Robyn Archer AO
Singer, Performer, Writer, Artistic Director and Advocate of the Arts
An award-winning cabaret performer, writer and cultural leader, internationally renowned for her interpretations of Brecht and Weimar-era repertoire. A Helpmann Award winner and Cabaret Icon, she has created and performed major works for Australian and international stages, recorded eleven albums, directed leading arts festivals and held senior advisory roles across the cultural sector.
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Robyn Archer AO is one of Australia’s most distinguished cabaret performers, writers, directors and cultural leaders, with an international career spanning more than five decades.
She is the winner of the 2013 Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer and was named Cabaret Icon at the 2016 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Her performance work is widely acclaimed for its musical and intellectual rigour, including recitals of French (Que Reste-t’Il), German (Dancing on the Volcano) and American (The Other Great American Songbook) song. Robyn is recognised internationally as a leading interpreter of the repertoire of the Weimar Republic, particularly the works of Brecht and his musical collaborators, which she has performed throughout Australia and worldwide since the 1970s.
Her major stage works include A Star is Torn (touring Australia and London’s West End), Tonight Lola Blau, and numerous devised cabarets featuring her own writing and songs. As a writer and director, her projects include The Sound of Falling Stars (2017/18), Picaresque for the 2019 Adelaide Festival, and Fortunes of Exile with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. She has recorded eleven albums, most notably Robyn Archer Sings Brecht, recorded at Abbey Road with The London Sinfonietta.
In July 2022 she premiered Robyn Archer: an Australian Songbook for Queensland Theatre to critical and audience acclaim, touring nationally in 2023 and performing at Sydney Town Hall for WorldPride.
Beyond her creative practice, Robyn has made major contributions to arts leadership and public life. She has served as Artistic Director of the National Festival of Australian Theatre, the Adelaide and Melbourne International Arts Festivals, creator of Ten Days on the Island (Tasmania) and The Light in Winter (Federation Square), and Creative Producer of the Centenary of Canberra 2013. A former Deputy Chair of the Australia Council, she has also held extensive advisory and mentoring roles in Australia and internationally.
Robyn has published numerous books and essays and writes regularly for leading Australian journals. Her many honours include Officer of the Order of Australia, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), Officer of the Crown (Belgium), the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Cultural Leadership Award, the SA Premier’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the JC Williamson Centenary Lifetime Achievement Award, and honorary doctorates from multiple Australian universities.
