Yaron Lifschitz didn’t like plays. And plays didn’t like him. “I think a lot of theatre is really, really boring,” he says. It was an awkward revelation, coming as it did midway through his study at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), as the youngest ever candidate for their prestigious graduate director’s course.
But it opened the door to a remarkable career, as Lifschitz had to find his own way into the arts world, where he would find a home for his permanently restless, creative spirit.
But it opened the door to a remarkable career, as Lifschitz had to find his own way into the arts world, where he would find a home for his permanently restless, creative spirit.
"Known for his collaborations across genres and with other arts companies, he was a natural fit when it came to choosing a director for the ACO’s upcoming Cocteau’s Circle."
Circus, collaboration and creativity
After a stint at the Australian Museum working on live interpretation and interactive experiences, Lifschitz found his creative home at Circa, a once small-time circus outfit in Queensland that is now internationally recognised, having toured to more than 45 countries and performed to approximately two million people. He was recently announced as the recipient of the International Society for the Performing Arts 2025 Distinguished Artist Award.
Lifschitz has led Circa for 25 years and still feels he’s only scratching the surface of what the art form of circus can offer, saying “We’re all capable of more, we just don’t know where those limits are. One of the great things that circus gives you is to find out what that more is.” Known for his collaborations across genres and with other arts companies, he was a natural fit when it came to choosing a director for the ACO’s upcoming Cocteau’s Circle. An entertaining exploration of the music and culture of 1920s Paris, it features the vocal and theatrical talents of Le Gateau Chocolat, one of the world’s most in-demand cabaret performers, as well as the unrivalled talents of the ACO themselves, led by Richard Tognetti.
After a stint at the Australian Museum working on live interpretation and interactive experiences, Lifschitz found his creative home at Circa, a once small-time circus outfit in Queensland that is now internationally recognised, having toured to more than 45 countries and performed to approximately two million people. He was recently announced as the recipient of the International Society for the Performing Arts 2025 Distinguished Artist Award.
Lifschitz has led Circa for 25 years and still feels he’s only scratching the surface of what the art form of circus can offer, saying “We’re all capable of more, we just don’t know where those limits are. One of the great things that circus gives you is to find out what that more is.” Known for his collaborations across genres and with other arts companies, he was a natural fit when it came to choosing a director for the ACO’s upcoming Cocteau’s Circle. An entertaining exploration of the music and culture of 1920s Paris, it features the vocal and theatrical talents of Le Gateau Chocolat, one of the world’s most in-demand cabaret performers, as well as the unrivalled talents of the ACO themselves, led by Richard Tognetti.
“I can create beauty and be bloody annoying.”
Oysters and pearls
Lifschitz can be counted on to bring an entertaining, disruptive, audience-focussed vision to any directing project. He describes himself as an irritant, like a grain of sand in an oyster. Irritate effectively, and you can produce a pearl. “I can create beauty and be bloody annoying.” The results are always exciting and unexpected.
Precision of vision
While a second in life is just that, “a second on stage is always considered and envisioned, worked for and ultimately achieved,” Lifschitz explains. “It’s core to what makes theatre so special.” Live performance, in any genre, is immediate and embodied. The audience are present and all “focussed on this exact same second”. The structure and clarity of these moments appeals to the director. “I’m naturally a very messy person and what I love about theatre is the way it orders everything,” he says. A single second of live performance contains the hundreds of hours of professional and artistic experience of everyone involved.
Lifschitz can be counted on to bring an entertaining, disruptive, audience-focussed vision to any directing project. He describes himself as an irritant, like a grain of sand in an oyster. Irritate effectively, and you can produce a pearl. “I can create beauty and be bloody annoying.” The results are always exciting and unexpected.
Precision of vision
While a second in life is just that, “a second on stage is always considered and envisioned, worked for and ultimately achieved,” Lifschitz explains. “It’s core to what makes theatre so special.” Live performance, in any genre, is immediate and embodied. The audience are present and all “focussed on this exact same second”. The structure and clarity of these moments appeals to the director. “I’m naturally a very messy person and what I love about theatre is the way it orders everything,” he says. A single second of live performance contains the hundreds of hours of professional and artistic experience of everyone involved.
“I’m naturally a very messy person and what I love about theatre is the way it orders everything.”
Creating as compulsion
Lifschitz creates, directs and collaborates because he must. “I feel a bit like a beaver who has to keep gnawing on wood or his teeth get too long… I feel a compulsion to push my shabby stuff out into the world”. (Circa’s consistently five-star reviews and cabinets worth of awards contradict his choice of adjective.)
As the world gets more complex, Lifschitz sees the arts (as a broad sector) as key to making humanity the best we can be. “The arts is part of the ecosystem of engagement and intelligence and creativity. We want to be as intelligent and creative as we possibly can.”
Click here to discover and book Cocteau's Circle, touring to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Canberra from 8-22 November.
Written by Jennifer Williams
Lifschitz creates, directs and collaborates because he must. “I feel a bit like a beaver who has to keep gnawing on wood or his teeth get too long… I feel a compulsion to push my shabby stuff out into the world”. (Circa’s consistently five-star reviews and cabinets worth of awards contradict his choice of adjective.)
As the world gets more complex, Lifschitz sees the arts (as a broad sector) as key to making humanity the best we can be. “The arts is part of the ecosystem of engagement and intelligence and creativity. We want to be as intelligent and creative as we possibly can.”
Click here to discover and book Cocteau's Circle, touring to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Canberra from 8-22 November.
Written by Jennifer Williams
