LA TRAVIATA
Central City Opera

“How appropriate, then, that director Justin Way began Verdi's operatic version of that play by raising the mini-curtain again to reveal Gish's modern counterpart: Violetta, the ill-fated 'Lady of the Camellias.' It was an unexpected touch - the first of many that would lift this production above earlier versions presented by Central City Opera.…The Australian director made his Central City debut in auspicious fashion, showing bold strokes, while never muddying the waters with distracting mannerisms. His intent was to bring renewed focus to the drama, even if it meant raising some eyebrows.”

Mark Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News

“Throughout its four acts, the fine production of the popular romantic opera - based on Alexandre Dumas' novel 'La Dame aux Camelias' - witnessed the hand of director Justin Way in his triumphant CCO debut. ….the young Aussie is plainly in possession of a ripe artistic discernment... ”

Sabine Kortals, The Denver Post

Alcina
Opera Australia

"…there was much to admire in how director Justin Way and designers Andrew Hays and Kimm Kovac told the tale of the seductive sorceress Alcina and her enchanted island of sensual pleasure… a production team with a bright future on the opera stage."

Murray Black, The Australian

"Covent Garden-based Justin Way triumphantly presented Handel’s late work in an exotic, decadent, magical paradise where the sorceress Alcina presides… but I fully expect that other houses around the world will see this brilliant Justin Way production in the future.”

Opera Now

The Abduction from the Seraglio
Chicago Opera Theater

"Chicago Opera Theater's welcome production of this masterpiece manages to bring us more true-to life characterizations of Muslims and Middle Eastern culture than may be found in much of today's Western movies and media. Australian director Justin Way brings out the work's dramatic nuances and plot twists impressively..."

New City

"Justin Way's New Production touches on this [work's] topicality updating the action to around 1914 when the Ottoman Empire was gasping its last and class divisions still meant something. ...his staging focuses on the darker aspects of the singspiel with its stretches of German dialogue alternating with some of the composer's most glorious, if vocally demanding arias. "

John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

Dardanus
Pinchgut Opera

"Justin Way (director) and his production team of Hamish Peters (designer) and Bernie Tan (lighting) updated the work... The action never got in the way of the music, yet complimented it through a series of visual tableaux that were both evocative and relevant. The plot of Dardanus is at best slim, and it is therefore high praise that the production made a strong case for the work. "

Michael Sinclair, The Opera Critic

"Director Justin Way, working with simple sets and modern dress...moved his cast well and gave dramatic impetus at just the right moments. It is perhaps Pinchgut's finest achievement yet, with a particularly challenging work musically as well as stylistically. This company is a real asset to Sydney."

John Grant, The Australian

La Cenerentola
Washington National Opera

"Justin Way's direction is clever and sympathetic. He deftly melds Rossini's reiterative clockworks with complementary tomfoolery onstage."

Tim Page, The Washington Post

La Cenerentola
Royal Opera, Covent Garden

"Anyone who does not see the point of Rossini's bubblier works should hasten along to Covent Garden...Some of the voices this time around may be a little less spectacular, but the ensemble is stronger and, as directed by Justin Way, the singers strike more sparks off each other."

John Allison, The Times

"The current rendering by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier was directed by Justin Way, who together with Christian Fennouillat, responsible for the economical set, Agostino Cavalca for the characterful costumes and Christophe Forey for the subtle lighting, made this Cenerentola a joy to behold."

Alexa Woolf, Music on the Web

Semele
Pinchgut Opera

"Director Justin Way opted for a 1960's flavour, with a minimal set...bringing the story to life admirably...Way, along with designer Samantha Paxton and lighting designer Bernie Tan, delivered a fresh and youthful rendition of what is not traditionally a staged work."

Hilary Shrubb, The Australian

The Fairy Queen
Pinchgut Opera

"Purcell's The Fairy Queen is a miracle of melody but, let's fact it, a debasement of drama...Justin Way's production for Pinchgut Opera makes a winning and delightful case for the theatrical option."

Peter McCallum, The Sydney Morning Herald

Madama Butterfly
Royal Opera, Covent Garden

"Now that it has returned for its first revival...it yields more all-round satisfaction. It is already directed by someone new, Justin Way, having been produced by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier."

Michael Tanner, The Spectator