Established in 2006, Sydney Playhouse is a new creative theatre company for actors to challenge themselves and to entertain audiences of all ages with wonderful Australian and international plays. It brings professional quality performances of comedy and drama to new audiences in Sydney and its suburbs, including The Hills District, Parramatta and others. It will assist more multicultural stories to be told on stage with the assistance of actors from different cultural backgrounds.
Its Artistic Director is Jon-Claire Lee, a graduate of New York University (Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, and Masters of Fine Arts in Film and TV Directing). As a Writer, Mr. Lee is a member of the Australian Writers Guild. His stage play Shattered Jade was selected in 1993 by the Australian National Playwrights’ Centre to open its National Writer’s Week as a staged reading at the Belvoir Street Theatre. In the year 2001, he directed Shattered Jade, which was selected by the Sydney Carnivale Festival as its main theatrical event to premiere at the Seymour Theatre Centre. In 2007 his Blood on My Blade-The Journey Home premiered in the Passions of the Heart season presented by Sydney Playhouse. A heart wrenching true story of an alcoholic mother was detailed by Mr Lee in his play, The Fear Within, which premiered at NIDA’s Parade Theatre. In 2009 Mr Lee served as judicator for the NSW Premier’s Literature Awards and also for the Australian’s Writers’ Guild AWGIE Awards in the play and screen categories.
In Film and TV, Mr. Lee has directed the short feature (An American Affair), numerous short films (Runaway, Watching Fools, etc.) and documentaries (Oz Break, Paraguay: The Secret Land, The Rainbow Princess, etc.). He has also served as Artistic Director for numerous theatrical and festival events in Sydney, including the Festival of Nations (Darling Harbour), the Asian Photographic Exhibition/Competition (Sydney Town Hall), the World’s Best Young Violinist Concert (Sydney Town Hall), and China’s Top Young Musicians Concert (Sydney Opera House).
Some of the awards Mr. Lee has received include the following: the Australian Napoleon Award 1993 for “Arts and Entertainment”; the 1994 Junior Chamber of Commerce International award for being one of the “Ten Most Outstanding Yong People (Overseas Chinese Division)” of the Year”; The 1994 Australian Human Rights Songwriting Award for Best Lyrics to the musical piece “Passage,” dedicated to all those “voices” in the world crying out for the human rights that we take so much for granted.
Highlights from Sydney Playhouse past performances include the following:
| Year | Performance | Details | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Passions of the Heart | 7 Short Plays (The Pot Boiler, Blood on My Blade, 60471, Blink of an Eye, The Dancers, Rumour Mill, The Gun in History | NIDA Parade Studio |
| 2007 | The Blood on My Blade – The Journey Home | World Premiere Performance, written and directed by Jon-Claire Lee | NIDA Parade Playhouse |
| 2007 | Swept Under the Carpet – Diary of an Alcoholic Mother | World Premiere Performance, written and directed by Jon-Claire Lee | NIDA Parade Playhouse |
| 2007 | Catholic School Girls | Directed by Jon-Claire Lee | NIDA Parade Playhouse |
| 2009 | Curtain Up! – Broadway Musical Moments | Musical and Dramatic Highlights from Gypsy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Fiddler on the Roof, Westside Story, Hairspray, Kiss Me Kate, Chess and many others | Coles Theatre, Powerhouse Museum |
| 2013 | A Middle Age Heaven | World Premiere Performance, written by Elizabeth Victory and directed by Jon-Claire Lee | The Showroom, Hornsby RSL |
| 2013 | Curtain UP! – Broadway Musical Moments | Musical and Dramatic Highlights from Les Miserables, Song and Dance, Jekyll & Hyde, Once, Meet Me in St. Louis, plus classic songs of Shirley Bassey and Judy Garland | The Showroom, Hornsby RSL |
| 2013 | The Perfect Sister | Winner of The BEST PLAY AWARD of The Fast & Fresh Play Festival 2012, Written by Kyle Thompson and Directed by Jon-Claire Lee | Blacktown Theatre Company Short Play Festival |