STAGES with Peter Eyers

Sam Strong is an award-winning theatre director and one of Australia’s leading cultural figures, known for combining artistic ambition with transformative leadership. He has served as Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre and Griffin Theatre Company, Associate Artistic Director of Melbourne Theatre Company, Chair of Circa, and Executive Director of Creative Industries at Creative Victoria. In 2024 he was appointed Creative Director and CEO of Gasworks Arts Park.A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and admitted as a barrister and solicitor in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Strong brings rare cross-sector insight to his work. At Griffin, he delivered seven consecutive seasons of subscriber growth and record-breaking productions. At Queensland Theatre, he rebranded and revitalised the company, achieving the highest box office in its history, overseeing the renovation of the Bille Brown Theatre, and positioning the company as a national home for new Australian stories.Strong has directed for every Australian state theatre company and major festivals. His stage adaptation of Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe became the highest-selling production in Queensland Theatre’s 50-year history. His productions of Love Stories and Joanna Murray-Smith’s Honour were acclaimed, with the latter becoming the longest-running show in Red Stitch’s history. He made Helpmann Awards history as only the second director to have two productions nominated for Best Play in the same year.Across more than two decades, Strong’s work — spanning classics, bold new writing and large-scale collaborations — has been seen by over 500,000 people. Renowned for unlocking potential in artists and organisations alike, he continues to champion ambitious storytelling and community-centred cultural leadership.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Gavan Swift is a multi award-winning Lighting Designer. He graduated from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). His musical lighting designs include Mamma Mia!, Heathers the Musical, Mack & Mabel, The Mikado, The Pirates Of Penzance, Hot Shoe Shuffle, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweet Charity, Fiddler on the Roof, Jolson, Buddy, Oh What A Night, Footloose, Hair, Xanadu, Chess, Carousel, Follies, Annie and Saturday Night Fever both in Australia and on London’s West End. Gavan was the lighting designer for Moby Dick at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, making history as the first Australian Lighting Designer to light a production at the fabled Arts institution.. He has designed the lighting for The Production Company’s Anything Goes, Sugar (Some Like It Hot), The Music Man, Hair, Mack & Mabel, The Pirates of Penzance, Thoroughly Modern Millie and their inaugural production of Mame. For the State Theatre Company of South Australia his designs include Three Sisters (co-set designer), King Lear and Hamlet. For Bell Shakespeare; The Winter’s Tale, Pericles and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also designed the lighting for the Victorian Opera production of La Rodine and the multi award-winning production of Salome. Gavan has also designed lighting for productions at the Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, The Ensemble Theatre, and Opera Australia. Gavan was the Associate Lighting Designer for the Australian productions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, Cabaret, The Full Monty, Chicago, High School Musical, A Chorus Line, South Pacific, The Lord of the Rings, Wicked, Frozen, An American In Paris, 9 to 5, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hairspray, Beauty & the Beast, Moulin Rouge, Beetlejuice and The Lion King; as well as the West End production of A Chorus Line, the Japanese production of Beauty and the Beast, plus the Mexican production of Wicked.In another busy year he is Associate Lighting Designer on productions that include Anastasia, Waitress, Beetlejuice and Pretty Woman. He will also create the Lighting Design for Victorian Opera’s Ned Kelly.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Morry Morgan is co‑founder and teacher at the Hard Knock Knocks Comedy School, a Melbourne‑based training ground that has helped more than 900 students — keynote speakers, first‑time comedians and bucket‑list performers — take the stage with confidence. A comedic entrepreneur and media commentator, Morry created the Gigme app, produced the comedy‑drama series Is This Thing On?, and ran The Rubber Chicken Comedy Pub from 2021–2023. His school, staffed by A‑list coaches, pairs new acts with headline performers and has been featured on Channel 9’s Travel Guides and supported by the NDIS for its inclusion work.Before returning to Australia in 2013, Morry lived and worked in Mainland China, founding award‑winning corporate training firm ClarkMorgan and publishing the region’s leading bilingual HR title, NetworkHR. A three‑time TEDx speaker and fluent Mandarin speaker, he regularly appears in Australian media on comedy, leadership and the creative arts.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

