RICHARD CARROLL
Richard Carroll is a director, writer and producer based in Sydney. He has been Co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co with Victoria Falconer since 2022.
Directing work at Hayes Theatre Co includes The Pirates of Penzance (also adaptor, plus tour), Ride The Cyclone, Murder For Two (plus Arts Centre Melbourne season, Calamity Jane (plus tour), Godspell, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Monty Python’s Spamalot (plus tour), Gypsy, Side Show, and Murder For Two: Christmas Edition, as well as numerous concerts, cabaret shows and events. He won a Sydney Theatre Award for Calamity Jane, and was nominated again for both Ride The Cyclone and Murder For Two. In 2026 at Hayes, he will direct Gutenberg! The Musical! and the world premiere of Silver Tongue.
Richard’s production of Calamity Jane debuted at the Hayes in 2017, then played at Belvoir in 2018 (in addition to a NSW & ACT tour), and at Queensland Theatre and Sydney Opera House in 2025. In Melbourne, it played two sold-out seasons at Arts Centre Melbourne before transferring for a further five-week season at the Comedy Theatre. His production of Once had three seasons at Darlinghurst Theatre Co, transferred to Black Swan State Theatre Co, Merrigong Theatre Co, and HOTA, and also played a 5-week season at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne.
Other directing work includes Oklahoma! for Black Swan State Theatre Co, The Boomkak Panto (co-directed with Virginia Gay) for Belvoir, An Act of God (co-directed with Mitchell Butel) for Darlinghurst Theatre Co, and The Boy, George (also co-writer), a solo show with comedian Joel Creasey.
Richard is co-creator and director of the shows Every Musical Ever (The Art House Wyong & Adelaide Cabaret Festival), and The Show Goes On starring Bernadette Robinson (Sydney Opera House & Arts Centre Melbourne). For Neglected Musicals, he has directed presentations of Mame and Meet Me in St Louis, as well as the first incarnation of his Calamity Jane. Other directing work includes Rewired for Sydney Festival & Hayes Theatre Co, A Night at the Speakeasy for Sydney Symphony Orchestra, opening gala concerts for Adelaide Cabaret Festival, The Art House, and The Pavilion Performing Arts Centre, and multiple events with Rizer. Richard’s cabaret work includes: Everybody Loves Lucy (co-writer); Dahlesque (co-writer); ¡Hispanic Attack! (writer/director, national tour); and Don’t Bother To Knock (co-writer/director, Hayes/Adelaide Cabaret Festival).
VICTORIA FALCONER
Victoria Falconer is an award-winning music director, multi-instrumentalist, cabaret artist and theatre-maker of Filipino-English heritage. She currently serves as the co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co alongside Richard Carroll. Her leadership and artistic contributions to the industry were formally recognised in 2024 when she was named the winner of the Arts & Culture Category in the 40 Under 40 Asian-Australian Leadership Awards.
Music direction highlights include My Brilliant Career (Melbourne Theatre Company), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (GWB/Adelaide Festival/Rising Festival), In The Heights (JRP/Sydney Opera House), M’ap Boulé (Performing Lines), Once (Darlinghurst/Comedy Theatre), Ride The Cyclone, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Lizzie, and Godspell (Hayes Theatre Co), Oklahoma! (Black Swan State Theatre), Sasquatch The Opera (Summerhall Edinburgh), Courtney Act’s Under The Covers (Underbelly London) and Unroyal Variety (Hackney Empire). In 2025, she held roles including Music Supervisor for Bright Star (Sport For Jove), Supervisor and Co-Arranger for the redux of The Pirates of Penzance (Hayes Theatre Co), and Music Rehearsal Associate for Sydney Theatre Company’s The Shiralee.
Commissions as creator/cabaret performer include Smashed: The Nightcap (Sydney Festival & Auckland Arts Festival), The Sight (Dark Mofo), and The Vali Myers Project (Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Frank Ford Award recipient). She is working with Dino Dimitriadis on neo-cabaret work House of Rot, touring nationally in June 2026. Her work as an actor includes the roles of Susan/Adelaide Adams in Calamity Jane at the Sydney Opera House (2025), and touring Australia and Ireland (2021-2024) as “The Muso” in the Slingsby/STCSA production of The Boy Who Talked To Dogs.
Beyond her creative output, Victoria is a fierce advocate for diversity and professional development within the performing arts. She was a founding member of The People Of Cabaret (2020–2025), an initiative designed to resource and platform BIPOC artists in the cabaret sector. Her commitment to mentorship includes work with Midsumma’s Pathways scheme for queer performers, and her role as Industry Mentor on the 2026 ATYP production of Islander.