CAST
Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony LaPaglia is a multi-award winning actor who has an extensive and diverse list of credits across film, television and theatre.
Anthony was recently seen in the US Netflix series FLORIDA MAN and Justin Kurzel’s feature NITRAM, alongside Caleb Landry Jones, Essie Davis and Judy Davis, which had its World Premiere in Competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Anthony also served as an Executive Producer. The film received critical acclaim and earned him an FCCA Award Nomination and an AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He will next be seen in the television adaption of Trent Dalton’s iconic novel BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE, for Netflix.
His other recent credits include Maziar Lahooti’s debut feature BELOW which premiered at the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival, David Sandberg’s horror film ANNABELLE: CREATION, the SBS miniseries SUNSHINE alongside Melanie Lynskey, for which he was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama and a Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival, the Sky series RIVIERA with Julia Stiles, the limited series BAD BLOOD, and a guest starring role in season five of the popular ABC series RAKE.
Anthony’s other projects include Walter Hill’s feature THE ASSIGNMENT alongside Sigourney Weaver, which premiered at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival, Neil Armfield’s HOLDING THE MAN alongside Guy Pearce, for which he received nominations for an AACTA Award, Australian Film Critics Association Award and Film Critics Circle of Australia for Best Supporting Actor, Marco Serafini’s feature TOY GUN, the critically acclaimed ABC series THE CODE, the BBC telemovie THE EICHMANN SHOW alongside Martin Freeman, A GOOD MARRIAGE, based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel and Matthew Saville’s A MONTH OF SUNDAYS for which he was nominated for an Australian Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor.
He starred in the Australian feature BALIBO where he also served as Executive Producer. His performance as Roger East in the film earned him the AFI Award and Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor.
His other feature film credits include the critically acclaimed LANTANA, for which he was awarded the AFI Award, IF Award and Film Critic Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor, BIG STONE GAP, MENTAL, NEWCOMER, BETSY’S WEDDING, THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, SWEET AND LOWDOWN, THE CLIENT, COMPANY MAN, SUMMER OF SAM, AUTUMN IN NEW YORK, LANSKY, PHOENIX, COMMANDMENTS, BRILLIANT LIES, WINTER SOLSTICE and THE ARCHITECT.
Anthony received widespread critical acclaim for his portrayal of Jack Malone in WITHOUT A TRACE, for which he won a Golden Globe Award and earned an Emmy Award nomination and two SAG Award nominations for Outstanding Male Actor and a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble.
His television credits include a recurring role in FRASIER, for which he earned an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Daphne’s brother Simon Moon, the Nine Network’s series HALIFAX: RETRIBUTION, Robert Connolly’s telemovie UNDERGROUND, which tells the story of a young Julian Assange, MURDER ONE and the movies NEVER GIVE UP: THE JIMMY V STORY, CRIMINAL JUSTICE, for which he received a CableACE nomination, and GARDEN OF REDEMPTION.
Anthony has also appeared on stage in Stanley Tucci’s LEND ME A TENOR for the Music Box Theatre and Terry Kinney’s CHECKERS at the Vineyard Theatre. He was awarded a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in the Arthur Miller classic A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. His additional stage credits include THE ROSE TATTOO, which earned him a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, the Off Broadway productions of BOUNCERS, NORTHEAST LOCAL and ON THE OPEN ROAD and the Off Off Broadway production of THE GUYS, which went on to become a feature film in which he starred with Sigourney Weaver.
Anthony was the 2014 recipient of the Virgin Australia Orry Kelly International Award presented by Australians in Film which recognises his significant international contribution to the Australian film and entertainment industry.
Willy Loman
Alison Whyte
Alison Whyte is one of Australia’s most accomplished and celebrated actors, with an outstanding reputation in theatre, film and television.
Alison has worked with many mainstage theatre companies. Most recently, Alison has been performing in Jacky for Melbourne Theatre Company. Also for the Melbourne Theatre Company, Alison appeared in Last Man Standing, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Clybourne Park and All About My Mother and for the Black Swan Theatre Company in Rising Water.
