Simon Stone (born 1984) is an Australian film and theatre director, writer and actor.
Early life and education Simon Stone was born in 1984 in Basel, Switzerland. He grew up in Melbourne, Australia, and Cambridge, England, where he was educated. His father, Stuart Stone, was a biochemist 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.
He decided to be an actor at the age of 15, and set to reading the complete works of Shakespeare in chronological order.
Career Theatre In 2007 Stone founded the independent theatre company The Hayloft Project and adapted and directed their inaugural production of Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening. This production was remounted in 2008 at Belvoir St Theatre and was described in The Sydney Morning Herald as "a lean, contained, ultimately furious, liberating production that is well-attuned to Wedekind's poetic rhythms, wit and pubescent discoveries". Other productions Stone adapted and directed for The Hayloft Project include Platonov, 3xSisters, The Suicide and The Only Child, a new version of Henrik Ibsen's Little Eyolf, which won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Independent Production.
In 2009 he directed Aleksei Arbuzov's The Promise for Belvoir. In 2010 he directed and co-wrote with Mark Leonard Winter, Thomas Henning and Chris Ryan a version of Seneca's Thyestes for The Hayloft Project and Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne. He directed The Cherry Orchard for Melbourne Theatre Company in 2013.
In 2011 Stone became the resident director at Belvoir. In his first year he wrote and directed The Wild Duck, after Henrik Ibsen, which has become his calling card production and has played internationally, including at the Holland Festival. In 2011 he also directed Robyn Nevin in Lally Katz's Neighbourhood Watch for Belvoir and adapted and directed Bertolt Brecht's Baal for the Sydney Theatre Company.
For Theater Basel, where he was a house director from 2015, he has directed Angels in America, John Gabriel Borkman (for which he won the 2015 Nestroy Theatre Prize), Three Sisters, and Korngold's opera Die tote Stadt. A companion project with the works of August Strindberg, Hotel Strindberg, premiered at Theater Basel in 2018.
For Ivo van Hove's company Internationaal 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, and Flight 49, inspired by the novel Op Hoop van Zegen by Herman Heijermans.
In 2016, Stone premiered an adaptation of Federico García Lorca's Yerma at the Young Vic in London. The production starred Billie Piper in the title role, and was well reviewed, returning for a second run in 2017 before transferring to the Park Avenue Armory in New York in 2018. It won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival in 2017.
Stone directed Luigi Cherubini's opera Médée at the 2019 Salzburg Festival,"Médée, Salzburg Festival 2019 returning there in 2023 for Martinů's The Greek Passion sung in English.Allison, John. Report from Salzburg. Opera, October 2023, Vol.74, No.10, p1192-4. He took his production of Euripides' Medea, with Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale, to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2020. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2022 with Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, set in present-day America's Rust Belt."Fading Dreams", interview by Matt Dobkin, Metropolitan Opera
In 2023, he directed Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele for the opening night of the new season of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in Rome, Italy.
His updated adaptation of Phaedra was produced at the National Theatre in London from February to April 2023; the company included Mackenzie Davis, Assaad Bouab and Janet McTeer.
Film Stone appeared in the films Kokoda (2006), Jindabyne (2006), and Balibo (2009), before turning to theatre direction.
Stone's directorial debut feature film The Daughter, which he also wrote, premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in Australia on 17 March 2016. He won Best Adapted Screenplay at the AACTA Awards for his work.
He directed the British drama film The Dig in 2021. It focuses on an archaeological dig in Sutton Hoo in 1939.
Television Stone has acted in the television series John Safran's Music Jamboree, MDA, Blue Heelers, Rush, City Homicide, and the films Jindabyne, Kokoda, Balibo, Blame, and The Eye of the Storm.
Philosophy and style
Stone likes to take pieces from the standard theatre canon which, with the help of his cast, he reworks into intimate, almost cinematic performances. He often works from improvisation creating an entirely new script through which the original play nevertheless shines. This practice is sometimes referred to as "over-writing".
Stone believes in theatre as a place for polemic: "One can't make theatre based on fear and compromises. Without argument, there is no art."
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".
Personal life Stone married Jessamy Dyer in 2004 though the marriage ended in divorce. He then married Stefanie Hackl, a dramaturge.