A graduate of the Drama Studio Sydney, Anthony Skuse is a director, dramaturge and teacher. Anthony’s directing credits include: Bradford Elmore’s Gravity (Qtopia); James Elazzi’s Saints of Damour (Qtopia); Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (KXT, Secret House); Gary Owen’s Cherry Orchard: after Chekhov, (Old Fitz, Secret House); Ibsen’s Doll’s House (The Actors Company, ACA); Simon Longman’s Gundog (KXT, Secret House); Katie Pollock’s Rough Trade (Sydney Writes and Theatre Works Melbourne), Breaking the Code (New Theatre); Chekhov’s Three Sisters (Belvoir Downstairs, AFTT) Alistair McDowall’s Pomona, (KXT, Secret House); Katie Pollock’s Normal (Uncertainty Principle); Crime and Punishment (Secret House); Joanna Erskine’s Air  (Old 505); Simon Stephens’ Birdland (New Theatre); Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis (Old Fitz); Suzie Miller’s Sunset Strip (Uncertainty principle & Griffin, and with Critical Stages National Tour); Chekov’s Seagull (Secret House, Depot Theatre); Bathsheba Doran’s Mystery of Love and Sex (Darlinghurst Theatre); Charlotte Jones’ Airswimming (The Vaults, London); Nick Enright’s Man With Five Children (Darlinghurst Theatre Company); Christopher Harley’s Blood Bank (Ensemble Theatre); Jane Bodie’s Fourplay & Ride (Darlinghurst Theatre Company); Suzie Miller’s Caress/Ache (Griffin Theatre Company); Jessica Bellamy’s Shabbat Dinner (Rock Surfers, Rocks Pop Up Festival, Griffin Theatre Company); Nick Payne’s Constellations (Darlinghurst Theatre Company); Simon Stephens’ On the shore of the wide world (Griffin Independent); Amy Hertzog’s 4000 Miles (Under the Wharf, Sydney, La Boite, Brisbane & Critical Stages Regional Tour); Simon Stephens’ Punk Rock (Under the Wharf) which won three Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Independent Production and Best DirectionAnthony was Head of Performance at Actor Centre Australia. He has directed graduation shows WAAPA, NIDA and AFTT and now JMC. He was an Associate Lecturer at NIDA from 2009 – 2013, working in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses. Anthony is presently directing Beth Steel’s Till The Stars Come Down for company Secret House, being presented at the KXT theatre in Sydney from March 27th.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Deborah Jones is one of Australia’s most respected arts journalists, with a career spanning more than 25 years as a writer, critic and editor at The Australian. She served as Arts Editor for a decade and also edited the paper’s influential Review section, later becoming Executive Editor for five years.Joining the Sydney bureau in 1987 as a sub-editor, Deborah rose through the ranks to become a leading national voice in arts criticism. In 2001 she was appointed Arts Editor, a position she held for nearly ten years, shaping coverage of theatre, dance, opera and music across the country. She subsequently became the paper’s national dance critic — a role she continues to hold — while also reviewing musical theatre and opera.Deborah holds an honours degree in drama from the University of Newcastle, completed part-time while working as a journalist. She later spent three years as a drama tutor at the university, grounding her criticism in both scholarship and practical understanding of performance.In addition to her work for The Australian, Deborah has been the Sydney correspondent for the London-based Opera Magazine for seven years, reviewing opera performances in Australia for an international readership. She is also a member of the Sydney Theatre Awards judging panel, contributing her expertise to recognising excellence on stage.Now working as a freelance writer and editor, Deborah specialises in dance, musical theatre, theatre and opera. Her blog, deborahjones.me, continues her lifelong conversation about performance — archiving reviews, offering commentary, and proving that retirement is no match for a seasoned journalist with a passion for the arts.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).