Appearances with Sydney Theatre Company include The Testament of Mary, Love and Information and Travelling North, as well as Australia Day for both the Sydney Theatre Company and the Melbourne Theatre Company. For the Malthouse Theatre, Alison performed in the production of The Bloody Chamber, Tartuffe and Eldorado, as well as Optimism which toured the Sydney Festival and the Edinburgh Festival. Recent theatre performances include Michael Cassel Group’s blockbuster production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the Vass Theatre Group Production Hand to God, as Lady Macbeth in the Australian Shakespeare Company’s production of Romeo and Juliet, as well as their production of Macbeth, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and in the epic Cloudstreet as ‘Oriel Lamb’ for the Malthouse Theatre and the Black Swan Theatre Company.
She originated the role of ‘Grace’ in Belvoir St Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Faith Healer, starring alongside Colin Friels and directed by Judy Davis, reprising the role for the Melbourne Theatre Company and Adelaide tour.
On the small screen, Alison has been seen in numerous productions, including The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Tangle, Satisfaction, City Homicide, Marshall Law, Sea Change, Good Guys Bad Guys, G.P. and the critically acclaimed Frontline, amongst many others. Alison has most recently been seen in Fisk, Harrow S3, The Kettering Incident, Glitch and Playing For Keeps (Series 1 & 2). Amongst her numerous films include The Dressmaker, Centreplace, The Jammed, Subterano and Saturday Night.
Alison is the recipient of numerous awards: 2009 ASTRA Award for Satisfaction, 2008 TV Week Logie for Satisfaction, 2005 Green Room Award for Dinner, 1997 TV Week Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress, as well as many nominations. Alison won both a Green Room Award and a Helpmann Award in 2010 for her outstanding portrayal of ‘Elizabeth’ in Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Richard lll. Alison won the 2013 Green Room Award for The Bloody Chamber. Most recently, Alison won a Sydney Theatre Award and a Helpmann Award nomination for her performance in Faith Healer.Linda Loman
Josh Helman
Josh’s film credits include Thirteen Lives, Jack Reacher, Animal Kingdom and Monster Hunter, however he is best known for his roles as Major Bill Stryker in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse alongside Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence, and Slit in Mad Max: Fury Road opposite Nicholas Hoult and Tom Hardy. In 2017 Josh co-wrote and directed Kate Can’t Swim, which won the jury’s Honorable Mention at the Slamdance Film Festival.
On television Josh has starred in the Golden Globe nominated Starz original drama Flesh and Bone, Wayward Pines, The Loudest Voice opposite Russell Crowe and the Emmy-winning HBO/Playtone miniseries The Pacific.
Stage work includes Play with the Penguin in New York, and John Pollono’s Rules of Seconds and Small Engine Repair in Los Angeles, the latter of which won three Ovation Awards including Best Ensemble Cast.
He has had the privilege to work with renowned writers and directors including Christopher McQuarrie, George Miller, Ron Howard, David Michôd, Jo Bonney, Bryan Singer and Moira Walley-Beckett.
Josh can next be seen in George Miller’s Mad Max: Furiosa opposite Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy. He is delighted to be a part of this production of Death of a Salesman.
Biff Loman
Grant Piro
This year, Grant Piro celebrates 40 years as an actor, having appeared in more than 100 productions, as well as being one of Australia’s busiest voice-over actors. His work has been recognised with several Green Room Award nominations and two wins (The Producers and The Merry Widow) along with both Helpmann and AACTA nominations.
Grant began his career in the 1980’s soap opera Sons and Daughters. Best known to young television viewers of the 90’s as the cult TV host of Couch Potato, just a sample of his many television credits include; Janus, Correlli, GP, Wildside, Seachange, City Homicide, Blue Healers, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, SeaPatrol, Jack Irish, HalifaxFP, The Librarians, GoodGuysBadguys, CrashBurn, Newton’s Law, How To Stay Married, Wanted, Ex PM 2, and My Life is Murder. In the biopics Olivia Newton John, INXS, Hoges, and Warnie. And more recently in ABCTV’s flagship comedy UTOPIA.
Some of Grant’s FEATURE FILM appearances include Rolf de Heer’s classic Bad Boy Bubby, Darkness Falls, The Outsider, The Condemned, Crime and Punishment, Mr Accident, The Lighthorsemen, Crocodile Dundee in LA, Mormon Yankees: The Spirit of the Game, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, Predestination, and alongside Daniel Radcliffe in Escape From Pretoria.
