Biography

A multi-award-winning Australian Director whose work has been staged extensively throughout Australia, John has directed productions for Belvoir Street Theatre, Bell Shakespeare, Parramatta Riverside, Black Swan State Theatre Company, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Theatre Company, Griffin and Opera Australia. John's work has been recognized with multiple nominations for Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Awards. He was the Artistic Director of TheatreWorks St Kilda from 2015, he delivered his final season for the company in 2017.

Prior to this John was the Artistic Director at Barking Gecko Theatre Company from 2010 to 2015. In his time at Barking Gecko John directed the stage adaptation of Shaun Tan's children's book "The Red Tree" as well as other acclaimed productions including "Driving Into Walls", "Hamlet", "Storm Boy", "Duck, Death, and the Tulip", "onefivezeroseven", and "Jasper Jones".

In 2015, John's swan-song for Barking Gecko, in conjunction with Opera Australia, was "The Rabbits" adapted from the novel by John Marsden and Shaun Tan, premiering at the 2015 Perth International Arts Festival before transferring to the Melbourne Festival and subsequent seasons at the Sydney Festival and QPAC in 2016. "The Rabbits" was the winner of four 2015 Helpmann Awards - Best Presentation for Children, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design and Best New Australian Work.

In 2016 for Opera Australia, John was the assistant director to Matthew Barclay on the recent revival of "For The Love Of Three Oranges". In 2019 John directed the critically acclaimed new opera "Whiteley", premiering at the Sydney Opera House.

John's first short film Mrs McCutcheon (2017) had its Australian premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2017, winning Best Australian Short Film. "Mrs McCutcheon" won Best Short Film at the Screen Producers Awards 2017, Best Short Film at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Best Direction of a Short Film at the Australian Directors Guild Awards, and was also nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Short Film. To date "Mrs McCutcheon" has traveled to more than 140 festivals, winning 45 awards.

John first feature film H is for Happiness (2019) for Cyan Films had its world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2019, and international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival 2020, where it received a Special Mention for the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film from the children's jury. The film is based on the celebrated children's book by Barry Jonsberg "My Life As An Alphabet" and has been adapted for the screen by Lisa Hoppe.
- IMDb mini biography by: Andre Lima