HotHouse Theatre Welcomes New Creative Leadership

Following an extensive national process to explore new models of creative leadership, HotHouse Theatre is pleased to announce a new creative partnership to lead the company into its next chapter.

 

Respected director and festival leader Lindy Hume AM will lead HotHouse Theatre as Creative Director, working with Andrew Gray through their regionally based company, Crimson Rosella Creative Adventures.

 

Together, Lindy, Andrew and Crimson Rosella bring a wealth of creative and executive leadership experience, producing expertise, and established networks across regional and metropolitan Australia. They also share a deep understanding of regional creative practice and community inspired work.

 

For decades, HotHouse has been a hub for innovation, bold ideas and fearless exploration. Partnering with Crimson Rosella heightens the company’s ability to generate distinctive work from a regional base, spark new collaborations, and amplify the voices and stories of our region. Lindy and Andrew will guide HotHouse through a staged and collaborative pathway that ensures sustainability while enabling ambitious programming and facilitating deep community engagement.

 

In the initial phase of work in 2025, Lindy, Andrew and Crimson Rosella have already begun working closely with the HotHouse Board, local artists, communities and stakeholders in Albury-Wodonga, opening conversations to shape the future direction of the company. The Board is confident this approach will position HotHouse strongly for the future – balancing financial realities with artistic ambition, while celebrating the vibrancy and dynamic creativity of our region.

 

About Lindy Hume AM PhD

Lindy is known for progressive leadership of Australian arts organisations and international festivals including Perth Festival, Sydney Festival, Four Winds Festival and Ten Days on the Island. Equally at home in opera, she has served as Artistic Director of four Australian opera companies and was Guest Creative Director for Opera Australia’s Sydney Summer Season 2024. As a director she has created 100+ productions in Australia, NZ the UK, Europe and the USA, from opera to new cross-genre Australian works.

 

For over 20 years Lindy has lived and worked in regional Australia. She is recognised as a leading thinker and writer on creative life outside the metro mainstream through her Currency House Platform Paper (2017) Restless Giant: Changing Cultural Values in Regional Australia and her PhD thesis A Bigger Picture: Toward a Landscape Oriented Creative Practice, which she is currently turning into a book. In 2023 Lindy established the regionally based creative enterprise Crimson Rosella Creative Adventures, with long-time collaborator Andrew Gray.

 

About Andrew Gray

Andrew Gray is a cultural leader with over 30 years’ experience driving innovation in the creative industries. As Executive Director of South East Arts, he secured major investment, built strong creative networks and delivered standout events including Headland Writers Festival and the award-winning Giiyong Festival. His career also spans national institutions such as the Australian War Memorial and National Film and Sound Archive, where he created acclaimed public programs.

 

Known for blending creativity with strategy, Andrew continues to mentor artists, foster cultural tourism and strengthen regional communities across Australia.

 

Statement from Lindy:

“Since the artists of the Murray River Performing Group seized Australia’s cultural imagination with their creative energy and national ambition from a regional centre, HotHouse Theatre has been at the forefront of innovation in Australia’s regional theatre making movement.

 

In that spirit, as a creative practitioner who chooses to live and work in regional Australia, I am thrilled to begin this new creative journey with the famous HotHouse, honoured to walk on the lands of the Traditional Owners of this region, and to listen deeply to the stories, histories and cultural knowledge embedded here. I’m excited to dive into the rich cultural life, landscapes and communities of Albury Wodonga and the magnificent surrounding regions.

 

Andrew and I look forward to getting to know the region’s artists, creative community and special places, and to making and sharing life-affirming performance experiences in and from this beautiful place.”

 

Statement from Andrew:

“I’m excited to be working in the Albury Wodonga region which is already familiar to me, having grown up in the Riverina and through my professional connections with the network of Regional Arts Development Organisations, including Murray Arts. As a creative industries advisor and regional cultural tourism specialist, I understand the opportunities and challenges for regional artists and creative communities.

 

Working with HotHouse provides a chance to collaborate with artists, audiences and partners across the region, nurturing local talent, fostering innovation and ensuring regional stories are celebrated on a national stage. I am inspired by HotHouse’s legacy and thrilled to help shape its next chapter of creative leadership and cultural impact.”

 

Image Credit: David Rogers Photography