Wayne Harrison
Creative / Directing / Writing

Bio

DIRECTOR/WRITER

Wayne Harrison is one of Australia’s most sought after theatre directors and creative producers, working here in Australia and internationally. As Director/CEO of Sydney Theatre Company from 1990 to 1999 he directed over 40 productions including The Normal HeartA Little Night Music, Dead White Males, Into the Woods, Medea and Two Weeks With the Queen. From 1999 to 2002, Wayne was based in London as the Creative Director of SFX/Back Row and Clear Channel Entertainment (Europe), part of the producing team behind Gumboots, Tap Dogs, Slava’s Snowshow, Fosse and Mum’s the Word for which he has directed many productions around the world.

Wayne’s recent directing credits include Orry (Gentleman George Productions, Hollywood), Human Nature (The Venetian, Las Vegas), Young & Jackson (45DS, Melbourne), The One Day of the Year (Finborough Theatre, London), Shellshock (Riverside Theatres, Parramatta), Letter to Larry (Theatre Nesle, Paris), For Crying Out Loud (The Grand Theatre, Ontario, Canada), Human Nature -The Motown Show (The Venetian, Las Vegas), The Choir of Man (Darwin Festival), RU4Me (Australian tour), Celebrity Autobiography and Love, Loss, and What I Wore (Sydney Opera House), Satango (Cockroach Theatre Company) and Sunday in the Park with George (NIDA, Sydney).

Wayne was the Creative Director of the New Year’s Eve Celebrations on Sydney Harbour from 2005 to 2007, and the Director of the Closing Ceremony for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. For Spiegelworld International he has directed Vegas Nocturne, Absinthe and Empire (Spiegelworld, New York City & Las Vegas).

Other credits include: Australia Plays Broadway (New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center); Justin Fleming’s Origin (Somerset House, London and the AGNSW, Sydney), Biddies (CDP Theatres), directing/producing Stainless Steel Rat (Seymour Centre, Sydney) -which he produced in London as Man in the Middle-, Just Macbeth (Bell Shakespeare), End of the Rainbow (Sydney, Melbourne, Edinburgh), Sunset Boulevard (The Production Company, Green Room Award – Best Director), the award-winning comedy Codgers by Don Reid, and the subsequent feature film adaptation, Codgers – the Film. Wayne has worked as a Director on Hayes Theatre’s Melba, the Sydney Opera House’s production of James Galea’s Best Trick Ever, and more recently the Art Club Theatre’s 2022 production of Mom’s the Word: Talkin’ Turkey.

WEBSITE – www.wayneharrison.com

Reviews

    "Under Wayne Harrison’s magnificent direction the rest of the ensemble deliver thrilling performances, many doubling/tripling various roles."
    - Melba
    ArtsHub Australia