ABOUT
Susannah Thompson is an independent theatre maker based in Perth, Western Australia and is represented by NowActors. She has trained at WAAPA, NIDA, has her Masters of Theatre and Performance from UNSW, and has continued her professional development over the last twenty five years by training with such luminaries as SitiCo and Anne Bogart in New York, Maxine Doyle of PunchDrunk, Damien Jalet and Dance North, Lee Lewis and the Sydney Theatre Company. Susannah established Turquoise Theatre but is now producing and creating as Susannah Thompson. She is a Theatre Director, Writer, Singer and Actor. She has created and produced a wide range of productions and is a multi awards nominee. Susannah is an Australian storyteller and her most recent work, Cecelia, focused on women's experiences through the narrative style of cabaret. She was supported by fellow WAAPA alumni Adam Keshwar. Susannah places strong focus on promoting Australian stories, the work of Australian practitioners ,and looks for Australian plays and Australian artists to participate in projects. This may include the mounting of a great play never seen in Perth before; the provision of collaborative opportunities; the creation of a new work; and the presentation of under represented artists. Turquoise Theatre focuses on the encouragement of diversity and equality within its framework.
Susannah places a strong emphasis on utilising contemporary theatre practices on written texts. She is strongly influenced by Viewpoints and the Suzuki Technique and has received intensive training at the Siti Co in New York with Anne Bogart. Susannah also has her Masters in Theatre Performance from the University of New South Wales under Clare Grant; the Certificate of Musical Theatre from WAAPA, and a BA in Theatre from Curtin University.
Susannah has worked for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre Company as a member of the ensemble; Barking Gecko Theatre Company as assistant director; Bizircus as an actor for The Festival of Perth; Shiraz Theatre Company as an actor and for Artrage as an actor. Susannah established The Flying High Theatre Company after completing her BA and wrote 'The Coat' and 'Deceptions of Intimacy' which were both performed at The Blue Room Theatre. Susannah has worked for various independent theatre companies including New Theatre as an actor and director. Susannah is part of the ProducersLab run by The Festival of Perth.
Lake Disappointment
......intriguing new one-man play...... with dichotomous elements....about a man who’s made his career as a body double for a famous Hollywood star. It delves deeply into its central character’s inner world — even if he doesn’t ...invite that... interrogation — and explores how that determines his place in the wider world.
DAILY REVIEW
FringeWorld and The Blue Room Summer Nights 2019
The Blue Room Theatre, 53 James Street, Northbridge.
'Hyper-aware of his physical appearance, fixated on his minor achievements, and desperately waiting for his celebrity lookalike to arrive on set, the Double’s undoing is disquieting and inevitable as his grip on reality starts to slip.......Sammels gives an impassioned performance'....
SEESAW MAGAZINE
The script, by Lachlan Philpott and Luke Mullins, about the vanity and abandonment of a film star’s body double (Joel Sammels) is smart and well-constructed.......Sammels has all the right moves.
FROM THE TURNSTILES - DAVID ZAMPATTI
Originally commissioned by Bell Shakespeare Company, AWGIE winning writer Lachlan Philpott teams with Luke Mullins to write this searing, dark comedy about double identity.
So there's this extra, this double, and he sometimes gets mistaken for the actual movie star, which is pretty cool, but then, sometimes, he makes that mistake himself.
A sharp and witty look at the painful side of our contemporary culture, where insta, snapchat and abs make or break you. Or even worse - no one even notices.
A side-splitting look at fake tan and having the magic 'it' quality, and the sadder side. Where if no-one even sees you, who are you? You know?
10,000 Beers
by Alex Broun
Sold Out and Nominated for three awards at FringeWorld 2014 including the
Artrage Theatre Award and The West Australian Arts Editor Award.
Directed by Susannah Thompson.
Four Stars – The West Australian,
A Toast to 10,000 Beers
Director Susannah Thompson keeps the pace up throughout. She has a fine ear for the broad comedy that saturates Broun’s text, and the sensitivity to play, but not overplay, the deeper themes he passes over......it would be hard to make it more satisfying, insightful and entertaining than it already is.
DAVID ZAMPATTI
If you only see one performance this Fringe Festival make it, 10,000 Beers.
COLOSOUL
The Seven Needs
By The 7-On Group
Sold Out at FringeWorld 2016.
7 short plays by 7 award winning Australian writers. Directed by 7 Perth directors.
A tasting plate of Australian voices and craftsmanship
‘Following their award nominated 10,000 Beers presented at Fringe World 2014, Turquoise Theatre are back with 7 Needs, a series of short plays based around Maslow’s hierarchy of Human Needs.....It’s exciting..a tasting plate of Australian craftsmanship in a Fringe context...audiences will love the variety of drama and comedy....
The result is seven very different works....And Shelter (written by Hilary Bell and directed by Susannah Thompson), which was my favourite, is about a mother who has just sold her lawyer daughter’s investment property to pay off a gambling debt. Their argument ends with a surprise twist....I recommend this smorgasbord of seven mini-plays.... directed by a talented and experienced group of local practitioners. But don’t delay....’
WEEKEND NOTES
Seventeen
By Matthew Whittet
...A very crisp presentation... some wonderful performers, having fun with a thoughtful and clever script.
Seventeen was a lovely show, which delivered on its interesting premise.
KIMBERLEY SHAW