ROBERT JOHNSON
[ARTISTIC DIRECTOR]
Robert Johnson is a producer, dramaturg, actor trainer and director of theatre and opera whose work has been performed around Australia and across three continents.
He is the Artistic Director of theatre company Burning House. Under Robert’s direction, Burning House has partnered with some of Australia’s leading independent theatre venues in the decade since its inception, including Theatre Works and Darebin Town Hall in Melbourne and the Old505 Theatre in Sydney. Robert’s directing and producing credits for Burning House include The Tragedy of Coriolanus, Ajax (Melbourne 2016, Sydney 2019), Summerfolk, The Most Lamentable Roman Tragedy of Titus Andronicus, a workshop production of The Persians and The Suppliants, Caligula, Little Eyolf, Cymbeline (or Imogen), and a repertory season of Henry Six Part 2, Henry Six Part 3 and Richard the Third entitled The Breath of Kings.
Before Burning House, Robert ran Loose Canon Theatre Company, for which he directed and produced When Nietzsche Wept, The Woman in Black, Closer and the Australian premiere of Mark Ravenhill’s Ten Plagues. Other directing highlights include Boy Overboard (CGS), The Bear, The Proposal, Medea, Herakles (all for Acting Performance Studio), Echoes of Villers-Bretonneux (Melbourne Fringe 2018, Edinburgh Fringe 2019), The Doll Hospital (MKA: Theatre of New Writing), The Lover (Victorian College of the Arts), Sunday in the Park with George (UMMTA) Jesus Christ Superstar (MPAG), Julius Caesar, Oedipus Rex, Antigone (JMC Academy), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Three Sisters (CollArts). Robert’s opera credits as director include The Threepenny Opera (Monash University) and Winterreise (Post-Opera Company). He also directed the world premiere and international tour of Rick Springfield’s Late, Late at Night for Type Faster Productions, which will open it’s American run in late 2026.
As an assistant director and on secondment Robert has worked with both Melbourne Theatre Company and Opera Australia on repeat occasions, Belvoir St Theatre, Bell Shakespeare Company, Watch This, Lyric Opera Melbourne, Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Lemony S Puppet Theatre, Komishe Oper, Chamber Made and MKA: Theatre of New Writing. In 2015 he was Artist in Residence for independent company Post-Opera Company, and in 2016 served as MKA: Theatre of New Writing's Artistic Associate (Directing / Literary). Robert has written two plays, When Nietzsche Wept and The Age of Reason.
Robert's practice centres on new adaptions of classic texts, with a focus on themes of violence, legacy, cultural conflict, the concept of the individual and the idea of transcendence. His work explores the human spirit at the very edge of extremity and endurance, creating powerful new works from old texts or new. He is interested in the connection theatre makes with our dead and its debt to the palaeolithic shamans who first led us down into the caves to transcend ourselves communally, and the lessons we can learn from pre-modern theatre cultures in how we engage with audiences.
He works regularly as a dramaturg, assisting both writers and theatre-makers in the creation of ambitious new work, as well as frequently working as an acting tutor. He has also directed three short films, Shang High, Doll’s House (Best Film, Moorabbin Short Film Festival, 2019) and Behind Her Eyes.
Robert holds a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Honours, First Class) from Monash University and a Masters of Directing for Performance from the Victorian College of the Arts.
More of Robert’s work can be viewed on his website: www.robertjohnsondirector.com.
Jessica JOHNSON
[Producer & GENERAL MANAGER]
Jessica Johnson (née Doutch) is a Melbourne based Producer and Arts Manager. She has a Bachelor of Performing Arts from Monash University and a Master of Arts and Cultural Management from the University of Melbourne. She was the general manager of Loose Canon Theatre Company from 2012-2014, and co-founded Burning House in 2016. Jessica has worked for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, The Entertainment Store, and the Monash Academy of Performing Arts. She has also been involved in productions with MUST, Life Like Company, Stageart and Watch This. She currently works as a Production Coordinator, and has managed events at many prestigious venues, including St Paul’s Cathedral, The Arts Centre, Hamer Hall and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.