As a performer Grant’s one true love has always been the theatre. Highlights have included the world premiere of Realism, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The 39 Steps, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, His Girl Friday, and The Odd Couple for MTC. The Merry Widow, Taking Steps, The Producers, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Under Milk Wood, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hand to God, Oklahoma, The Girl From The North Country, and opposite his wife Marina Prior AM in Hello Dolly!
Grant is delighted to be back with the GWB family and is proudly represented by the team at Ian White Management.
Stanley
Tom Stokes
Tom’s theatre credits include Black is the New White, Pygmalion (Sydney Theatre Company), Sunday (Melbourne Theatre Company), In the Next Room – The Vibrator Play (Black Swan State Theatre Company), Romeo & Juliet (Bell Shakespeare), Music, The Pigeons (Griffin Theatre Company), The Glass Menagerie, Blood Bank (Ensemble Theatre Company), King of Pigs, Capture the Flag (Critical Stages), Of Mice and Men (Sport for Jove), Shakespeare’s R&J (Riverside), I Want to Sleep With Tom Stoppard (Tamarama Rock Surfers), Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar (Cry Havoc) and Don’t Look Back (Perth International Arts Festival).
Film credits include: The Rooster, The 11th Green, Newness, Equals, The Railway Man, and Wasted on the Young. TV credits include: Warnie, La Brea, Miss Education, Australia: The Story of Us.
Tom is a graduate of WAAPA (West Australian Academy of Performing Arts).Bernard
Cast
Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony LaPaglia is a multi-award winning actor who has an extensive and diverse list of credits across film, television and theatre.
Anthony was recently seen in the US Netflix series FLORIDA MAN and Justin Kurzel’s feature NITRAM, alongside Caleb Landry Jones, Essie Davis and Judy Davis, which had its World Premiere in Competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Anthony also served as an Executive Producer. The film received critical acclaim and earned him an FCCA Award Nomination and an AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He will next be seen in the television adaption of Trent Dalton’s iconic novel BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE, for Netflix.
His other recent credits include Maziar Lahooti’s debut feature BELOW which premiered at the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival, David Sandberg’s horror film ANNABELLE: CREATION, the SBS miniseries SUNSHINE alongside Melanie Lynskey, for which he was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama and a Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival, the Sky series RIVIERA with Julia Stiles, the limited series BAD BLOOD, and a guest starring role in season five of the popular ABC series RAKE.
Anthony’s other projects include Walter Hill’s feature THE ASSIGNMENT alongside Sigourney Weaver, which premiered at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival, Neil Armfield’s HOLDING THE MAN alongside Guy Pearce, for which he received nominations for an AACTA Award, Australian Film Critics Association Award and Film Critics Circle of Australia for Best Supporting Actor, Marco Serafini’s feature TOY GUN, the critically acclaimed ABC series THE CODE, the BBC telemovie THE EICHMANN SHOW alongside Martin Freeman, A GOOD MARRIAGE, based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel and Matthew Saville’s A MONTH OF SUNDAYS for which he was nominated for an Australian Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor.
He starred in the Australian feature BALIBO where he also served as Executive Producer. His performance as Roger East in the film earned him the AFI Award and Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor.
His other feature film credits include the critically acclaimed LANTANA, for which he was awarded the AFI Award, IF Award and Film Critic Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor, BIG STONE GAP, MENTAL, NEWCOMER, BETSY’S WEDDING, THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, SWEET AND LOWDOWN, THE CLIENT, COMPANY MAN, SUMMER OF SAM, AUTUMN IN NEW YORK, LANSKY, PHOENIX, COMMANDMENTS, BRILLIANT LIES, WINTER SOLSTICE and THE ARCHITECT.
Anthony received widespread critical acclaim for his portrayal of Jack Malone in WITHOUT A TRACE, for which he won a Golden Globe Award and earned an Emmy Award nomination and two SAG Award nominations for Outstanding Male Actor and a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble.
His television credits include a recurring role in FRASIER, for which he earned an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Daphne’s brother Simon Moon, the Nine Network’s series HALIFAX: RETRIBUTION, Robert Connolly’s telemovie UNDERGROUND, which tells the story of a young Julian Assange, MURDER ONE and the movies NEVER GIVE UP: THE JIMMY V STORY, CRIMINAL JUSTICE, for which he received a CableACE nomination, and GARDEN OF REDEMPTION.
