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 (she/her) is a performer, music director, multi-instrumentalist, writer and mentor of Filipino-English heritage. Since 2022, she has been Co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co alongside Richard Carroll. Recent work as a cross-disciplinary creator/performer includes Smashed: The Nightcap (Sydney Festival 2024), site-specific durational piece The Sight (Dark Mofo 2023); and Frank Ford Commission winner The Vali Myers Project (Adelaide Cabaret Festival); and Smashed: The Brunch Party (Sydney Festival, Adelaide Fringe).
As a cabaret performer, Victoria has appeared on stages including Hackney Empire, Soho Theatre, Southbank Centre London, Carriageworks, The Famous Spiegeltent, Queerstories, BATS Theatre Wellington, Darwin Festival and Glastonbury Festival. She has hosted stages at Victoria Pride, Sydney WorldPride, Melbourne Fringe and Bi Pride UK, and recently toured the Slingsby & State Theatre South Australia production of The Boy Who Talked to Dogs around Australia and Ireland.
In 2022, Victoria was named one of the 40 Under 40 Influential Asian-Australians in Arts and Culture, and is a founding member of The People Of Cabaret, an performance and advocacy initiative formed to support independent artists identifying as Indigenous and/or Bla(c)k and/or People of Colour.
Most recent work as a musical director at Hayes includes Homage, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Godspell and Lizzie. Other music direction credits include M’ap Boulé (Performing Lines), Oklahoma! (Black Swan State Theatre), Once (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Leap (Riverside Parramatta/Australian tour), Courtney Act (London/Sydney) and Insane Animals (Home Manchester). Victoria has won Overall Best Cabaret at Adelaide Fringe twice (2018/2011), a Green Room Award for Best Cabaret Ensemble for The People Of Cabaret (2020), Spirit of the Edinburgh Fringe with Glittery Clittery (2018), and has been nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award and two Green Room Awards (2019/2023) for musical direction.