Hayes Theatre's Richard Carroll and Victoria Falconer In Conversation with Catherine Văn-Davies

Host(s)

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  Victoria Falconer

  Victoria Falconer (she/her) is a celebrated cross-disciplinary performance maker, music director, multi-instrumentalist, and creative mentor of Filipina-English heritage. She is co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co in Sydney alongside Richard Carroll, and was recently named among the 40 Under 40 Influential Asian-Australians in Arts and Culture (2024). Notable work as a musical director includes My Brilliant Career (Melbourne Theatre Company), In The Heights (Sydney Opera House), Ride The Cyclone (Hayes), M’ap Boulé (Performing Lines) and Once (Darlinghurst Theatre/Black Swan State Theatre). Recent commissions as lead creative/performer include Smashed: The Nightcap (Sydney Festival 2024, Auckland Festival 2025), The Sight (Dark Mofo 2023), and The Vali Myers Project (Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Frank Ford Commission winner 2022). As a cabaret artist, Victoria has performed on stages from Soho Theatre and Southbank Centre in London to Club Cumming NYC, Edinburgh Fringe, Glastonbury Festival and Woodford Folk Festival. She has hosted events at Victoria’s Pride, Sydney Mardi Gras, and Bi Pride UK. Accolades include winning Adelaide Fringe's Best Cabaret Award twice, a Green Room Award for Best Cabaret Ensemble, and multiple nominations for both Sydney Theatre and Green Room Awards for musical direction.
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  Richard Carroll

  Richard Carroll is a director, writer and producer based in Sydney. Since 2022, he has been Co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co with Victoria Falconer. Directing work at Hayes Theatre Co includes Ride The Cyclone, Murder For Two, Calamity Jane (followed by Belvoir season and national tour), Godspell, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Monty Python’s Spamalot (followed by Australian tour), Gypsy, Side Show, and Murder For Two: Christmas Edition, as well as numerous concerts, cabaret shows and events. In 2025 at Hayes, he will direct his own new adaptation of The Pirates of Penzance, and Jordan Shea’s new Australian work Merry & Bright, starring the theatre’s namesake Nancye Hayes. He won a Sydney Theatre Award for Calamity Jane, and was nominated this year for Murder For Two. Richard’s production of Once has played three times at the Eternity Playhouse in Sydney, and had seasons at Merrigong Theatre Co, Black Swan State Theatre Co, HOTA Gold Coast, and The Comedy Theatre in Melbourne. Other directing work includes a new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! for Black Swan State Theatre Co, and The Boy, George, a one-person show starring comedian Joel Creasey. He has co-directed new Australian play The Boomkak Panto with Virginia Gay for Belvoir, and An Act of God with Mitchell Butel for Darlinghurst Theatre Co. In 2025 he will re-mount his production of Calamity Jane for Queensland Theatre. Richard is co-creator and director of the shows Every Musical Ever (The Art House Wyong & Adelaide Cabaret Festival), and The Show Goes On starring Bernadette Robinson (Sydney Opera House & Arts Centre Melbourne). For Neglected Musicals, he has directed presentations of Mame and Meet Me in St Louis, as well as the first incarnation of his Calamity Jane. Other directing work includes Rewired for Sydney Festival & Hayes Theatre Co, A Night at the Speakeasy for Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and opening gala concerts for Adelaide Cabaret Festival, The Art House, and The Pavilion Performing Arts Centre. Richard’s cabaret work includes: Everybody Loves Lucy (co-writer); Dahlesque (co-writer); ¡Hispanic Attack! (writer/director, national tour); and Don’t Bother To Knock (co-writer/director, Hayes/Adelaide Cabaret Festival). Richard’s producing and executive producing work includes Sweet Charity and Miracle City for Luckiest Productions, Jekyll & Hyde, Lizzie, Darlinghurst Nights and High Society for Hayes Theatre Co; Calamity Jane, Side Show, and Monty Python’s Spamalot for One-Eyed Man Productions, and Gypsy for Luckiest Productions & One Eyed Man Productions. In 2010, Richard co-wrote and was associate producer of the FOXTEL documentary David Campbell on Broadway.
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  Catherine Văn-Davies

  Catherine Văn-Davies is a multi-award-winning Vietnamese-Australian stage and screen actor based in Sydney. Born in Canberra, spending her early childhood in Bogor, Indonesia and her school/tertiary years in Brisbane. She graduated from QUT with a BFA (Acting) in 2006 and trained at HB Studio, New York in 2010. She has had an extensive career in theatre, performing at major arts institutions around the country and internationally, and in the last couple of years has been a new face in Australian television. Her recent screen credits include: Home & Away (Seven), Mother & Son (ABC), Wolf Like Me S2 (Stan), The Claremont Murders (Ch 7), The Twelve (Foxtel), It’s Fine I’m Fine (Photoplay Films), Barons (ABC), Amazing Grace (Nine Network), Hungry Ghosts (SBS), The Letdown (ABC), Fighting Season (Foxtel), Pet Killer (Black Pills). Her recent theatre credits include: Sydney Theatre Company: American Signs, Constellations, Playing Beatie Bow, No Pay? No Way!, White Pearl (with National Theatre of Parramatta), Going Down (with Malthouse); Red Line Productions: A Streetcar Named Desire; Bell Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus, The Misanthrope, The Merchant of Venice; Chunky Move: Complexity of Belonging (with Falk Richter); Belvoir: An Enemy Of The People, Back at the Dojo, The Kiss; Griffin Theatre Company: Sex Magick, Turquoise Elephant; Apocalypse Theatre Company: Angels in America; Little Ones Theatre: The Happy Prince, Dracula, Dangerous Liaisons; Arthur: The Myth Project: Twin, Cut Snake, Superhero Training Academy, Waltzing Woolloomooloo: The Tale of Frankie Jones. MKA: sex. violence.blood.gore; Milk Crate Theatre: various productions. Catherine was a facilitator for Playwriting Australia’s Lotus (with Contemporary Asian Australian Performance) & Outreach programs fostering emerging Australian writers and is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in storytelling and our industry. She was also the Co-Artistic Director of Red Line productions (Old Fitzroy) from 2019 – 2023. Most recent Awards include: 2023 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Mainstage production (Constellations), Best Supporting Actor (Streetcar) 2020: Best Supporting Actor (Angels in America), 2020 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Ensemble (White Pearl), 2021 Equity Award for Best Ensemble in a Mini Series (Hungry Ghosts). Catherine is a proud member of Actors’ Equity