Charles has been the Artistic Director of the Tasmanian Theatre Company since late 2007. He was, for ten years, the Artistic Manager of HotHouse Theatre, Australia’s most successful regional theatre.

He trained at Flinders University Drama Centre and has worked in Australia and the USA as a director, lighting designer, actor and arts administrator. Charles has directed shows for the Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne Festivals and was Artistic Director of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus for five years. He was Artistic Director of Breadline Theatre and CIRKIDZ and General Manager of Mainstreet Theatre and has also worked for Sydney Theatre Company, Nimrod, The Theatre of the Deaf and Zootango Theatre. In 2007, Charles was the Interim General Manager of Ten Days on the Island.

For TTC Charles has directed The Messiah (2009) and Partly It’s About Love … Partly It’s About Massacre (2010). He directed the Twentieth Anniversary Show for the Flying Fruit Fly Circus and co-directed a HotHouse Theatre and Flying Fruit Fly Circus co-production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Kim Walker.

Charles was one of only two participants from Tasmania invited to contribute to the Towards a Creative Australia discussion at the Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit.

Charles is a member of the National Advisory Group for the Australian Script Centre, he is the Tasmanian Advocate for Playwriting Australia and was a member of the Regional Advisory Panel for La Trobe University.

Charles was a member of the panel advising the Minister on Victoria Commissions projects and is currently a peer assessor for the Australia Council for the Arts. He was the inaugural Chair of the Victorian Regional Arts Fund, a director of the Border Trust Community Foundation and an executive member of the Regional Arts Board of Albury Wodonga.