Anthony has also appeared on stage in Stanley Tucci’s LEND ME A TENOR for the Music Box Theatre and Terry Kinney’s CHECKERS at the Vineyard Theatre. He was awarded a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in the Arthur Miller classic A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. His additional stage credits include THE ROSE TATTOO, which earned him a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, the Off Broadway productions of BOUNCERS, NORTHEAST LOCAL and ON THE OPEN ROAD and the Off Off Broadway production of THE GUYS, which went on to become a feature film in which he starred with Sigourney Weaver.
Anthony was the 2014 recipient of the Virgin Australia Orry Kelly International Award presented by Australians in Film which recognises his significant international contribution to the Australian film and entertainment industry.
Willy Loman
Alison Whyte
Alison Whyte is one of Australia’s most accomplished and celebrated actors, with an outstanding reputation in theatre, film and television.
Alison has worked with many mainstage theatre companies. Most recently, Alison has been performing in Jacky for Melbourne Theatre Company. Also for the Melbourne Theatre Company, Alison appeared in Last Man Standing, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Clybourne Park and All About My Mother and for the Black Swan Theatre Company in Rising Water.
Appearances with Sydney Theatre Company include The Testament of Mary, Love and Information and Travelling North, as well as Australia Day for both the Sydney Theatre Company and the Melbourne Theatre Company. For the Malthouse Theatre, Alison performed in the production of The Bloody Chamber, Tartuffe and Eldorado, as well as Optimism which toured the Sydney Festival and the Edinburgh Festival. Recent theatre performances include Michael Cassel Group’s blockbuster production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the Vass Theatre Group Production Hand to God, as Lady Macbeth in the Australian Shakespeare Company’s production of Romeo and Juliet, as well as their production of Macbeth, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and in the epic Cloudstreet as ‘Oriel Lamb’ for the Malthouse Theatre and the Black Swan Theatre Company.
She originated the role of ‘Grace’ in Belvoir St Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Faith Healer, starring alongside Colin Friels and directed by Judy Davis, reprising the role for the Melbourne Theatre Company and Adelaide tour.
On the small screen, Alison has been seen in numerous productions, including The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Tangle, Satisfaction, City Homicide, Marshall Law, Sea Change, Good Guys Bad Guys, G.P. and the critically acclaimed Frontline, amongst many others. Alison has most recently been seen in Fisk, Harrow S3, The Kettering Incident, Glitch and Playing For Keeps (Series 1 & 2). Amongst her numerous films include The Dressmaker, Centreplace, The Jammed, Subterano and Saturday Night.
Alison is the recipient of numerous awards: 2009 ASTRA Award for Satisfaction, 2008 TV Week Logie for Satisfaction, 2005 Green Room Award for Dinner, 1997 TV Week Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress, as well as many nominations. Alison won both a Green Room Award and a Helpmann Award in 2010 for her outstanding portrayal of ‘Elizabeth’ in Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Richard lll. Alison won the 2013 Green Room Award for The Bloody Chamber. Most recently, Alison won a Sydney Theatre Award and a Helpmann Award nomination for her performance in Faith Healer.Linda Loman
Josh Helman
Josh’s film credits include Thirteen Lives, Jack Reacher, Animal Kingdom and Monster Hunter, however he is best known for his roles as Major Bill Stryker in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse alongside Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence, and Slit in Mad Max: Fury Road opposite Nicholas Hoult and Tom Hardy. In 2017 Josh co-wrote and directed Kate Can’t Swim, which won the jury’s Honorable Mention at the Slamdance Film Festival.
On television Josh has starred in the Golden Globe nominated Starz original drama Flesh and Bone, Wayward Pines, The Loudest Voice opposite Russell Crowe and the Emmy-winning HBO/Playtone miniseries The Pacific.
Stage work includes Play with the Penguin in New York, and John Pollono’s Rules of Seconds and Small Engine Repair in Los Angeles, the latter of which won three Ovation Awards including Best Ensemble Cast.
