Arcola Theatre, London
August 2019
Music by Bushra El-Turk, Liza Lim and Cassandra Miller
Libretto by Eleanor Knight
Conductor Kelly Lovelady
Director Heather Fairbairn
Designer Charlotte Henery
Lighting Designer Sean Gleason
Video Designer Sapphire Goss
Production Manager Gabriel Finn
Producer Ruthless Jabiru
Cast: Camille Maalawy, Mona Khalili, Karim Jabri, Shira Agmon, Sophie Atalar, and Aivale Cole.
A woman, alone, wrestles with the part she played in her daughter’s downfall. Is she vulnerable? Or complicit?
Bushra El-Turk‘s hard-hitting, contemporary opera Silk Moth is presented alongside Liza Lim’s The Hearts Ear and Cassandra Miller’s Bel Canto in a new production by London chamber orchestra Ruthless Jabiru.
A stellar cast of singers and conducted ensemble weave together Arabic and Western musical traditions, examining the complex tragedies of honour crime, family violence, and female (dis)empowerment in Britain and beyond.
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/silk-moth/
Press:
”a daring and powerful theatrical evening which lasted less than an hour, but whose emotion will resonate for far longer” https://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2019/08/grimeborn-festival-triple-bill-el-turk-silk-moth/
Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane
December 2018
by Richard Strauss
Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Conductor Simone Young
Director Heather Fairbairn
Musical Preparation Richard Hetherington, Jennifer Marten-Smith, Philip Mayers, Simon Bruckard
Starring: Elizabeth Lewis, Rachel Pines, and Luke Stoker
European Tour
Director Heather Fairbairn
Composer Ana Seara
Dramaturg Sophie van der Stegan
Design Associate Isabella Andronos
with Fabien Hyon, Guillaume Paire, Julie Gebhart and Marie Datcharry
An immersive and participatory, multi-lingual adaptation of Mozart's The Magic Flute for children and their families.
Tour history: Ferme du Biéreau (Belgium, August 2017), Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (Belgium, September 2017), Grand Théâtre de la Ville (Luxembourg, December 2017), Fundación Albéniz-Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid, November 2018), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, December 2018).
Supported by enoa and Creative Europe Programme of the European Union
© Michel Cooreman
The Space Arts Centre, London
March - April 2017
by Christopher Bryant
Director Heather Fairbairn
Designer Charlotte Henery
Lighting Designer Sean Gleason
Sound Designer & AV Technician Sebastian Atterbury
Video Designer Sapphire Goss
Script Consultant Jacob Thomas
Assistant Director Holly Barnard
Starring: Clementine Mills (Sydney Theatre Company) and Matthew Coulton (Complicite)
Harry Crawford (otherwise known as Eugenia Falleni) stands trial for the death of his wife. The trial is a farce: the case is filled with false witnesses and Harry’s gender identity is blasted across the newspapers. As the trial continues, Harry’s tragic life-story comes to light. A thrilling true-crime drama, Christopher Bryant’s multi-award-nominated play The Mutant Man puts gender diversity centre stage, while tracing a stomach churning narrative rooted in history.
Featured in Time Out London's guide to the best LGBT theatre
Featured in Evening Standard’s Going Out Guide
Reviews
★★★★ "two amazingly talented performers"..."This gripping and insightful play opens up enlightening discussions about the problems we face with our ideals and expectations of gender identity today." - lastminutetheatretickets
"Heather Fairbairn's stylish production incorporates a wealth of well-judged audio-visual effects" - The Stage
"fine, well acted play given a very imaginative production by director Heather Fairbairn" - British Theatre Guide
"Fairbairn's magpie instinct fashions its own queer beauty here" - Oughttobeclowns
"A gripping and thought-provoking 70 minutes, and well worth a visit." - blogoftheatrethings
"beautifully performed with glimpses of visual genius in its staging" - theplaysthething
Supported by Arts Council England through "Grants for the Arts". Supported by Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation.
Images by Greg Veit
La Boite Theatre Company.
14 - 31 October 2015
by Krystal Sweedman
Director Heather Fairbairn
Assistant Director Jessica Palfrey
Designer Catherine Steele
Lighting Designer Jason Glenwright
Sound Design Guy Webster
Stage Managers Laura Hansford & Emma Wenlock
Producer Emma Joenpolvi
Script Dramaturgy Kathryn Kelly & Peter Matheson
with Olivia Hall-Smith, Vanessa Krummenacher, Caroline Dunphy, Ron Kelly and Rowan Chapman.
http://www.laboite.com.au/cms/page.asp?ID=241
Images by Dylan Evans
REVIEWS
"Sunnytown's audience is theoretically suspended above a suburban story, waiting for the final blow to send them plummeting. Created by Heather Fairbairn and Krystal Sweedman, 'Sunnytown' kick-starts La Boite's 2015 Indie Season with a critique of Australian society. Inherently gripping, 'Sunnytown' is a raw and unsettling work that explores the consequences of choosing to cope when change is the only hope." - Jessica Bozoky, SceneStr Magazine.
