Who is Jean Tong?
Writer / director / chip lover / confusing from a marketing perspective.
What would you do differently from what you do now?
Probably just do the things I keep saying I’ll do instead of complaining about how I never do things differently from what I do now.
Who inspires you and why?
I tend to be inspired by the people in my life. Lately I’ve had the pleasure of working with two incredibly smart and talented writer/performers, Cassie Hamilton and Kathleen Mary Lee on their respective works. Getting to be a part of their originality and vision has been a truly buoyant way to kickstart my year.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Abolish billionaires and meetings with more than 6 people. And mandate that films any longer than 115 minutes bring back the interval. Let me piss.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
Anywhere close to a beach that is sunny and approx. 25-28°C every day.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
Good Days Noodle Bar to get fed, Three Horses to get drunk, then whatever queer theatre-live-music-short-long-experimental-film-performance-art my friends or my friend’s friends are doing that week to get really inspired and probably also really mad, and then a house party somewhere to talk about how TV Is Dead But Films Are So Back.
What are you currently reading?
David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs: A Theory and Dylin Hardcastle’s A Language of Limbs.
What are you currently listening to?
Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos – just like everyone else is currently listening to, or should be listening to.
Happiness is?
Getting to midday Sunday and remembering Monday is a public holiday.
What does the future hold for you?
The terrifying ordeal of experiencing opening night for my upcoming play DO NOT PASS GO (Melbourne Theatre Company), the comedown of that, and then immediately starting rehearsals to direct Cassie Hamilton’s brilliant new musical, A Transgender Woman On The Internet, Crying. And maybe after all of that, a very quiet, very isolated, beach with the aforementioned perfect weather.
Jean Tong’s new work, Do Not Pass Go, will be presented by Melbourne Theatre Company at the Southbank Theatre, The Lawler, from 14 February – 28 March 2026. For more information, visit: www.mtc.com.au for details.
Image: Jean Tong – photo by They Muse Photography