Moira Blumenthal

(19*) Australian producer and director, with close connections to South African theatre. *? Moira has directed and produced mainstream theatre internationally since 1988. Director of Moira Blumenthal Productions, became the Seymour Centre's Programming Manager (200???); Executive director of BITE - or Best Independent Theatre – which she founded with Colin Rose at the Seymour (2008?). Her South African productions include William Finn’s March of the Falsettos (with NAPAC, at the Adcock-Ingram Theatre, 1989), Joshua Sobol's Ghetto (with PACT in 1991), David Mamet's Oleanna (1993). She established and ran The Rosebank Little Theatre in Johannesburg (1992 - 1994). As a result of her association with the Sydney Theatre Company, Morris Gleitzman's Two Weeks With the Queen was produced as the first theatre exchange between Australia and South Africa in 1995 and she then directed Timothy Daly's Livingstone in Florida, USA, and presented Michael Gow's Sweet Phoebe and Timothy Daly's Kafka Dances in South Africa ('96). In Sydney she produced Irene Stephanou's Meza, Mira and Make-Up and Joanna Weinberg's Bellydancing. She co-produced and directed Gary Henderson's Skin Tight (1999) and Collected Stories by Donald Margulies (2000/1) for tours of South Africa, as well as Joanna Weinberg's The Lightness of Feeling in Sydney (2001). In 2002 she co-produced Pieter-Dirk Uys's Foreign Aids at the Sydney Opera House and the world premier of Craig Freidmond's The King of Laughter for the 2003 Carnivale Festival. In 2004 she directed Mum's the Word for Pieter Toerien Productions. In 2005 she co-produced Pieter-Dirk Uys's Elections and Erections in Sydney and Brisbane. In 2005 she directed From Door to Door for Pieter Toerien Productions. In 2006 Moira directed the Naledi award-winning Bombshells starring Kate Normington. This was followed by the hit It’s a Dad Thing in 2007.

Quoted from the programme of From Door to Door in ****: 'Moira Blumenthal has directed and produced main stream theatre internationally since 1988. Highlights from international works include William Finn's Falsettos, Joshua Sobel's Ghetto, Persona by Margaret Laurence, and David Mamet's Oleanna. Moira established and ran the Rosebank Theatre in Johannesburg (1992-1994), which was the home of many new South African works, such as The Return of Elvis du Pisanie, Bloostream and The Harum-Scarum Girl, based on the life of Ellen Terry. Moira began her association with Australian Theatre in 1992 with a co-production of Falsettos with The Sydney Theatre Company. Her association with the STC continued with Two Weeks with the Queen (adapted by Mary Morris) which was produced in Johannesburg and Pretoria in 1995. In 1996 she directed Timothy Daly's Livingstone in Florida, USA, and presented Michael Gow's Sweet Phoebe and Timothy Daly's Kafka Dances in South Africa. Both Two Weeks with the Queen and Kafka Dances won National Theatre Awards. Through 1997/98 she directed Woman in Black, Into the Woods, Deathtrap and All in the Timing in Orlando, USA. In 1997 Moira produced Meze, Mira and Make-Up as part of the Carnivale Festival in Sydney. She co-produced David Mamet's Speed the Plow at the Fitzroy Hotel and redirected Bellydancing for a Sydney season. In 1999 Moira directed John Mistro's Shoehorn Sonata as part of the Ensemble Theatre School's subscription season and the Ensemble's main stage production of Sue Woolfe's Leaning Towards Infinity. She co-produced and directed the New Zealand play Skin Tight for a South African season. In 2000 she directed Peter Shaffer's Amadeus in Orlando USA and Collected Stories for South African tour. She produced Sir David Hare's Via Dolorasa for a launch in Canberra. In 2002 Moira Bloementhal Productions co-produced Foreign Aids starring Pieter-Dirk Uys. In 2004 Moira directed Mum's the Word for Pieter Toerien.