People in Lismore care about the arts and it shows by how colourful, well supported and creative the town and its various galleries, theatres and shared spaces are. 

Julian Louis is a big part of the mix of masterful creatives who have honed their craft and chosen Lismore as the place to share it. Find out more about NORPA’s Artistic Director/CEO in this week’s Sunday Profile.

Julian was born into a loving family, with his Mum and Dad and older sister, on the North Shore of Sydney, and in his earlier years was quite the athlete. Julian says “Then one day a theatre company came to the school, and I participated in the acting workshop, it was really fun, really physical and asked me to use my imagination in a totally different way,” he goes on, “I think it was in year 9, I was 14 at the time. This was a changing point in my life."

He laughs, “at the time I had an obsession with Michael Jackson, so much so that I was doing impersonations and I mean publicly, entering talent quests, and I just loved dancing. So that was the start for me of performing.”

So Julian chose to leave his all-boys school to go to a State School, for the last 2 years. 

“I felt I didn’t really fit the macho masculine environment around me, whether it was encouraged, or the movement of the times, I didn’t really connect with some of those ideals, I wanted to redefine myself and stretch out and discover myself in a different way."

At his new school, Julian enjoyed learning in a different environment, “I joined a dance group and got the lead role in the school musical and really enjoyed learning in that environment. The pressure was off trying to figure out what being a young man was, I was trying to discover this as a new, creative, version of myself."

He then went on to study for 3 years after getting chosen after an audition, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and Media at Charles Sturt University, in Bathurst. 

“I left home at 18 to live in a country town. I lived in a fun share-house with 5 other creative people in 4 rooms, one of my friends who is now the Artistic Director of a major youth company in Sydney virtually lived in a cupboard, I think we paid $25 rent a week."

“We were having fun, learning about how to cook or not cook, we learned to play pool and to socialise, it was always very engaging for me at Uni. I felt very at home in that course, I could take risks and learn from my peers and the great things going on around me."

“It was an amazing course and an amazing place to learn about devising theatre, working in the community and making theatre integrated into society and communities and working highly collaboratively”.



Image supplied:  "I'm in the easting bank of Railway Wonderland - complete joy in the anticipation of that show playing to audiences"

“I was dancing and acting all the time, I was always busy and loved it. I never went home on the holidays, I was always busy putting shows on and being creative. The course wasn’t about acting, it was about making performance art and a lot of the people who graduated with me are doing lots of interesting things from production and documentary making, artistic director roles, to circus it’s a bit of a Mafia! I still feel the roots of that experience in my work now, the course wasn’t about acting, it was about making.”

Julian went on to work amongst Sydney’s creative community as an actor, director and teacher, whilst developing his love for regional theatre, saying that “in the same year I would be directing an opera at the Conservatorium of Music and I would be the Associate Director for Neil Armfield at The Belvoir Street Theatre, and then that same year, I would go to a place like Walgett with the Australian Theatre for Young People where I would be directing a show and creating work within the community."

“I loved the mix and balance of the two. In my 20s I had a really rich and diverse experience of making theatre and its form and purpose."

He recalled even having residencies as far as Western Australia and in the centre near Broken Hill, where Julian shared that he worked with a lot of First Nations Young People, and loved it, saying these jobs for him were formative.

“I would be mustering sheep in the morning, and running acting workshops in the afternoon. I love teaching, I don’t get enough time to do it, but I do love it when I do."

Unlike other performance artists in Sydney, for Julian the experience at this time was fully immersive “My day job wasn’t being a waiter in a cafe and an out of work actor, I taught at the Conservatorium of Music and also at the actors centre."

“It was during this time that I started to feel that I had a knack for translating the outside eye, being able to sense and communicate what was working, and what was vulnerable or exciting, in how the actors were performing.”

On the family influence, Julian shares “My Mum is a teacher-librarian, she always brought a theatrical element to her teaching, which gave me a sense of play."

This inspired Julian to form the unique acting company, creating performances with an ensemble of artists, the style of which is more common in The UK and Europe. "I learned to generate material out of the instincts of the actor. We didn’t start from a script, we looked to bring out from a performer or person as to where they are today."

“I don’t start with a script, it’s just not how I really work, I start with the actor." 

“I got a scholarship from the Australian Theatre for Young People, which allowed me to go anywhere in the world to study performance. I chose to study at “Jacques Le Coq” in France, its fundamentals are rooted in the concept that the actor is the writer, the actor can tell stories with their whole body! My training there was very important. I understand it intrinsically, people who have undertaken this study too, these are my people!"

