IMARA SAVAGE
​
​Director

Imara Savage is a theatre and opera director.  She is resident director for the Sydney Theatre Company and has directed award-winning productions for Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir Theatre, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Sydney Chamber Opera, and Griffin Theatre; directed for Bell Shakespeare, Red Stitch and NIDA; and worked as an assistant director at Opera Australia.

For Sydney Theatre Company, Imara directed her acclaimed adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s ST JOAN starring Sarah Snook; and Caryl Churchill’s TOP GIRLS starring Helen Thompson and Kate Box.  Imara’s Helpmann Award winning production of AFTER DINNER won Best Ensemble at the Sydney Theatre Awards and was voted Best Revival by Sydney Morning Herald.  MACHINAL won two Sydney Theatre Awards. Other productions for Sydney Theatre Company include DINNER, THE TESTAMENT OF MARY, HAYFEVER.

Imara’s Helpmann Award winning production of MR BURNS for Belvoir and State Theatre Company of South Australia, also received Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Director and Best Ensemble.

Her acclaimed production of Elliott Gyger’s opera FLY AWAY PETER for Sydney Chamber Opera was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Opera and toured to the Melbourne Festival.  Imara’s other directing for opera includes Philip Glass' IN THE PENAL COLONY and Benjamin Britten's OWEN WINGRAVE for Sydney Chamber Opera which won Best Opera in the Time Out Awards.  

Other theatre directing includes: for Belvoir, FOOL FOR LOVE; for Bell Shakespeare, A COMEDY OF ERRORS; for Griffin Theatre, THE BROTHERS SIZE which won Best Newcomer at the Sydney Theatre Awards; for Red Stitch, ORPHANS; for NIDA, WOYZECK, the Tom Waits/Robert Wilson musical, and PUNK ROCK.

Imara was the Richard Wherrett Fellow at Sydney Theatre Company in 2013, a resident artist at Bell Shakespeare in 2012 and at Griffin Theatre in 2011. She is a graduate of NIDA in Directing and the NIDA Playwriting Studio and holds a BA in Communications and International Studies from University of Technology Sydney. 

Imara teaches and develops curriculum in performance skills at the University of Technology and Kaldor Public Art Projects and teaches acting/directing and dramaturgy for the NIDA Open Programme. Imara is dramaturg for Lucas Jervies’ new production of SPARTACUS for The Australian Ballet.

View images of Imara’s work at www.imarasavage.com