Suzanne Chaundy – director

Trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (Australia) as a director, Suzanne’s 30 year career spans opera, text-based theatre, events and outdoor spectacle.

Suzanne’s operatic repertoire includes: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, COSI FAN TUTTE, LA TRAVIATA, DER FREISCHÜTZ, WERTHER, MARIA STUARDA, TANNHÄUSER, ANNA BOLENA , OUR MAN IN HAVANA, LOHENGRIN, ROBERTO DEVEREUX, TRISTAN UND ISOLDE and THE FLYING DUTCHMAN.

Suzanne has directed for Melbourne Opera, Lyric, West Australian Opera, Opera Australia, Victorian State Opera, IMG, Red Stitch Actors Theatre, La Mama, Anthill Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company and numerous tertiary institutions. She has been active in a governance role in several key Victorian arts organisations and is currently a board member of Lyric and co-convenor of the Melbourne Independent Opera Coalition.

She is director of the Richard Divall Emerging Artists Programme. Suzanne directed signature productions for Australia’s internationally renowned outdoor performance troupe Strange Fruit. Her productions for that company have been performed in over 400 international festivals and events in more than 40 different countries.

Worldwide representation.

Please note that this biography is not to be used for programmes. Current information is available on request.

“Suzanne Chaundy’s production of this saga for Melbourne Opera is outstanding. Magnificent singers, effective sets by Andrew Bailey and some thrilling moments from the 90-piece Melbourne Opera Orchestra brilliantly conducted by experienced Wagnerian Anthony Negus.”

Die Walküre, Brian Angus, Bachtrack

“We were also keen for another taste of director Suzanne Chaundy’s multi-year Ring Cycle that had begun so well, and confirmed Melbourne Opera’s growing artistry and confidence. Die Walküre doesn’t disappoint”.. “Indeed this production’s ability to deliver Die Walküre’s moving and engrossing drama rarely wanes, so that more than five hours at the opera (including two generous intervals) flies by. Once again, Melbourne Opera has set the bar high for every opera company performing here during the year ahead”.

Die Walküre, Patricia Maunder, Limelight

“Melbourne Opera, under Chaundy’s direction, really pulled off a production of great existential magnitude and sublime beauty with Die Walküre.”

Die Walküre, Leila Lois, ArtsHub

“Chaundy reveals a logical extension of ideas nutted out in Das Rheingold and incorporates them with cleverly focused scenes characterised by symbolism and restraint. Chaundy populates them with an eagle eye on expressive weight and individual sensitivities.”

Die Walküre, Paul Selar AAR

“…there is so much going on in Walküre that it is hard for an audience to grasp the dramatic significance of what is happening in the music. Chaundy’s particular skill is in depicting the directness of the human relationships from which the tale develops”

5 stars, Die Walküre, Michael Smith, Australian Book Review

“Director Suzanne Chaundy has helmed countless Melbourne Opera productions in the past, and her feel for Wagner’s allegorical tendencies is on full display here. She knows that if symbolism is going to work, it needs real psychological texture to ground it, and she directs her singers towards and emotional realism that offsets the fantastical nature of the story. She subtly but surely pivots the opera around the character of Senta, making something moving and monumental about her sacrifice.”

‘The Flying Dutchman’ Time Out. 4 stars

“The whole was an enriching experience”

‘The Flying Dutchman’ Classic Melbourne

“Suzanne Chaundy’s impressive direction gives clarity and sensitivity in a staging realised with striking stylised economy and folkloric feel. Chaundy deftly balances the sexes…..the impression you get is that no stage in unconquerable for Melbourne Opera.”

‘The Flying Dutchman’ Herald Sun & Operachaser blog. 4.5 stars

“…an experience that comes close to the “total art work” Wagner envisaged”

‘The Flying Dutchman’ Limelight

“DESTROYED is a sophisticated piece of theatre that has its audience thinking from the moment Murray first speaks right up until its thoughtful closing moments. Murray and Chaundy’s collaboration and their unique approach in exploring de Beauvoir’s writing is beautifully conceived, resulting in an incredibly absorbing work”

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