Headshot for Janie Lawson

Janie Lawson

Janie Lawson is delighted to make her directorial debut with Free-Rain Theatre, directing I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change for a company she has long considered a creative home. Her association with Free-Rain stretches back to the company’s early years in the mid-1990s, when she appeared in productions including Baby with the Bathwater, St James Infirmary and The Stripper.

A familiar presence on Canberra stages, Janie has performed for most of her life and has worked with numerous local companies, as well as theatre companies in the United States. Most recently, she wrote and performed DNA the Cabaret at ACT Hub’s 2026 Canberra Cabaret Festival. In 2025, she appeared as Maureen in Free-Rain’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane and as Dora in Equus.

Other recent performances include Marion Woolnough in The Boy From Oz, Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot, and Jeannette in Canberra Rep’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers. Her ACT Hub credits include Dr Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest (Everyman Theatre) and Claire in Steel Magnolias (Free-Rain).

Janie’s extensive theatre credits also include Rita Encore in Echo Theatre’s Ruthless, and appearances in Free-Rain’s Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Les Misérables. With Canberra REP, she appeared as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and with Ickle Pickle as Ursula in The Little Mermaid. For Philo she featured in Cabaret, The Boy from Oz, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cats, West Side Story, and Sweet Charity – the latter earning her a CAT Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She also performed for stadium audiences in Canberra and Wollongong in Pee Wee Productions’ We Will Rock You.

Janie has also performed in theatre restaurant shows including Hits of the Blitz, Who’s that Knocking and A Cheeky Christmas, and spent more than a decade performing locally and interstate with Canberra-based vocal trio ‘The Stilettos’.

During her time living in Atlanta Georgia, Janie appeared in Clue (Kudzu Playhouse) and All the King’s Horses and The Course with the Abbey Players.

Beyond the stage, Janie brings a broad performance background to her directorial work. She holds professional qualifications in Ballroom and Latin American dancing, taught in the ACT for several years, and competed professionally in the South Pacific Ballroom Dancing Championships and National Capital Ballroom Dancing Championships. She has also appeared in local television commercials and in The Prime Minister Is Missing (Screen Australia).

Janie is thrilled to be working with such a talented cast and creative team to bring I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change to life. At its heart, the show reminds us that love is rarely neat, often hilarious, sometimes painful, and always deeply human — and that in all our imperfect attempts to connect, we may find the truest version of ourselves.

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