# Richard Wherrett

Richard Bruce Wherrett AM (10 December 1940 – 7 December 2001) was an Australian stage director, whose career spanned 40 years. He is known for being the founding director of the Sydney Theatre Company in 1979.

## Early life

Richard Wherrett was born on 10 December 1940, the younger brother of motoring journalist Peter Wherrett. Their father Eric was an abusive and violent alcoholic from whom the family would often escape to nearby cinema houses when he would fly into a rage. This, together with his mother Lyle McClintock's love of Jerry Lewis films played a big part in Wherrett developing an interest in show business and a talent for comic impersonations.
He was educated at Trinity Grammar School in Sydney, before attending the University of Sydney, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1961. His contemporaries at the university included Clive James, Germaine Greer, Bruce Beresford, Mungo McCallum, Bob Ellis, John Bell, John Gaden, Laurie Oakes and Les Murray.
After falling off stage during a university performance of The Three Musketeers, Wherrrett abandoned the idea of acting, but discovered his love of directing while in London in the mid-1960s.
He taught English and Ancient History at Trinity Grammar for four years.

## Career

In 1965 Wherrett moved to London and worked with the East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex. He also directed at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, the Lincoln Theatre Royal and Lancaster University.

### Old Tote Theatre Company

He moved back in Australia in 1970, and worked for the ABC in South Australia, before becoming an assistant on King Oedipus and assistant director on Major Barbara, both for the Old Tote Theatre. Soon after, he was appointed associate director to Robin Lovejoy, as well as artistic director of the Australian Theatre for Young People. His tenure was short-lived, and he ultimately returned to London for a spell, teaching again at East 15.

### Nimrod Theatre Company

In 1972 Wherrett moved back to Australia. He joined the Nimrod Theatre Company, and became co-artistic director in 1974, alongside John Bell, the year it relocated to its Belvoir Street premises. Most notably, Wherrett toured The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin, including seasons in London and New York, where it garnered Off-Broadway OBIE awards.

### National Institute of Dramatic Art

Wherrett also directed at NIDA, including a 1976 production of Romeo and Juliet, starring Mel Gibson and Judy Davis.

### Sydney Theatre Company

In 1979 Wherrett was appointed artistic director at the newly created Sydney Theatre Company. He staged successful productions of The Sunny South, Chicago (which toured interstate and in Hong Kong), and an eight-and-a-half hour version of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (which also played interstate).
Wherrett procured Government funding for a new headquarters for STC and an extra performance space at what became Wharf Theatre, which opened in 1984. After eleven years, Wherrett resigned from the Sydney Theatre Company in 1990.

### Other stage productions

Wherrett directed 127 professional theatre productions.
He directed the first performance of The Sweatproof Boy (1972), the first play written by Alma De Groen, of whom he directed most of her early works.
He also directed the Australian productions of Jesus Christ Superstar (1992), featuring John Farnham, Kate Ceberano, Jon Stevens, John Waters and Angry Anderson, and Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1995) starring Hugh Jackman, and Bert Newton. Other notable productions wereThe Stars Come Out (1996), a gala concert for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1996) for the Melbourne International Festival, the musical Cabaret (1997), Rhonda Burchmore's Red Hot and Rhonda (1997) and Bell Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1998).
Wherrett also tackled opera, with Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1982) for Opera Australia, and Turandot (1987) for the Victoria State Opera. He also directed the world premiere of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll for the Victorian State Opera and Opera Australia.
His last major production was the Johnny O'Keefe musical Shout! The Legend of the Wild One, which toured interstate.
Wherett was the creative director for the lighting of the torch segment of the Opening Ceremony for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
From 1985 to 1988 Wherrett was a member of the Australia Council's Performing Arts Board.
In 1992 Wherrett became artistic director of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, but resigned after producing only two festivals.

### Film

Wherrett's only feature film was musical comedy Billy's Holiday. He also directed two short films – The Girl Who Met Simone de Beauvoir in Paris and The Applicant (1981), and ABC TV play, The Girl from Moonooloo, with Jacki Weaver (1982).

### Publications

In 1997 Wherrett and his brother Peter co-wrote the autobiographal memoir Desirelines: An Unusual Family Memoir. His own autobiography, The Floor of Heaven (2000) was dedicated to Jacki Weaver. He also wrote Mardi Gras! From Frock Up to Lock Up (1999).

