A Night of Chekhov

Jean-Pierre Mignon worked in Paris as an actor and director before arriving in Australia in 1978.

He was founder and artistic director of Anthill Theatre (1980–94) directing classic and contemporary plays including those by Moliere, Brecht, Beckett and, in 1987, The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya by Chekhov. Several productions were presented at international festivals.

He has directed for the Sydney Theatre Company, including a production of The Seagull in 1986, the Victoria State Opera, the Opera of South Australia and the Victorian Opera. For television, he directed many episodes of All Saints and, most recently, City Homicide.

He has received three Green Room Awards for best direction: Don Juan, Waiting for Godot and Cosi Fan Tutte, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the performing arts in 1989.

Appearing in The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya and many other plays, Alex Menglet is one of Australia’s most respected stage actors.

Raised in a Russian theatrical family, Alex studied at the Moscow State Institute of Drama and performed on various Moscow stages before immigrating to Australia. His most recent appearances for MTC include Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Madwoman of Chaillot, The Seagull, Cyrano de Bergerac, Julius Caesar, Waiting for Godot, The Woman in the Window, When She Danced, The Selection, The Marriage of Figaro and The Taming of the Shrew. For Anthill Theatre, his work includes The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, The Imaginary Invalid, The Three Sisters, The Crimson Island, The School for Wives, Mother Courage and The Immigrants.

He has performed for most of the major theatre companies including Malthouse (Goodbye Vaudeville Charlie Mudd), STC (Don Juan, Miss Julie, for whom he also co-translated Uncle Vanya), Belvoir Company B (The Seagull, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, for whom he also co-translated The Little Cherry Orchard). He featured in Queensland Theatre Company’s The Forest, Victorian State Opera’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, Church Theatre’s If Winter Comes and most recently in the successful revival of 12 Angry Men for which he won a 2005 Green Room Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Alex has also directed various productions including Crime and Punishment and The Red and The Black for the Stork Theatre, and Rites of Passage, Yellow Moon, Jack Goes Boating and Playing the Victim for Red Stitch Theatre.

His extensive credits in Australian television include playing Petrov in The Petrov Affair, Alexi in High Flyers, Krzysztof in Seachange and Vlad in House Rules. Other credits in series and mini-series include Wilfred II, City Homicide, False Witness, Kick, Kath & Kim, Shock Jock, Janus, Phoenix, Bordertown, Carson’s Law, The Anzacs and The Dunera Boys.

On screen, Alex was most recent work was in Kin, Salvation and The Book Of Revelation; other films include Josh Jarman, He Died with a Falafel in his Hand and Children of the Revolution. Alex works frequently for ABC radio drama and the Russian Language Program on SBS radio, and as a director and translator.

Cate Kennedy is the author of the highly acclaimed novel The World Beneath, which won the People’s Choice Award in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards in 2010. She is an award-winning short-story writer whose work has been published widely ...

Peter Goldsworthy wrote the libretto for Richard Mills' multi-Helpmann award winning opera Batavia. His most recent songwriting collaboration was with composer Graeme Koehne, on The Ring-tone Cycle - a Cabaret Quintet for Piano Trio, Soprano and iPhone, which premiered at last year’s Adelaide Festival.

This year Penguin are releasing his childhood memoir, His Stupid Boyhood, Text are reissuing his 1996 novel Wish in their Text Classics series, and Harper Collins reissuing his 1989 novel Maestro as an Angus & Robertson Australian Classic.

In 2010 he was awarded an AM for service to literature.

Stephen Armstrong is a creative producer and programmer specialising in new work commissions and interdisciplinary and inter-cultural collaborations. He is currently Creative Director of the inaugural Asia TOPA: Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts.     

Stephen graduated in English Literature and History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne, and completed the Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.   

He has worked as an Artistic Associate or Executive Producer for many of Australia’s leading performing arts companies including: Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Chamber Made Opera and Handspan Theatre. Stephen is currently a board director of Next Wave Festival. Previous directorships include Chunky Move and NIDA. He has been a councillor of the Australia Council for the Arts and chaired both the New Media Arts Fund and the Theatre Board.   

Stephen has been the grateful recipient of the Myer Group Arts Award, the George Fairfax Fellowship, the 2005 Green Room Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre and was awarded the 2008 Kenneth Myer Medallion for Outstanding Achievement in the Performing Arts.