Robert Chuter

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Early life[edit]

Robert John Chuter was born on 23 April 1964 in Carlton, Victoria, Australia, the only son of Rita Spalding and British emigrant Harry Chuter. He was educated at Williamstown Technical School and studied at RMIT, St. Martin's Theatre School, Melbourne Theatre Company Youth Theatre, Victorian College of the Arts - Drama School and graduated in 1983 from the prestigious Swinburne Film and Television School.

Career[edit]

In 1976, Chuter worked with a touring company led by Lindsay Kemp in Australia and London and cites the experience as one of his inspirations for becoming involved in theatre direction. [citation needed] His interest in film direction originated while he was working in a bookstore, when he was encouraged to create some Super 8 film by the veteran Australian stage and silent screen actress Agnes Dobson. [citation needed]

In 1981 he was trainee director at the Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane and when returning to Melbourne he co-founded Performing Arts Projects (later to become Fly-On-The-Wall Theatre) with actor/playwright Daniel Lillford in 1985.[1]

Between 2005 and 2008, Chuter worked in London's West End directing three major stage productions.[2]

Stage producer[edit]

Heeding advice given to him by the British film director Ken Russell, whom he met during his work directing the opera Madam Butterfly in Melbourne, Chuter has been diverse in his stage productions:

"I direct family shows, like the sell-out seasons of Anne of Green Gables and the children’s classic: Seven Little Australians, to plays about gay porn icons, drug culture, the Bloomsbury group, the Brontes, IVF, flamboyant artists, feminist writers and serial killers. Diversity is the name of the game and I love work which is challenging to the imagination. Can you imagine directing an opera when you don’t speak French and can’t remember music? Yep, I’ve done it - not sure if I was successful or not".[2]

Among the productions as producer have been:

  • The Polish Girl (Playbox Theatre, 1977)
  • Stravanganaza (Napier Street Theatre, 1992)
  • No Room for Dreamers (La Mama Theatre/Spoleto Fringe Festival, 1986)
  • Life (Randall Theatre, St. Martins Theatre, 1991)
  • The Secret Garden (Rippon Lea, 1994)
  • Anne of Green Gables (Rippon Lea, 1996)
  • Fresh Pleasures (Pleasance Theatre, London, 2005)
  • Homme Fatale (Pleasance Theatre, London, 2005)[3]
  • Anthony Breslin's Trybe: An Opera in Paint (Chapel Off Chapel, 2013)
  • Vodou: Songs of the Spirits (The Butterfly Club, 2006)
  • Three Divas: Ruth Rogers-Wright, Kerri Simpson and Nichaud Fitzgibbon (The Butterfly Club, 2006)
  • Lady Sings the Blues - The Music of Billie Holliday (The Butterfly Club, 2006)

Film[edit]

While at Swinburne Film and Television School Chuter produced numerous short films including In from the Sea, XOS: A Cry for Help, Tax, Letting Go and Killer Zombies. He also worked on various short films as production assistant, casting and costume designer including Laughing with Joe, Paradise Taxi, Oedipus Tex, The Search of the Golden Boomerang, Jacob's Dream, The Uniform, Best Wishes for the Baby's Arrival, Inverted Kiss (unfinished) and Jacob's Dream.

The 2015 film release of The Dream Children was directed and co-produced by Chuter and Christopher Pender.[4] He had previously directed a stage version, written by Julia Britton, for Fly-On-The-Wall Theatre and La Mama Theatre in 2009.[5] In 2017, Chuter commenced filming his second feature film A Beautiful Request, based on the stage plays by his old friend Dubai-based playwright Alex Broun followed by co-producing the feature Lilith with Moon Room Films.

Film Actor[edit]

  • Fearless
  • Salt Saliva Sperm and Sweat
  • Shut In
  • Tax
  • Carbon Black
  • Unnatural Causes
  • Bedtime Story
  • Dust Off
  • Test Pattern
  • Adflow
  • Before and After Swinburne

Exhibitions[edit]

Chuter produced, hosted, directed and curated a number of events with artists such as Kent Morris on The Double Infant and The Kitchen Child, Josie Wadelton on Defaced: The Exhibition in 2010 and with Anthony Breslin and other artists on In Good Company in 2023.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Milne, Geoffrey (2004). Theatre Australian (un)listed: Australian Theatre Since the 1950s. Rotopi. p. 304. ISBN 9042009306.
  2. ^ a b Piening, Simon (23 March 2008). "Robert Chuter". Australian Stage. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  3. ^ Cook, Mark (23 June 2005). "Humour Triumphs over the Unkindest Cut of All". The Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014.
  4. ^ "The Production Book 14" (PDF). The Production Book. p. 12. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  5. ^ Michelle-Wellis, Simonne (20 January 2009). "The Dream Children - Fly-On-The-Wall Theatre". Australian Stage. Retrieved 9 November 2014.

Sources[edit]

  • Jones, Liz with Burstall, Betty & Garner, Helen – La Mama: The Story of a Theatre, McPhee Gribble/Penguin Books, 1988 p. 11, 78, 79, 80, 87, 100, 104, 107, 108
  • Liz Jones (editor) - The La Mama Collection: Six Plays for the 1990s, Currency Press, 1997
  • Steel, Brett (editor) – Melborn08’s Playspotting, Melbourne Writers Theatre/Ligare, 2008 p. 4, 5, 9, 14, 59
  • Breslin, Anthony – Frantic Bloom, Melbourne Books, 2010 p. 5, 227
  • Martinetti, Ron – The James Dean Story, Pinnacle Books, 1975 p. 177
  • Radic, Leonard -Contemporary Australian Drama, Brandl & Schlesinger, 2006 p. 285
  • Paterson, Barbara - Renegades - Australia's First Film School from Swinburne to VCA, Helican Press, 1996 p. 184

External links[edit]

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