“After this, I was going to auditions with all the other actors etc, I decided to leave it behind. What I really wanted, was to make theatre. Hence, I formed State of Play. I went to NIDA after that, the training was much more traditional. It was a bit like going to the lion’s mouth,” Julian laughs

So how did Lismore get so lucky to have Julian as the CEO and Artistic Director of Norpa? 

“When the Artistic Direction Job came up I thought wow, what an interesting challenge. I had toured NORPA with “The Underpants”, a Steve Martin production when we came to Lismore. It was a full house, and very noticeable how much the community here loved theatre. The General Manager called via my agent and asked me to apply for the role." 

“I had just got married, my wife and I packed up and drove up in our little Laser, for what we thought was going to be 2years."

“It’s been 14 years. We moved to Lismore for the first 6 years in a beautiful old Queenslander, then after that, we bought 2 empty acres, in Coorabell, moved a Queenslander into that, and set out creating a garden, which we love to do. We have 2 kids, my daughter who is 14, was actually born the first night of my first show and opening in NORPA. Both were born on Bundjalung Country, and I love that they know and have a resonance with that."

“I’m lucky that I work with the arts, and work with First Nation’s artists and that my girls, because of that and the inclusive community we live in, have a connection to that”.

“Compared to me growing up in Pymble where there was no education or connection at all! I think that was a huge part of my pursuit, working in regional areas, to figure out what being an Australian actually was." 

“It’s so important to listen and be changed by First Nations voices around us, if we are all building understanding and being changed by this ancient culture, then we are learning about living together and learning as a nation, I play small parts in facilitating this myself, it’s both a privilege and also a great responsibility."

"I'm so grateful to have Rhoda Roberts working alongside me, supporting the curation of First Nations art in the exciting ways she is doing, with Riverwalks a really special experience for all in the region to come along to learn from and experience."

"The thing about theatre is when you work on shows, it can be for anywhere up to 2 years, of energy and effort that goes into these productions. I worked on some shows that were played to the Star Court Theatre and felt that there just wasn’t a large crowd. I saw the old Railway, and then Railway Wonderland 2012 and 2015 was born. It played to about 5000 people over 2 seasons". 

"I love site-specific work, it's very actor-driven, exciting and popular. I love when people are queuing up, and rushing to buy tickets, that feels really great after so long putting the effort in to bring these shows together".

"Regional Theatre over Metropolitan Theatre has a real appreciation of celebrating community as where we are right now. I love working in site-specific works, which often also have an interactive nature with the community, for this reason".

Janis Belodis, writer and collaborator, wrote Love for one night, our new show performed at The Eltham Hotel, lived here already. Being 20yrs my senior, he comes with a great understanding of regional theatre and how it works, and I really appreciate that."

"Theatre is hard. Finding people who are aware of your process, means you start to want to work together regularly and push one another to grow in the process".

"Creating a large show that is part spectacle, part dance, part play, Love For One Night is a set which uses the Façade of the Eltham Pub, which will be still active as a pub during the show, creating a totally immersive experience, entertaining, moving and funny, all put together".

"In our community, creating theatre often looks like meeting and presenting local characters and fictionalising these stories and bringing them to life".

"We love putting music in our work and we love a dance! There are often stories with music and elements of dance in what we create".

"Some people think theatre isn’t for them but it’s not just champagne-sipping foyers, it’s about emotion, playfulness, and stories we gather from these environments". 

"It’s a really exciting new chapter for NORPA at the moment, I’m very aware of how long I have been there, it takes a long time to build something that is super connected, and show our funding bodies and peers how good regional theatre can be. We secured a National partnership with the Australian Theatre of Arts. We are only one of 16 regional theatres that can say that also means funding for the next four years".

Image: Julian in Action as a director

"It's exciting as it gives us time to think up a show in our own rights, to create a really special piece of theatre". 

Julian says to the Lismore community "Come along, we are doing this for you, we are working really hard to make theatre resonate for everyone. It’s stories people will relate to, it’s reflecting the region on stage, which is the most exciting thing we are doing".

When Julian isn't working in his very busy roles at Norpa, he says "I love collecting vinyl, distance running and playing guitar. Family life and gardening take up the rest of my time outside a very consuming job! You look to invest as a creative to love what you do, and I do!"