Creative Collaborators

HELEN HOPKINS is co-founder of The Shift Theatre, a member of La Mama’s Committee of Management, a scriptwriter, theatre producer and an actor with a long career in both film and theatre, including many La Mama productions.

CAROLYN BOCK (Co-producer and performer) Co-Founder of The Shift Theatre, Carolyn is a graduate of The Victorian College of the Arts and her extensive performance career over 25 years has spanned dance and drama.

ANGELA BUCKINGHAM the writer, is currently writing a book for Five Mile Press and her latest play will be performed at the Cammerspiele in Leipzig Germany in October 2020 directed by the German director, Michaela Maxi Shultz.

EVA SEYMOUR (Performer) is an actor and writer, passionate about both theatre and film-making.

SUSIE DEE the director, has worked extensively in the theatre as a performer, devisor and director in Australia and overseas for the past thirty years.

ENDRICO BOTHA (Performer) Endrico (he/him) is a South African-Australian actor based in Naarm/Melbourne.

HUGH SEXTON (Performer) has been working in and around the Arts scene for over 20 years after graduating from Wollongong Uni with a BA in theatre

IAN MOORHEAD the sound designer is a Melbourne based artist specialising in music composition and sound design for theatre, dance, film and radio. He has performed around Australia and internationally, including New York, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Wellington, Calgary and Vancouver.

SOPHIE WOODWARD is a Melbourne based Set and Costume designer. Sophie graduated with a Bachelor of Production (Design) from VCA in 2010 winning the Beleura John Tallis Design Award in her final year. Sophie recently designed set and costumes for Iphigenia in Splott at Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Those Who Fall in Love like Anchors Dropped Upon the Ocean Floor at HotHouse Theatre and Burn This at FortyFive Downstairs

GINA GASCOIGNE is a lighting designer with over 30 years of experience. She spent many years touring in Europe as a lighting designer and operator, working with contemporary dance groups and physical theatre companies.

CLAIRE SHEPHERD studied stage management and technical theatre at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. Since moving to Australia, she has managed numerous music and corporate stages from Festivals to Gala Balls!

NATHAN CURNOW lives and writes on the traditional lands of the Wathaurong people. He is a poet, spoken word performer and past editor of Going Down Swinging.

JANICE MULLER is a theatre and opera director who has worked for companies and festivals across Australia and internationally for over 25 years. She specialises in new work, site specific performance and collaborates as a dramaturg and writer.  Janice is the recipient of various awards and scholarships. She is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and  the University of New South Wales.  She served on the board of Arena Theatre Company from 2018 to 2023.

MIA LANDGREN completed her acting degree at the New York Film Academy. She has performed and toured regularly with Pop-up Globe, Australian Shakespeare Company, Essential Theatre and Theatre iNQ.

LACHLAN WATTS, an actor and musician, is a graduate of the Federation University Arts Academy. Lachlan has performed extensively with the Australian Shakespeare Company, being a senior swing in their long running The Wind in the Willows production, for seasons in both Melbourne and London.

GABRIEL PARTINGTON is a theatre maker and actor who grew up on Kaurna Country, and now lives and performs on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people. Recent theatre credits include Laurence Strangio’s production of ‘Traps’ by Caryl Churchill, ‘Sowing Seeds’ at Gasworks Arts Park, ‘Soul of Possum’ at YIRRAMBOI and Castlemaine State Festival, and ‘Rust’ by TBC Theatre for Midsumma Festival.

Greg has worked extensively in set design for over 47 years. As far ranging as creating the magic illusions for Doug Tremlett to special effects and major set pieces for film and television.

CLAIRE SHEPHERD studied stage management and technical theatre at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. Since moving to Australia, she has managed numerous music and corporate stages from Festivals to Gala Balls! Company Managed tours of Menopause the Musical, Cosi, Café Rebetika, Playwriting Australia National Script Workshops andMalthouse TIE Suitcase Series.

CLAIRE NICHOLLS graduated from the Ballarat Arts Academy in 2005. Between 2006 and 2011 she worked with Liminal Theatre and Performance, performing locally and internationally, most notably in their Green Room Award winning work Oedipus- A Poetic Requiem.

BRIAN DAVISON was born in Los Angeles, California . He has performed as an actor for the stage in Othello, The Wizard of Oz, West Side Story, Fight for Existence, Extremities, Monday Night Football, The Waiting Room, The Good Doctor, and Assistant Director on The Last Night of Cyrano and wrote and directed a short play, Through and Through.

KEVIN HOPKINS has worked in the entertainment industry for over 30 years as an actor, director and morerecently as a teacher of acting. He has performed in all states of Australia and internationally, and has been an ensemble member of the Australian Shakespeare company for over 25 years. He has appeared in over 60 productions, predominantly in Shakespeare.

CRISTINA WELLS has written and performed extensively in the Melbourne theatre scene. Her farce Death at a Birthday was longlisted for the Noosa One Act Play Competition in 2016.

CANDACE MILES is an award-winning theatre-maker and actor, graduating in 2015 from the Victorian College of the Arts. Upon finishing actor training at the VCA, Candace co-founded ensemble company Three Birds Theatre which has created and toured original theatre shows across the nation

MADELAINE NUNN is an award-winning writer/ theatre-maker/ actor and a recipient of the highly coveted ATYP Rebel Wilson Theatremaker Scholarship. Since graduating from the VCA in 2015 Madelaine has co-founded the ensemble company, Three Birds Theatre, been shortlisted for the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, nominated for two Green Room Awards and has toured her work throughout Victoria, NSW and the US.

ANNA RODWAY is a multi-genre writer, harnessing the power of storytelling across screen, stage and print. Anna is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Theatre Practice) and one-third of Green-Room Award nominated company Three Birds Theatre with whom she has written, performed and toured four works in the past four years, with another work slated for development this year.