Works and performances Film Director The Turning (2013) (segment "Reunion") The Daughter (2015) (also writer) The Dig (2021) The Woman in Cabin 10 (2025) Elsinore (2026)
Stage director Verdi: La Traviata (2019) (Direct-to-video) Die Teufel von Loudun (2022) (Direct-to-video)
Acting roles Year Title Role Notes2006 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
Television Director National Theatre Live: Yerma (2017) (TV movie)
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
Theater Year Title Director ArtisticDirector Adaptor Venue 2007–2009 Spring Awakening Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, Arts House Meat Market, Melbourne with The Hayloft Project 2006 Chekhov Re-Cut: Platonov The Hayloft, Melbourne2008 The Soldier's Tale Sacred Heart Chapel, Melbourne with The Hayloft Project Pool (No Water) Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne 2009 Three Sisters Arts House Meat Market, Melbourne with The Hayloft Project2009 Leaves of Glass Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne The Promise Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney Rough Draft #3 Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC The Only Child Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney with The Hayloft Project B.C. BlackBox, Melbourne with The Hayloft Project2010 Yuri Wells The Garden of Unearthly Delights, Adelaide with The Hayloft Project The Suicide Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney with The Hayloft Project 2010; 2012 Thyestes Tower Theatre, Melbourne, Carriageworks, Sydney with The Hayloft Project 2010 The Nest Northcote Town Hall, Melbourne with The Hayloft Project 2011 Baal Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Wharf Theatre with STC 2011–2016 The Wild Duck Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Nationaltheatret, Oslo, Halle E i MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, Barbican Theatre, London, Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth 2011; 2014 Neighbourhood Watch Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC 2012 Strange Interlude Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney 2012 Death of a Salesman Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, Geelong Arts Centre, Theatre Royal Sydney 2012 Face to Face Sydney Theatre with STC 2013 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, Theatre Royal Sydney The Cherry Orchard Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC Miss Julie Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney Hamlet 2014 Die Orestie Theater Oberhausen, Germany The Government Inspector Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney 2014–2015; 2018 Thyestes Theater Bellevue, Amsterdam, Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, France, Space Theatre, Adelaide with The Hayloft Project 2014 Medea Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam 2015–2019 John Gabriel Borkman Burgtheater Vienna, Theater Basel, Switzerland, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin, Theatre Basel, Switzerland, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, Akademietheater, Vienna, Thalia-Theater, Hamburg, The State Theatre of Nations, Moscow 2016–2019 Husbands and Wives Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, deSingel, Antwerpen, Belgium, Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam 2015 Rocco und seiner Brüder Münchner Kammerspiele, Munich Angels in America Theatre Basel, Switzerland 2016 Peer Gynt Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, Nationaltheatret, Oslo 2016–2019 Drei Schwestern (Three Sisters) Theatre Basel, Switzerland, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin, Theater im Pfalzbau, Ludwigshafen, Germany, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Moscow, Residenztheater, Munich2017 Rocco et ses Freres (Rocco and His Brothers) Théâtre des Célestins, Lyon, France Lear Felsenreitschule, Salzburg for Salzburg Festival 2017–2018 Yerma Young Vic Theatre, London, Park Avenue Armory, Manhattan 2017–2021 Ibsen House Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, Cour du Lycee Saint-Joseph, Avignon, France, Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin, deSingel, Antwerpen, Belgium, Online – International 2017–2018 Les Trois Soeurs (The Three Sisters) Odéon -Théâtre de l'Europe, France, Théâtre National Populaire, Villeurbanne, France, Teatro Carignano, Turin, Italy, deSingel, Antwerpen, Belgium, Le Quai, Angers, France 2018 Eine Griechische Trilogie (A Greek Trilogy) Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin with Berliner Ensemble 2018–2020 Medea Teatros del Canal, Madrid, Barbican Theatre, London, Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Zorlu PSM, Istanbul, Theater im Pfalzbau, Germany 2018–2019 Hotel Strindberg Burgtheater Vienna, Theater Basel, Switzerland, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin 2018–2019 Husbands and Wives Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam 2018; 2021 Yerma Park Avenue Armory, Manhattan, Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin 2019 La Trilogie de la Vengeance (The Vengeance Trilogy) Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe 2019 La Traviata Palais Garnier, Paris 2019; 2021 Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City) National Theatre, Munich 2020–2021 Flight 49 Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam2021 Tristan und Isolde Grand Théâtre de Provence, France Unsere Zeit (Our Time) Residenztheater, Munich2022 Wozzeck Vienna State Opera Lucia di Lammermoor Metropolitan Opera House, New York, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Angels in America Residence Theatre 2023 Phaedra Lyttelton Theatre, London with Royal National Theatre Innocence Royal Opera House, London 2024-26 The Cherry Orchard LG Arts Center SEOUL, Busan Cultural Center, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore, Adelaide Festival Centre, Park Avenue Armory, New York 2025 The Lady from the Sea Bridge Theatre, London 2026 The Oresteia Bridge Theatre, London
Dramaturge Year Title Venue 2010–2011 Human Interest Story Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney
Acting roles