If theatre is to be "relevant", what does that mean? Nigel Jamieson will take the bull by the horns next week when he delivers this year's Rex Cramphorn Memorial Lecture, in which he plans to speak about the pressing need to make theatre that speaks directly to the conscience of its times.

Over the past couple of decades, Jamieson has created some of the most iconic large-scale outdoor events in Australia. These include Red Square at the 2006 Adelaide Festival and Tin Symphony in the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics, which provided the iconic motifs of the Games, including the memorable ‘Victa Ballet’.

Most recently he directed Gallipoli for Sydney Theatre Company, in which he challenged audiences to confront the realities of war behind the mythology of the Anzac legend. Before that, his production Honour Bound, for Sydney Opera House and Malthouse Theatre, explored the incarceration of David Hicks in Guantanamo Bay and the undermining of the Geneva Convention by the Australian Government. The show toured to Vienna, Amsterdam, The Barbican in London and the NZ Arts Festival in Wellington.

The Rex Cramphorn Memorial Lecture, inaugurated in 1995, aims to encourage provocative thinking about theatre. Former speakers have included John Romeril, Rhoda Roberts, Lindy Davies, Neil Armfield and Geoffrey Rush, Wesley Enoch, Nick Enright, Daniel Keene, Barrie Kosky and Lyndon Terracini. The event oscillates between Melbourne and Sydney, and this year it's Melbourne's turn.

It's a free event but it's advisable to book (9685 5111). 6.30pm, Monday September 22, Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse. Be there.