## Directing
### Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1970 | King Oedipus | Assistant | Old Tote |
| 1970 | Major Barbara | Assistant Director | Tour with Old Tote |
| 1971 | The Man of Mode | Director | Old Tote |
| 1971 | The Roy Murphy Show | Director | Nimrod |
| 1972 | The Legend of King O'Malley | Director | Festival of Pacific Arts with Old Tote |
| 1972 | The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Director | Old Tote (televised by the ABC) |
| 1972 | The Sweatproof Boy | Director | Nimrod |
| 1973 | Kaspar | Director | Nimrod |
| 1973 | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | Director | Nimrod |
| 1973 | Hamlet | Director | Nimrod |
| 1973 | Tom | Director | Nimrod |
| 1974 | Kookaburra | Director | Nimrod |
| 1974 | The Seagull | Director | Nimrod |
| 1974 | The Jesters | Director | Nimrod |
| 1974 | The Ride Across Lake Constance | Director | Nimrod |
| 1974 | My Foot, My Tutor | Director | Nimrod |
| 1975 | Richard III | Director | Nimrod |
| 1975 | Perfectly All Right | Director | Nimrod |
| 1975 | They're Playing Our Song | Director | Nimrod |
| 1976 | Sextet | Director | Nimrod |
| 1976 | The Dark and Endless Sky | Director | Nimrod |
| 1976 | One of Those Girls | Director | Nimrod |
| 1976 | Poor Jenny | Director | Nimrod |
| 1976 | It Takes a While to Know One | Director | Nimrod |
| 1976 | Martello Towers | Director | Nimrod |
| 1976 | Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know | Director | Nimrod |
| 1976 | Romeo and Juliet | Director | NIDA |
| 1977 | The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | | Old Tote |
| 1977 | The Government Inspector | | Old Tote |
| 1977 | Young Mo (or The Resuscitation of the Little Prince Who Couldn't Laugh as Performed by Young Mo at the Height of the Great Depression of 1929) | Director | Nimrod |
| 1977 | Going Home | Director | Nimrod |
| 1977 | Going Bananas (triple bill): Bananas, The Coroner's Report & The Flaw | Director | Nimrod |
| 1977 | Fanshen | Director | Nimrod |
| 1977 | The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin | Director | Malthouse Theatre with Nimrod |
| 1978 | Rock-Ola | Director | Nimrod |
| 1978 | A Visit with the Family | Director | Nimrod |
| 1978 | Gone with Hardy | Director | Nimrod |
| 1979 | Henry IV, Part 1 & Henry IV, Part 2 | Director | Nimrod |
| 1979 | The Sea | Director | Nimrod |
| 1979 | The High and the Mitey | Consultant | Playbox Theatre with Malthouse Theatre |
| 1979 | The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin | Director | London & Theater 4, New York |
| 1979-81 | Cyrano De Bergerac | Director | STC |
| 1980 | The Sunny South | Co-director | STC |
| 1980 | Precious Woman | Director | STC |
| 1981 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Director | STC |
| 1981-82 | Chicago | Director | Sydney Opera House, Theatre Royal, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Festival Theatre Adelaide with STC |
| 1982 | Amadeus | Director | Theatre Royal with STC |
| 1982 | Macbeth | Director | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 1982 | Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny | Director | Australian Opera |
| 1983 | Present Laughter | Director | Theatre Royal, Sydney with STC |
| 1983 | Chicago | Director | Hong Kong Arts Festival with STC |
| 1983 | The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | Co-director | Wharf Theatre with STC & Australian Opera; later played in Melbourne and Adelaide |
| 1983 | The Cobra | Director | Wharf Theatre & Melbourne Athenaeum with STC & MTC |
| 1985 | The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Director | Nimrod |
| 1985 | Jonah Jones | Director | Wharf Theatre with STC |
| 1986 | Company | Director | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 1986 | Hedda Gabler | Director | STC |
| 1986 | The Floating World | Co-director | STC |
| 1987 | Turandot | Director | State Theatre with Victoria State Opera |
| 1987-88 | Away | Director | STC & PepsiCo Summerfare Festival, New York |
| 1987-88 | Emerald City | Director | STC & in London |
| 1988 | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | Director | Melbourne International Film Festival (televised by the ABC) & PepsiCo Summerfare Festival, New York |
| 1988 | Loot | Director | STC |
| 1988 | An Ideal Husband | Director | STC |
| 1988 | The Game of Love and Chance | Director | STC |
| 1988 | The Mortal Falcon | Director | STC |
| 1989 | Harold in Italy | Director | STC |
| 1989 | Romeo and Juliet | Director | STC |
| 1989-90 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Director | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 1990 | Once in a Lifetime | Director | STC |
| 1992 | Jesus Christ Superstar | Director | Harry M. Miller / IMG |
| 1992 | Einstein on the Beach | Director | Melbourne International Arts Festival |
| 1993 | Follies | Director | Melbourne International Arts Festival |
| 1994 | The Temple | Director | STC |
| 1994 | The Gift of the Gorgon | Director | QTC |
| 1995 | Beauty and the Beast | Director | |
| 1996 | The Stars Come Out | Director | State Theatre, Sydney for Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras |
| 1996 | Melbourne's Regent Theatre reopening | Director | Regent Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1996 | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | Director | Melbourne International Film Festival (televised by the ABC) |
| 1997 | Cabaret | Director | Footbridge Theatre, Sydney with Gordon Frost Productions |
| 1997 | Pageant | Director | Paddington Town Hall with Harry M. Miller |
| 1997 | Red Hot and Rhonda | Director | Crown Melbourne |
| 1997 | Navigating | Director | QTC & MTC |
| 1998 | Wunnerful Liberace | Director | STC |
| 1998 | The Merchant of Venice | Director | Bell Shakespeare |
| 1999 | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | Director | Sydney Opera House |
| 2000 | Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony - lighting of the torch segment | Creative Director | Sydney Olympic Stadium |
| 2000-01 | Shout! The Legend of the Wild One | Director | State Theatre, Sydney, Adelaide & Brisbane |
Source:

