Biography
Mitch Riley is an Australian performing artist with wide-ranging abilities, covering opera and theatre, marionettes and clown.
His interest in the voice, music-led theatre and the creation of new work has led to the premieres of more than fifteen works for the stage, as well as productions of existing works by Pascal Dusapin (O Mensch!, Passion), György Kurtág (...pas à pas - nulle part...), and Peter Maxwell-Davies (The Lighthouse). He has worked in France, Australia and the UK, with companies such as Sydney Chamber Opera, Manchester Collective, La Grande Fugue, l’Ensemble Offrandes, Opera Australia, and La compagnie des choses humaines.
He has also worked as director on different creations for clown, and most notably, Perte, which was performed at La Scala Paris in October 2020. He regularly leads theatre workshops for adults (the Rendez-vous théâtraux), and for school children (clown, marionettes and movement).
Artistic roles
Artistic Associate, Sydney Chamber Opera
http://sydneychamberopera.com/
Co-artistic director, La compagnie des choses humaines www.facebook.com/lacompagniedeschoseshumaines
Studies
Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq
Professional course
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Bachelor of Music Studies (classical singing)
Other courses
Clown - Hervé Langlois (Royal Clown Company), Vincent Rouche (Cie du moment)
Marionnettes and object theatre - Nancy Rusek and Eric de Sarria (Mots de têtes Cie / Cie Philippe Genty), Jean-Louis Heckel et Einat Landais (La Nef – Manufacture d’Utopies), Camille Trouvé (Les Anges au Plafond)
Balinese mask and dance theatre - Frederic Tellier (Théâtre du Lin)
Professional
Director
Perte, work for solo clown by Ruthy Scetbon and Mitch Riley
La compagnie des choses humaines
La Scala Paris, 16-29 October 2020 (new dates to come)
Centre Paris Anim' Les Halles (2020), La Nef, Manufacture d'Utopies (2019)
La Gardienne d’immeuble (titre provisoire), work for solo clown by Ruthy Scetbon and Mitch Riley
La compagnie des choses humaines
Premiere 2022
Pièce courte pour deux clowns, a work for clown duo
Creation with Ruthy Scetbon and Anahid Gholami Saba - 2019
Development of J’ai des pieds en permanence by Isabelle Garcin, a work for solo clown
Cie Grosplaisir - 2018
Teacher
Les rendez-vous théâtraux
La compagnie des choses humaines
Theatre workshops for adults
Voz e matéria, young composer academy
Ensemble Offrandes - teacher/performer
La Fonderie, Le Mans, january-september 2020
A multidisciplinary approach to theatrical creation
2-day workshop, with Tal Reuveny
The extraordinary is beneath our eyes
Workshop series in movement and puppetry for children, with Ruthy Scetbon
Clowns : naïve beings, explosive poets, extraordinary creatures
Workshop series in clowning for children, with Ruthy Scetbon
Private Singing/Voice lessons
Paris region, France
Mitch talks with Resonant Bodies Australia co-director Jane Sheldon about the influence his studies at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq have had on his approach to performing. They also discuss the voice, creating new work and the story behind The Shape of the Earth (premiered at the 2018 Resonant Bodies Festival Sydney)
Actor/Singer
V-I-T-R-I-O-L, Création chorégraphique, musicale et vidéo by Francesca Bonato et Aurélien Dumont
Ensemble Musica Nigella, Cie La Grande Fugue - actor/singer
La Chartreuse de Villeneuve-sous-Montreuil ; l'Université de Lille ;
7 Vallées - Manège de Cavalerie ; Festival Musica Nigella - Premiere 2021
From the other side of the mirror, Musical and theatrical portrait for actor and string quartet, with the music of György Kurtág
La compagnie des choses humaines - actor/co-author
Premiere 2022
Breaking Glass, four new Australian operas
Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
World premiere, Carriageworks, March 2020
Oscar and Lucinda, opera by Elliott Gyger and Pierce Wilcox
Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
World premiere, Sydney, 2019
Song cycle by Gilles Schuehmacher
Ensemble Offrandes - singer
World premiere, La Fonderie, Le Mans, 2019-2020
Jepthé, a dramatic oratorio for baritone, soprano and percussion by Josselin Roux
Ensemble Offrandes in collaboration with le Conservatoire du Mans - actor/singer
World premiere, Le Mans, 2019
The Shape of the Earth, opera by Jack Symonds and Pierce Wilcox
Resonant Bodies Festival Sydney, Sydney Chamber Opera and Carriageworks - actor/singer
World premiere, Sydney, 2018
Composing Women, development of three new Australian operas
(The Invisible Bird by Bree van Reyk, The Tent by Josephine Macken, and The Commute by Peggy Polias)
Sydney Chamber Opera, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, NIDA - actor/singer
Workshop : « a program of professional development aimed at fostering and empowering women composers », Sydney, 2018
Inside Mr Enderby, a dramatic work for baritone and string quartet by Huw Belling and Pierce Wilcox
Manchester Collective - actor/singer
World premiere. Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, 2017
O Mensch!, a staged song-cycle for baritone and piano by Pascal Dusapin
Sydney Festival, Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
Australian premiere, Sydney, 2016
Passion, opera by Pascal Dusapin, in a production by Pierre Audi
Sydney Festival, Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
Australian premiere, Sydney, 2016
Victory Over the Sun, opera by Huw Belling, Pierce Wilcox and Justene Williams
Biennale of Sydney, Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
World premiere, Sydney, 2016
Fly Away Peter, opera by Elliott Gyger and Pierce Wilcox
Sydney Chamber Opera, Melbourne Festival - actor/singer
World premiere, Sydney, Melbourne, 2015
...pas à pas – nulle part..., by György Kurtág, in a world-first staging
Sydney Festival, Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
Australian premiere, Sydney, 2014
Mayakovsky, opera by Michael Smetanin and Alison Croggon
Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
World premiere, Sydney, 2014
Three programs of musique from the Renaissance and Middle Ages
The Renaissance Players - singer
Sydney, 2014
Climbing Toward Midnight, opera by Jack Symonds
Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
World premiere, Sydney, 2013
The Lighthouse, opera by Peter Maxwell Davies
Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
Sydney, 2012
Through The Gates, a semi-staged song cycle featuring works by Bach, Schubert and Shostakovich
Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
Biennale of Sydney, 2012
I Have Had Enough (Nunc Dimittis), opera by Jack Symonds
Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
World premiere, Sydney, 2011
Notes from Underground, opera by Jack Symonds and Pierce Wilcox
Sydney Chamber Opera - actor/singer
World premiere, Sydney, 2011
Baritone in the chorus of Opera Australia
Sydney, Melbourne, 2011-2015
Marionettist
Méli-Méloup et la fille Verte, a work for children with puppets, shadow theatre and actors.
La Compagnie Méli-Méloup - actor/marionettist/co-author/co-director
Médiathèque Gulliver - St Denis, Ecole Jean Macé - Argenteuil, Centre des arts - Vernouillet, Hôpital d'Argenteuil, 2019
Les Dhouibs, directed by Jean-Louis Heckel
La Nef, Manufacture d’Utopies
Les Péchés de La Nef 3, 2018
Research and development of Forme-moi by Milena Milanova
Cie La Soif, 2018