He has had the privilege to work with renowned writers and directors including Christopher McQuarrie, George Miller, Ron Howard, David Michôd, Jo Bonney, Bryan Singer and Moira Walley-Beckett.
Josh can next be seen in George Miller’s Mad Max: Furiosa opposite Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy. He is delighted to be a part of this production of Death of a Salesman.Biff Loman
Grant Piro
This year, Grant Piro celebrates 40 years as an actor, having appeared in more than 100 productions, as well as being one of Australia’s busiest voice-over actors. His work has been recognised with several Green Room Award nominations and two wins (The Producers and The Merry Widow) along with both Helpmann and AACTA nominations.
Grant began his career in the 1980’s soap opera Sons and Daughters. Best known to young television viewers of the 90’s as the cult TV host of Couch Potato, just a sample of his many television credits include; Janus, Correlli, GP, Wildside, Seachange, City Homicide, Blue Healers, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, SeaPatrol, Jack Irish, HalifaxFP, The Librarians, GoodGuysBadguys, CrashBurn, Newton’s Law, How To Stay Married, Wanted, Ex PM 2, and My Life is Murder. In the biopics Olivia Newton John, INXS, Hoges, and Warnie. And more recently in ABCTV’s flagship comedy UTOPIA.
Some of Grant’s FEATURE FILM appearances include Rolf de Heer’s classic Bad Boy Bubby, Darkness Falls, The Outsider, The Condemned, Crime and Punishment, Mr Accident, The Lighthorsemen, Crocodile Dundee in LA, Mormon Yankees: The Spirit of the Game, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, Predestination, and alongside Daniel Radcliffe in Escape From Pretoria.
As a performer Grant’s one true love has always been the theatre. Highlights have included the world premiere of Realism, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The 39 Steps, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, His Girl Friday, and The Odd Couple for MTC. The Merry Widow, Taking Steps, The Producers, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Under Milk Wood, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hand to God, Oklahoma, The Girl From The North Country, and opposite his wife Marina Prior AM in Hello Dolly!
Grant is delighted to be back with the GWB family and is proudly represented by the team at Ian White Management.
Stanley
Tom Stokes
Tom’s theatre credits include Black is the New White, Pygmalion (Sydney Theatre Company), Sunday (Melbourne Theatre Company), In the Next Room – The Vibrator Play (Black Swan State Theatre Company), Romeo & Juliet (Bell Shakespeare), Music, The Pigeons (Griffin Theatre Company), The Glass Menagerie, Blood Bank (Ensemble Theatre Company), King of Pigs, Capture the Flag (Critical Stages), Of Mice and Men (Sport for Jove), Shakespeare’s R&J (Riverside), I Want to Sleep With Tom Stoppard (Tamarama Rock Surfers), Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar (Cry Havoc) and Don’t Look Back (Perth International Arts Festival).
Film credits include: The Rooster, The 11th Green, Newness, Equals, The Railway Man, and Wasted on the Young. TV credits include: Warnie, La Brea, Miss Education, Australia: The Story of Us.
Tom is a graduate of WAAPA (West Australian Academy of Performing Arts).Bernard
creative team
Director
Neil Armfield
Neil Armfield is a leading Australian director of theatre, opera and film. Alongside Rachel Healy, Neil was Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival between 2017 and 2022. Prior to that, Neil was the Artistic Director of Belvoir St Theatre for 17 years, which he also co-founded. As Artistic Director of Belvoir, and for other companies, Neil has directed over 50 productions including a focus on new and Indigenous writing, Shakespeare, David Hare and Patrick White.
Some highlights include; The Tempest, Hamlet, Up the Road, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Keating!, Toy Symphony, Dallas Winmar’s Aliwa, Angels in America, A Cheery Soul, Signal Driver and The Blind Giant is Dancing.
In 2022, Neil directed the world premiere of oratorio Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan at the Adelaide Festival and Brett Dean’s Hamlet at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. For the 2021 Adelaide Festival, Neil directed the Australian premiere of A German Life by Christopher Hampton, starring Robyn Nevin, as well as Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Festival Theatre.
