Shaun Rennie is one Australia’s fastest rising directors. Following his sell-out production of Rent at the Sydney Opera House at the beginning of last year, Opera Australia appointed him as the assistant director on Davide Livermore’s production of Aida. This led to further engagements as revival director for the current season of Gale Edward’s La Bohème and assistant director to Simon Phillips on The Phantom of the Opera – this year’s HANDA Opera on Sydney Harbour. He is also directing a brand-new musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Bell Shakespeare titled The Lovers, written by Laura Murphy and opening in October. Drawing upon a series of meetings and Rennie’s diary notes, Jansson J. Antmann has pieced together a portrait of the director as he juggles three very different theatrical productions and dons a different hat for each.

Shaun Rennie

Shaun Rennie. Photo supplied

THURSDAY, 7 OCTOBER 2021

 12:22 PM

Thank goodness for noise cancelling headphones! The construction work downstairs is not helping me prep for The Lovers workshop in November, or La Bohème. I’m up to my ears in paperwork that goes back to when Gale...