PETER HOUGHTON works as a writer, director and actor in theatre, film and television.

His writing for theatre includes The Pitch which premiered at La Mama and then enjoyed extended and return seasons at Malthouse Theatre, Black Swan and a national tour. His plays A Commercial Farce and The China Incident were also produced by Malthouse and have toured extensively. Peter was an affiliate playwright for the Melbourne Theatre Company who produced his play The Colours.

VERITY CHARLTON is a Melbourne actor and comedian, with a Bachelor of Theatre and Drama from La Trobe University. She is a founding member of Red Stitch Actors Theatre, where she performed in 16 productions; including The Country, Love and Understanding and Iron. Other theatre credits include, Operation Dolores, Stories from the Flatlands, The Commission, Blue Murder, Eight Days and Odd Seas for La Mama.

CHI NGUYEN was born in Vietnam and currently based in Melbourne, Chi Nguyen’s credits at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) include Mother Courage in Mother Courage (dir. Chris Kohn), Jackie in The Boys (dir. Alister Smith) and Masha in The Three Sisters (dir. Melanie Beddie).

Catherine is a recipient of the Ewa Czajor Award for female directors and the Peter Summerton Award for directing.

Meg White is an architect, set designer and performer. She has been creating designs and performing for more than 23 years.

Abe Pogos has mostly worked as a scriptwriter since graduating from the VCA School of Drama in 1984. He has had a number of scripts professionally produced for theatre, film, TV and radio but in recent years has added music theatre writing to his repertoire.

Rebecca Etchell is a freelance Production Manager, Stage Manager, Lighting and Set designer based in Melbourne.

Richard Vabre is a freelance lighting designer who has lit productions for MTC, STC, Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir Street, Black Swan State Theatre Company, Victorian Opera, Windmill Theatre, Arena Theatre Company, NICA, The Darwin Festival, Stuck Pig’s Squealing, Chambermade, Rawcus, Red Stitch, Polyglot, Melbourne Worker’s Theatre, Aphids and many many productions at La Mama.

SAMANTHA MURRAY is back East after 10 years on the West Coast and performs in Theatre, Film & Television. Recent performances in Melbourne include the 2013 Midsumma sold out season of Tennessee Williamsʼ Vieux Carre at FortyFive Downstairs. Previous theatre credits include Twelfth Night, Proof, A Man With Five Children for BlackSwan State Theatre Co.The Heidi Chronicles & Tim Wintonʼs The Turning for PTC & Perth International Arts Festival.

MARTIN BLUM - In 2006 Martin was one of twelve actors selected to be a member of Sydney Theatre Company’s ‘Actor’s Ensemble’, performing in eight productions over two years, including Benedict Andrew’s  The Season at Sarsaparilla.

TOM HEALEY’s recent projects include Spring Awakening (the arts academy),The Breath of Empty Space (vca), By Their Own Hands (as production dramaturg, hayloft/mtcNEON), The Girls in Grey (the shift theatre/critical stages), A Bright Room Called Day (vca), Days of Significance, Metamorphoses, Attempts on Her Life, Punk Rock (flinders), Disarming Rosetta (hothouse), Turns (cdp) Good Evening (token),The Spook and Drink Pepsi, Bitch (malthouse theatre).

KAREN MARTIN is a regional writer/ director. She has extensive theatre experience in both a professional and community arts capacity. Her professional theatre work includes: Drowning in her Soup, Don't Tell Me I'm Glowing, and Shoes of Desire Pt 1. Her visual arts instalments and projects include Trees of Aspirations and A walk of art. Karen was awarded the prestigious Ewa Czajor Memorial Award in 2001 for her work on The Women's Jail Project and is a recipient of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship (St James Ethic Centre) for her community theatre work. She has just produced a season of her new production Rendition of the Soul.

Clare Bartholomew has been performing, writing, directing and producing new theatre works in Australia and internationally for over 25 years. She consults on performance for numerous organisations and independent companies from Circus Oz shows’ and their Blakrobatics program to multi award winning Fringe Wives Club’s Glittery Clittery, acrobatic ensemble Dummies Corp, comedians’ Hannah Gadsby, Barnie Duncan/Juan Versuvius, Josh Glanc, clown and physical comedy ensemble The Business, dark bouffon/clown ensemble WE3/The Long Pigs, Finucane and Smith’s The Burlesque Hour and Glory Box, Little Wing Puppets, Rawcus and Bunk Puppets, to name a few. 

Mikailah is a recently graduated Naarm based Set and Costume Designer and Costume Maker with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). Her

J. David Franzke is a Composer, Sound Designer, Music Mixer and Producer. His primary work is composing and designing for live performance in theatre. It also includes film, visual art installations as well as the production of albums. Known for his bold and idiosyncratic scores, Franzke has worked with some of Australia’s most influential directors including Simon Phillips, Matthew Lutton, Peter Houghton, Marion Potts, Michael Kantor, Pamela Rabe and Richard Lowenstein. His work has toured both nationally and internationally. With a contribution spanning 25 years in the arts industry of Australia, his unique approach to each project he continues challenge and provoke audiences providing visceral experience for audiences across many art forms.

MATT SCOTT is one of Australia’s leading theatrical lighting designers with 29 years’ experience in the industry designing more than 300 productions for Theatre, Opera, Circus, Dance and Music Theatre. Based in Melbourne, Australia he has worked for almost all this country’s leading performing arts companies including Opera Australia, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir, Queensland Theatre, Bell Shakespeare, Victorian Opera, WA Opera, Opera Queensland, Black Swan State Theatre Company, La Boite and the Malthouse to name a few. His work has also been seen overseas with some notable productions touring to the USA, UK, Europe, New Zealand, and Japan.