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1981 | The Girl Who Met Simone de Beauvoir in Paris | Director | Short film |
| 1981 | The Applicant | Director | Short film |
| 1982 | The Girl from Moonooloo | Director | ABC TV play |
| 1995 | Billy's Holiday | Director | Feature film |

## Publications

| Year | Title |
| 1997 | Desirelines: An Unusual Family Memoir |
| 1999 | Mardi Gras! From Frock Up to Lock Up |
| 2000 | The Floor of Heaven: My Life in Theatre |

## Awards & honours

| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
| 1979 | The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin | Obie Award Special Citation for direction | Won |
| 1980 | The Girl Who Met Simone de Beauvoir in Paris | Chicago International Film Festival Gold Hugo Award for Best Short Film | Nominated |
| 1984 | Services to the Theatre as a Producer & Director | Membership of the Order of Australia | Won |
| 1990 | Significant Contribution to Sydney Theatre | Sydney Theatre Critics' Circle Award | Won |
| 2001 | Shout! The Legend of the Wild One | Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Musical | Nominated |
| 2002 | Richard Wherrett | Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Awards 2002 Hall of Fame Inductee (posthumous) | Won |

## Personal life

Wherrett knew he was gay from the age of 17. Nevertheless, he had a well-publicised relationship with the actress Jacki Weaver from 1971 to 1974. Weaver claimed she always knew about Wherrett's sexual orientation, but nevertheless described him as the love of her life. She even moved back in with Wherrett to nurse him during his final days.

## Death and legacy

Wherrett died of liver failure on 7 December 2001, three days before his 61st birthday, after 15 years warding off the effects of HIV. His funeral service was held at St John's Anglican Church, Darlinghurst, with ushers provided by the Sydney Opera House. The General Manager of the Opera House, Michael Lynch, dimmed the lights on the Opera House sails in what Jacki Weaver called "a movingly fitting tribute".

### Richard Wherrett Fellowship

The 'Richard Wherrett Fellowship' was created in his memory by the STC in his memory. Over the years it has been granted to the following recipients:

#### Recipients

| Year | Recipient |
| 2003 | Joseph Couch |
| 2006 | Wayne Blair |
| 2007 | Lee Lewis |
| 2011 | Sarah Giles |
| 2014 | Imara Savage |
| 2015, 2016 | Paige Rattray |
| 2017 | Jessica Arthur |
| 2019, 2020 | Shari Sebbens |
| 2021 | Courtney Stewart |
| 2022 | Ian Michael |