4 - 9 April 2016
Bayerische Theaterakademie, Munich, Germany
Director Heather Fairbairn
Composer Ana Seara
Dramaturg Sophie van der Stegan
with Guillaume Paire (Baritone) and Lisa Schöttl (Hammered Dulcimer)
"Opera for young audiences has become an important component on today’s opera house schedules. A diversity of compositions from the field of opera, musical, music theatre, instrumental theatre or “sound installation” has emerged in recent years. But what comprises good theatrical material? How does one write and compose for young ears with little theatre experience, how does one stage pieces for a young audience and how to play for young people?"
© Jean-Marc Turmes
NIDA Directors Graduation Production. Premiered 26 November 2014.
Through fragmented memories and dreams, an ageing poet recounts the mistakes of his youth.
Director Heather Fairbairn
Designer Madeleine Hoy
Lighting Designer Alex Berlage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF-YTje8Fvs
Images provided © NIDA, Photographer: Lisa Maree Williams
NIDA & Triple J Unearthed Music Video of Rosie Catalano's "Hearts"
First screened on ABC Rage,
27 September 2014.
Director Heather Fairbairn
Director of Photography Victor Quieroz
Production Designer Laura Anna Lucas
Production Co-ordinator Jack Thompson
1st Assistant Director Grace Benn
8th European Opera Directing Prize, 2015
Director Heather Fairbairn
Designer Catherine Steele
Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
4 - 16 July 2018
Music Richard Strauss
Libretto Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Conductor Marc Albrecht
Director Katie Mitchell
Dramaturg Martin Crimp
Stage Designer Chloe Lamford
Costume Designer Sarah Blenkinsop
Lighting Designer James Farncombe
Choreographer Joseph W. Alford
Assistant directors Heather Fairbairn & Lily McLeish
with a cast including Lise Davidsen, Sabine Devieilhe and Angela Brower
In co-production with: THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES, THÉÂTRES DE LA VILLE DE LUXEMBOURG, FINNISH NATIONAL OPERA & BALLET, ROYAL DANISH OPERA, GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU
Images by Pascal Victor
Royal Opera House
Covent Garden
30 October – 27 November 2017
Music Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto Salvadore Cammarano
Director Katie Mitchell
Designer Vicki Mortimer
Lighting designer Jon Clark
Assistant directors Heather Fairbairn & Lily McLeish
with a cast including Lisette Oropesa, Charles Castronovo and Christopher Maltman
Co-production with Greek National Opera
Schaubühne Berlin, 2015/16
Royal Court Theatre, 2016
by Alice Birch
Director Katie Mitchell
Associate Director Lily McLeish
Assistant Director Heather Fairbairn
Design Chloe Lamford
Dramaturge Nils Haarmann
Sound Design Max Pappenheim
Light Design Fabiana Piccioli
Associate Artists Michelle Terry, Paul Ready
with Iris Becher, Ulrich Hoppe, Jenny König, and Renato Schuch
Images by Gianmarco Bresadola
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
Grand Théâtre de Provence
2 – 20 July 2015
Dramma per musica in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel
Anonymous libretto after l'Alcina delusa da Ruggiero by Antonio Marchi, inspired by Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso
Created on 16 April 1735 at Covent Garden, London
Music direction Andrea Marcon
Stage direction Katie Mitchell
Stage design Chloe Lamford
Costumes design Laura Hopkins
Light design James Farncombe
Choreography Joseph W. Alford
Orchestra Freiburger Barockorchester
New production of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in co-production with the Boshoi Theatre.
Images © Patrick Berger
shake & stir theatre co / Queensland Performing Arts Centre, 2012
by Nelle Lee & Nick Skubij
Director Michael Futcher
Assistant Director Heather Fairbairn
Designer Josh McIntosh
Lighting Designer Jason Glenwright
Sound Designer Guy Webster
Media Producers optikal bloc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnTnR6Y4MEo
Images by Dylan Evans
La Boite Theatre Company
18 February – 24 March 2012
"Shakespeare's most joyous comedy is a feast of wit and wisdom, love and lust, cross-dressing and cross-purposes."
Director David Berthold
Assistant Directors Heather Fairbairn
& Steven Mitchell Wright
Designer Renée Mulder
Lighting Designer David Walters
Composer & Sound Designer Guy Webster
Images by Al Caeiro
