HEATHER FAIRBAIRN

​Director


Heather Fairbairn is a British-Australian theatre and opera director. Heather has worked with companies including Sydney Theatre Company, Schaubühne Berlin, Royal Opera House, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, La Boite Theatre Company, and Opera Australia. Her popular staging of Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE is regularly revived in concert halls around Europe, including Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (Belgium), Grande Théâtre de la Ville (Luxembourg), Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon), and Escuela de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid). 

Directing credits include THE MUTANT MAN by Christopher Bryant in a “stylish production” [The Stage] with “glimpses of visual genius in its staging” (The Space Arts Centre, London), SNAPPY OPERAS (Mahogany Opera Group), SUNNYTOWN (La Boite Theatre Company), LITTLE NEMO AND THE ICE CREAM WITCH (Bayerische Theaterakademie), THE RIVER by Jez Butterworth (National Institute of Dramatic Art), ORPHANS by Dennis Kelly (Actors Centre Australia), YOUNG ARTIST CONCERT (Opera Australia), and WINTEREISSE (National Institute of Dramatic Art).

Heather regularly collaborates with renowned theatre director Katie Mitchell, working on ARIADNE AUF NAXOS and ALCINA (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence), LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (Royal Opera House), and OPHELIAS ZIMMER (Royal Court Theatre & Schaubühne Berlin). As associate director, revival director, and assistant director, credits include ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST directed by Sarah Giles (Sydney Theatre Company), IL TROVATORE directed by David Bösch (Royal Opera House), and AS YOU LIKE IT directed by David Berthold (La Boite Theatre Company).

Upcoming engagements include ARIADNE AUF NAXOS (director, Queensland Conservatorium) conducted by Simone Young, and ARIADNE AUF NAXOS directed by Katie Mitchell (assistant director: Théâtre des Champs Elysées - Paris; revival director: Grande Théâtre de la Ville - Luxembourg, Finnish National Opera - Helsinki, Royal Danish Opera - Copenhagen).

Heather holds a Master of Fine Arts (Directing) from the National Institute of Dramatic Art and a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Drama & Creative Writing) from the University of Queensland, and regularly lectures on the NIDA post-graduate directing course.

View Heather's work at heatherfairbairn.com