adaptor, Good Muslim Boy, from Osamah Sami’s award-winning memoir Malthouse Theatre & Queensland Theatre. 2018 VCE list.
Nibble, Nibble, Little Mouse… an immersive theatrical experience based on Hansel & Gretel for primary school children, presented over two weekends at the Newstead ArtsHub
casual lecturer, MA directing course, VCA School of Drama
2017 director, world premiere, Biographica, composer Mary Finsterer, libretto Tom Wright, Sydney Chamber Opera/Sydney Festival
on tour, The Tribe, Castlemaine State Festival & The Substation, Melbourne.
director, Revolt, She Said. Revolt Again by Alice Birch, Australian Premiere, Malthouse Theatre (Green Room Award Nomination for Best Ensemble)
director, Turbine, return season Malthouse Theatre & regional tour Victoria
2016 Director in Residence, Malthouse Theatre
return season, The Tribe, Belvoir (Nominated for FBI SMAC Awards, Best on Stage.)
director Lake Disappointment, Carriageworks. Nominated for 5 Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Director, Best new Work. Winner Best Lighting Design. Nominated: FBI SMAC Awards, Best on Stage
director - Turbine by Dan Giovannoni, Suitcase Series, Education Program, Malthouse
2015 director & co-adaptor of The Tribe, with Dr. Mohammed Michael Ahmad (Sweatshop Sydney) from his novella. Presented at Bankstown Live curated by Rosie Dennis, Urban Theatre Projects for the Sydney Festival.
director/dramaturg - creative development & moved reading, Lake Disappointment at PWA National Conference.
assistant director, Death and the Maiden, MTC, dir. Leticia Cáceres
2014 dramaturg, creative development, Mantle, My Darling Patricia, Campbelltown Arts Centre
assistant director to John Bell, A Winter's Tale, Bell Shakespeare, SOH
dramaturg, The Piper, My Darling Patricia, Sydney Festival, (Winner: Best Production for Children 2014 Sydney Theatre Awards)
participant inaugural Women Directors' Program, Melbourne Theatre Company.
2013 director, Milawa Monologues by Margaret Hickey, The Old Chaff Barn, Milawa
concept and artistic direction, Quay to the City, atyp a theatrical walking tour through The Rocks featuring 30 young performers. (in partnership with Sydney Living Museums, SHFA and The Big Dig)
curator, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour, Malthouse Theatre
Facilitator - writing workshop, 'B Side' 'Writing for Radio', UTP Bankstown.
2012 dramaturgy, Miss Julie, dir. Cristabel Sved, Darlinghurst Theatre
2010 director, Alaska by DC Moore, atyp Under the Wharf independent program
mentor, Fresh Ink Writers Program, Australian Theatre for Young People.
director, remount, A Woman in Berlin, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne
2009 director & co-adaptor with Meredith Penman, A Woman in Berlin TRS, at the Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney
2008 assistant director to Chris Kohn Antigone, Belvoir, Sydney
1999-2006 Regular script assessment for Playwriting Australia
Recipient of the Goethe Institut & Playwriting Australia's Dramaturgy Scholarship: 3 week attachment at the Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin, focusing on rehearsal for The Prince from Homburg directed by Artistic Director Armin Petras; 1 month language scholarship at Goethe Institute in Berlin; 3 week observation rehearsals for Karl Marx: Band Eins with German theatre group Rimini Protokoll; dramaturgy conference, hosted by Nordscen, Vilnius.
2005 devised short audio work, Room 806, for X-Wohnungen Suburbs 2005, HAU
Full-time: Business English language teacher: Linguarama SprachenInstitut, Berlin
2003 director, The Country by Martin Crimp (Australian Premiere) B Sharp, Belvoir
Awarded the biannual VCA Keith & Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Scholarship
Sept/Oct 2003: El Rey de Algeciras, Centre Teatro de Andaluz, Seville. Observed rehearsals for a new play dealing with illegal immigration and police brutality on the coast of Spain. dir:Julio Fraga; Oct 2003 & April 2004 : Observed rehearsals for Eraritjaritjaka, Musee des Phrases, by Heiner Goebbels based on the writings of Elias Canetti. Premiere: Theatre-Vidy, Lausanne. Interview with Heiner Goebbels for RealTimeArts, October 2004; Nov & Dec 2003: participated in day to day activities of The Company Theatre, a small not-for-profit theatre touring company in Mumbai.
2002 director, Moved Reading, Seeking Djiran by Linda Jaivin, Playbox Theatre
director, Psychopathia Sexualis by John Patrick Shanley, Red Stitch Theatre
2001 Selected to participate in 4 week International Program, Royal Court, London. Supported by Ausco and ArtsVic. During residency, directed a moved reading of Her Mother and Bartok by Meredith Oakes
director, Crave by Sarah Kane, B Sharp, Belvoir
2000 director & producer, Crave by Sarah Kane, The Storeroom, Melbourne Fringe
co-director, with Elena Vereker, Dead Girls Are Fantastic by Lally Katz, Next Wave Festival
1999 director moved reading, Horsegirl and Her Young Gentleman Friend by Lally Katz,
St Martins' Theatre Young Playwrights Competition
director, Kindertransport by Diane Samuels (Australian Premiere), Saltpillar Theatre
assistant director, The Misanthrope, trans. Martin Crimp, dir. Simon Phillips, MTC
1997 director & producer, The Mandragola by Machiavelli, PACT, Sydney
1996 co-founder of physical theatre company TILT. Performed and devised new works:
Loving the Alien (The Stables) and Moving Stills (Melbourne Fringe)