Simon Stone | |
|---|---|
 Receiving theNestroy Theatre Prize 2015 | |
| Born | 1984 (age 40–41) Basel, Switzerland |
| Occupation(s) | Director, actor, writer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
Simon Stone (born 1984) is an Australian film and theatre director, writer and actor.
Simon Stone was born in 1984 inBasel, Switzerland. He grew up inMelbourne, Australia, andCambridge, England,[1] where he was educated.[2] His father, Stuart Stone, was abiochemist and his mother, Eleanor Mackie, a veterinary scientist. Stuart Stone died of a heart attack aged 45; Stone, aged 12 at the time, witnessed it, and has spoken about the ways in which that trauma has influenced his work.[3][4]
He decided to be an actor at the age of 15, and set to reading thecomplete works of Shakespeare inchronological order.[5]
In 2007 Stone founded the independent theatre company The Hayloft Project and adapted and directed their inaugural production ofFrank Wedekind'sSpring Awakening. This production was remounted in 2008 atBelvoir St Theatre and was described inThe Sydney Morning Herald as "a lean, contained, ultimately furious, liberating production that is well-attuned to Wedekind's poetic rhythms, wit and pubescent discoveries".[6] Other productions Stone adapted and directed for The Hayloft Project includePlatonov,3xSisters,The Suicide andThe Only Child, a new version ofHenrik Ibsen'sLittle Eyolf, which won theSydney Theatre Award for Best Independent Production.[7]
In 2009 he directedAleksei Arbuzov'sThe Promise forBelvoir. In 2010 he directed and co-wrote withMark Leonard Winter,Thomas Henning and Chris Ryan a version ofSeneca'sThyestes for The Hayloft Project andMalthouse Theatre, Melbourne. He directedThe Cherry Orchard forMelbourne Theatre Company in 2013.[8]
In 2011 Stone became the resident director at Belvoir. In his first year he wrote and directedThe Wild Duck, afterHenrik Ibsen, which has become his calling card production and has played internationally, including at theHolland Festival. In 2011 he also directedRobyn Nevin inLally Katz'sNeighbourhood Watch for Belvoir and adapted and directedBertolt Brecht'sBaal for theSydney Theatre Company.[3][9]
ForTheater Basel, where he was a house director from 2015, he has directedAngels in America,John Gabriel Borkman (for which he won the 2015Nestroy Theatre Prize),Three Sisters, and Korngold's operaDie tote Stadt.[10] A companion project with the works ofAugust Strindberg,Hotel Strindberg, premiered atTheater Basel in 2018.[11]
ForIvo van Hove's companyInternationaal Theater Amsterdam, he has directed Euripides'Medea in his own new adaptation,Husbands and Wives,Ibsen House, a new play by Stone which threads together the plots of several of Ibsen's plays in a new modern scenario, andFlight 49, inspired by the novelOp Hoop van Zegen byHerman Heijermans.[12][13]
In 2016, Stone premiered an adaptation ofFederico García Lorca'sYerma at theYoung Vic in London. The production starredBillie Piper in the title role,[14] and was well reviewed,[15] returning for a second run in 2017 before transferring to thePark Avenue Armory in New York in 2018.[16] It won theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Revival in 2017.
Stone directedLuigi Cherubini's operaMédée at the 2019Salzburg Festival,[17] returning there in 2023 forMartinů'sThe Greek Passion sung in English.[18]He took his production of Euripides'Medea, withRose Byrne andBobby Cannavale, to theBrooklyn Academy of Music in 2020.[19] He made his debut at theMetropolitan Opera in New York in 2022 with Donizetti'sLucia di Lammermoor, set in present-day America'sRust Belt.[20][21]
In 2023, he directedArrigo Boito'sMefistofele for the opening night of the new season of theTeatro dell'Opera di Roma inRome, Italy.[citation needed]
His updated adaptation ofPhaedra was produced at theNational Theatre inLondon from February to April 2023; the company includedMackenzie Davis,Assaad Bouab andJanet McTeer.[citation needed]
Stone appeared in the filmsKokoda (2006),Jindabyne (2006), andBalibo (2009), before turning to theatre direction.[5]
Stone's directorial debut feature filmThe Daughter,[22] which he also wrote, premiered at the2015 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in Australia on 17 March 2016. He won Best Adapted Screenplay at theAACTA Awards for his work.[23]
He directed the British drama filmThe Dig in 2021.[24] It focuses on anarchaeological dig inSutton Hoo in 1939.
Stone has acted in the television seriesJohn Safran's Music Jamboree,MDA,Blue Heelers,Rush,City Homicide, and the filmsJindabyne,Kokoda,Balibo,Blame, andThe Eye of the Storm.[25][better source needed]
Stone likes to take pieces from the standard theatrecanon which, with the help of his cast, he reworks into intimate, almost cinematic performances. He often works fromimprovisation creating an entirely new script through which the original play nevertheless shines. This practice is sometimes referred to as "over-writing".[2]
Stone believes in theatre as a place forpolemic: "One can't make theatre based on fear and compromises. Without argument, there is no art."[22]
Yet, at the same time, he acknowledges that his own art has its roots in finding a language for the trauma of his father's death. "I certainly couldn't talk to people about what had happened to me. Especially at a young age, people are very confronted by 'how on earth do I even talk about that absurdly dark thing that happened to Simon?'. Of course, in cinema and literature, you find conversation partners. They're not talking back but they kind of are because they're telling you you're not the only person who's been through that thing".[5]
Stone married Jessamy Dyer in 2004[3] though the marriage ended in divorce. He then married Stefanie Hackl, adramaturge.[26]
Director
Stage director
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Kokoda: 39th Battalion | Max Scholt | |
| Jindabyne | Billy 'The Kid' | ||
| 2008 | Nice Shootin' Cowboy | Cormac | Short film |
| 2009 | Balibo | Tony Maniaty | |
| 2010 | A Love Story | Robin | Short film |
| Blame | Nick | ||
| 2011 | The Eye of the Storm | Peter | |
| 2012 | Being Venice | Lenny |
Director
Stage director
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Korngold: Die Tote Stadt | TV movie |
| 2022 | The Metropolitan Opera HD Live | Episode "Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor" |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–2003 | MDA | Jason Henderson | 5 episodes |
| 2002–2005 | Blue Heelers | Mary Farris / Clayton Sanders | |
| 2009 | City Homicide | Billy Pierce / Will Fenech | 1 episode |
| 2009 | Rush | Ted Holston | 1 episode |
Dramaturge
| Year | Title | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2010–2011 | Human Interest Story | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Antony and Cleopatra | Melbourne Grammar School |
| 2002 | The Bridge | Butter Factory Theatre, Wodonga withHotHouse Theatre |
| The Sea | University of Melbourne | |
| 2006 | Sugar Mountain | Cinema Nova, Melbourne |
| A Kind of Hush | ||
| Jet of Blood | Theatre Works, Melbourne | |
| 2007 | Ashes to Ashes | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne |
| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney | |
| 2008 | Miss Julie |
Media related toSimon Stone at Wikimedia Commons