In addition to his work in Australia, many of Neil’s productions have also played internationally. These include Cloudstreet (toured to London, Dublin, Zurich, New York), Hamlet (with Richard Roxburgh), Diary of a Madman (with Geoffrey Rush, toured to Moscow, St Petersburg, New York), Exit The King (Broadway), The Book of Everything (toured to New York), The Judas Kiss (toured Australia with Bille Brown, London, New York and Toronto with Rupert Everett), The Secret River (adapted by Andrew Bovell) and the world premiere of David Hare’s I’m Not Running for National Theatre in London.
Neil frequently collaborates with major opera companies, having directed productions at The Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Chicago Lyric Opera, Zurich Opera, Bregenz Festival, Washington National Opera, Opera Australia, Canadian Opera, Welsh National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. In addition to classics by Mozart, Britten and Wagner, Neil has experience directing new operas including Frankie and The Eighth Wonder by Alan John, Love Burn by Graeme Koehne and Bliss and Hamlet by Brett Dean.
For screen, Neil directed and co-wrote the feature film Candy, starring Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish, which screened at over twenty international films festivals including In Competition at the Berlinale. Neil was awarded Best Adapted Screenplay at the AFI Awards and an AWGIE for Best Screenplay. Neil’s second feature film Holding The Man premiered at Sydney Film Festival in 2015. For television, Neil directed miniseries Edens Lost for ABC (AFI Award Best Director and Best Mini-Series), The Fisherman’s Wake (by Andrew Bovell), which won an ATOM Award for Best Original TV Production, and Coral Island (by Nick Enright).
Over his distinguished career, Neil has received 2 AFI Awards, 12 Helpmann Awards and several Sydney Theatre, Victorian Green Room and Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Awards. He holds Honorary Doctorates from Sydney and NSW Universities, and in 2007 was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia.
Set Design
Dale Ferguson
Dale has worked extensively with major theatre and opera companies around the world. Recent theatre credits include The Jungle and the Sea, Counting and Cracking (including 2022 Edinburgh Festival and 2019 Adelaide Festival), Sami in Paradise, The Blind Giant is Dancing, (Belvoir) Come Rain or Come Shine, An Ideal Husband, Born Yesterday, Cosi, The Weir, The Speechmaker, The Crucible, Top Girls, The Drowsy Chaperone, God of Carnage, and August: Osage County (MTC), Away, Brothers Wreck, Night on Bald Mountain, Dance of Death, Timeshare (Malthouse) A German Life (Adelaide Festival), Les Liasions Dangereues (Sydney Theatre Company), L’Appartement (Queensland Theatre) Oklahoma (The Production Company).
His recent opera credits include Tosca for Opera Queensland and WAOpera, The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera of Chicago) The Riders (VSO/Malthouse) Anything Goes (Opera Australia); Otello (Cape Town Opera, Western Australia Opera and Opera Queensland); A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Ariadne Auf Naxos for the Welsh National Opera and Boston Lyric Opera; Marriage of Figaro for Opera Australia and Welsh National Opera.
Dale is the recipient of Helpmann Awards in 2010 for August :Osage County and 2019 for Counting and Cracking and five Green Room Awards for design, most recently for Away in 2018 . He was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and two Tony® Awards in 2009 for set and costume design for the Broadway adaption of Exit the King. Dale is a Lecturer in Performance Design at The Victorian College of the Arts.
Composer
Alan John
Alan John is one of Australia’s most prolific composers for theatre, opera, television and film. Theatre credits include THE JUNGLE AND THE SEA, PACKER AND SONS, THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE, TWELTH NIGHT, SUMMER OF THE SEVENTEENTH DOLL, STUFF HAPPENS, ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY, THE JUDAS KISS (Belvoir); A GERMAN LIFE (Adelaide Festival), I’M NOT RUNNING (National Theatre London); THAT EYE THE SKY, A DOLL’S HOUSE, (State Theatre Company of South Australia). MACHU PICCHU, ORLANDO, THE SEASON AT SARSAPARILLA, MOTHER COURAGE, HEDDA GABLER (Sydney Theatre Company); HAMLET, AS YOU LIKE IT, THE WINTER’S TALE, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Bell Shakespeare).
Opera credits include THE EIGHTH WONDER (Opera Australia), HOW TO KILL YOUR HUSBAND, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (Victorian Opera/Malthouse Theatre).
