Susan Provan

Susan Mary Provan AO is an Australian performing arts producer, who has been director of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival since 1994.

Early life and education

Susan Mary Provan studied a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne.^[1]

Career

Provan credits comedy producer John Pinder and his business partner Roger Evans with giving her her first job in comedy, and for introducing her to Circus Oz.^[2] She became the manager of the Last Laugh Theatre,^[1] a restaurant and comedy venue in Melbourne run by Pinder and Evans from 1976 until the mid-1980s.^[3][4]

In 1985 Provan joined Circus Oz as general manager. In 1993, she became an associate producer at the State Theatre Company of South Australia, before taking up the directorship of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 1994.^[1]

Recognition

• 2017: Added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women^[5]
• 2018: Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, "for distinguished service to arts administration through festival leadership and governance, to the tourism sector in Victoria, and to the promotion of Australian comedy"^[6]