Ensemble Theatre

John Bell is the founder of Bell Shakespeare and one of Australia’s most acclaimed theatre personalities. In a career of acting and directing, John has been instrumental in shaping the Australian theatre industry as we know it.

After graduating from Sydney University in 1962 John worked for the Old Tote Theatre Company, all of Australia’s state theatre companies and was an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company in the United Kingdom. As co-founder of Sydney’s Nimrod Theatre Company, John presented many productions of landmark Australian plays including David Williamson’s TRAVELLING NORTH, THE CLUB and THE REMOVALISTS. He also initiated an Australian Shakespeare style with Nimrod productions such as MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and MACBETH.

In 1990 John founded The Bell Shakespeare Company where his productions have included THE WINTER’S TALE, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, HAMLET, ROMEO AND JULIET, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, RICHARD 3, PERICLES, HENRY 4, HENRY 5, JULIUS CAESAR, ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA, THE COMED OF ERRORS, WARS OF THE ROSES, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, MACBETH and AS YOU LIKE IT, as well as John Webster’s THE DUCHESS OF MALFI, Goldoni’s THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS, Gogol’s THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR and Ben Jonson’s THE ALCHEMIST. His Shakespeare roles include Hamlet, Shylock, Henry V, Richard III, Macbeth, Malvolio, Berowne, Petruchio, Leontes, Coriolanus, Prospero, King Lear, Titus Andronicus and Falstaff. He played the title role in co-productions with Queensland Theatre Company including: RICHARD 3, Heiner Müller’s ANATOMY TITUS FALL OF ROME: A SHAKESPEARE COMMENTARY and performed the role of Mephistopheles, in FAUSTUS. John directed TOSCA and CARMEN for Opera Australia, THE RAKE’S PROGRESS for the Victorian Opera and has also directed a production of MADAME BUTTERFLY for an Oz Opera national tour. John performed the role of the Professor in Sydney Theatre Company’s production of UNCLE VANYA, presented in association with Bell Shakespeare which also toured to Washington and New York and is playing the role of Andre in THE FATHER for STC/MTC in 2017.

John Bell is an Officer of the Order of Australia and the Order of the British Empire. He has an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the Universities of Sydney, New South Wales and Newcastle. In 1997 the National Trust of Australia named him as one of Australia’s Living Treasures. In 2003 the Australia Business Arts Foundation awarded John the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Cultural Leadership Award. His many awards as an actor and director include two Helpmann Awards for Best Actor (Richard 3, 2002 & Jaques in As you Like It, 2015), a Producers and Directors Guild Award for Lifetime Achievement and the JC Williamson Award (2009) for extraordinary contribution to Australia’s live entertainment industry and the 2010 Sydney Theatre Award for Lifetime Achievement in recognition of his extraordinary career as an actor, director and producer.

Genevieve graduated from NIDA in 2016 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Design for Performance), and went on to complete her Masters of Fine Arts (Design for Performance) degree in 2017. Her design work focuses on the character and the actor as the starting point, placing the designer/actor collaboration at the forefront of her costume design process.

In 2016, she undertook a placement on the set of ‘Alien: Covenant’ by renowned director Ridley Scott, assisting in both art department, and wardrobe. She was also awarded the William Fletcher Foundation Grant for the development and advancement of talented young Australian artists. In 2017 Genevieve co-designed the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s ‘Handel’s Messiah’ and was costume designer on The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s ‘Bittersweet Obsessions’, a new Opera combining the works of Monteverdi and Bach.

In 2017 Genevieve was production designer on NIDA’s production of Eurydike and Orpheus, a new Australian work, part of NIDA’s Nick Enright season. She was also production designer on NIDA’s production of ‘Fraternal’, a new Australian play. Genevieve has just completed her Masters thesis paper on the ‘Collaboration Between the Designer and the Actor in the Development of Character’.

Matt’s career in theatre has spanned 15 years designing lighting in both Australia and the UK.

During his time in London, Matt worked with student directors attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and John Stahl’s solo show BLINDMAN. Since returning to Sydney he has designed numerous theatre productions including for Bangarra Dance Theatre: OUR Land People Stories, BLAK, BELONG. For Carriageworks: LAKE DISAPPOINTMENT. For Siren Theatre Co: THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY. For the Australian Chamber Orchestra: REFLECTIONS ON GALLIPOLI. For Musica Viva: GOLDNER STRING QUARTET. For Bell Shakespeare: HAMLET, ROMEO AND JULIET. For Monkey Baa: THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER. For Sydney Theatre Company: RUBY MOON. For Louise Withers and Associates: THE MOUSETRAP, A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED. For Company B: THE SEED. For Legs on the Wall: SYMPHONY. For Sport for Jove: THE LIBERTINE, OTHELLO, ANTIGONE. For Sydney Festival: THE FAMOUS SPIEGELTENT (2016), THE FAMOUS SPIEGELTENT (2015), THE AURORA SPIEGELTENT (2014). For the Sydney Chamber Opera: HIS MUSIC BURNS.

Matt currently tutors for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

Graduating from the Technical Theatre and Stage Management course at NIDA in 2016, Erin has previously worked in the industry as a dresser on GIRL ASLEEP (Belvoir, 2016); stage manager on LITTLE BORDERS (The 505, 2017), MOTH (ATYP, 2017), and LOVE, ME (The 505, 2018); and assistant stage manager on DIPLOMACY (Ensemble Theatre, 2018) and BLISS (Belvoir, 2018).

Erin feels privileged to have worked with such an incredible team on this production and looks forward to the season.