Musical Theatre credits include THE ADVENTURES OF SNUGGLEPOT AND CUDDLEPIE, JONAH JONES, FRANKIE – AN OPERA FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, CAN YOU HEAR COLOUR?
Film credits include HOLDING THE MAN, LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI, THE BANK, and the recent STORM BOY, and TV credits include THE SHARK NET, THE FARM, LOVE MY WAY, THE BEAUTIFUL LIE.
Awards include 2002 APRA Award for Best Score Feature Film for THE BANK, APRA Award for Best Music Mini Series for THE SHARK NET (2004) and THE BEAUTIFUL LIE (2016); 2010 Sydney Theatre Award and Helpmann awards for Best Music for DIARY OF A MADMAN, Sydney Theatre Award for THE WHITE GUARD.
Lighting Designer
Niklas Pajanti
Niklas Pajanti is an award-winning lighting designer whose practice ranges across contemporary art forms and performance styles including theatre, dance, opera, circus, musical theatre, comedy, events, exhibitions and public spaces.
Niklas has designed for a range of leading Australian and international companies including: Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse, Chunky Move, Victorian Opera, Brink, Ilbijerri, Dance North, Dancehouse, The Eleventh Hour, Ranters Theatre, BalletLab, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne Festival, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Commonwealth Games Festival Melbourne, Federation Square and Waterfront City.
He designed lighting for the Helpmann Award winning production of ANGELS IN AMERICA as well as THE WILD DUCK for Belvoir which toured to the Vienna Festival, Holland Festival and The Barbican London; and lighting RUPERT for Melbourne Theatre Centre which went on to commercial seasons at Sydney’s Theatre Royal and The Kennedy Center, Washington DC.
Niklas’ lighting for theatre includes: for Melbourne Theatre Company, BERLIN, COSI, A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, ASTROMAN, A DOLL’S HOUSE PART 2, RUPERT, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, THE BEAST, QUEEN LEAR; for Belvoir, MY URRWAI, ANGELS IN AMERICA, WILD DUCK, BABY TEETH, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, THE PROMISE, BAGHDAD WEDDING,THE PILLOWMAN, YIBIYUNG; for Sydney Theatre Company, COSI, WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING (with Brink Productions), AUSTRALIA DAY (with MTC), SPRING AWAKENING, and I WANT TO DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES (Chunky Move/STC); for Malthouse ONE NIGHT THE MOON, KITTEN (with Jenny Kemp), NOT LIKE BECKETT; for The Eleventh Hour, ENDGAME (with Melbourne Festival and tour to Enniskillen International Beckett Festival), THE SONG OF THE BLEEDING THROAT, OTHELLO, KING JOHN (with Adelaide Festival); for Bell Shakespeare, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING; for Ranters Theatre AFFECTION; HOLIDAY (with Griffin Theatre), INTIMACY (Germany and Portugal tour Nooderzon Festival Groningen Netherlands); CROSSING LIVE and THE HIVE (Chamber Made); HEART IS A WASTELAND, WHICH WAY HOME Ilbijerri); BASS BATH (Dark Mofo); THE EXPERIMENT (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide Festivals); SEMAPHORE (Arts House); WHEN THE RAINSTOPS FALLING (Brink Productions); SPRING AWAKENING (The Hayloft Project/B Sharp); THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES (Bell Shakespeare); SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (Victorian Opera); LUCREZIA BORGIA (Melbourne Opera); and REMBRANDT’S WIFE (Opera Australia, upcoming).
For dance, Niklas’ work includes: for Dance North, WAY FINDER, RED, COMMUNAL TABLE, DUST, SPECTRA (Sydney Festival, Brisbane Festival, Japan and France tour); Martin Hansen’s IT’S ALL IN MY VEINS (Dance Massive/ Dancehouse); Nicola Gunn’s PIECE FOR PERSON AND GHETTO BLASTER (Australian National tour, Performance Space 122 New York; international tour 2017); for Chunky Move, COMPLEXITY OF BELONGING (with Melbourne Theatre Company, Schaubühne, Melbourne Festival and Brisbane Festival), AN ACT OF NOW, BLACK MARROW 247 DAYS, SINGULARITY, I WANT TO DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES, TENSE DAVE; for KAGE, THE COLLAPSIBLE MAN; APPETITE; Shaun Parker’s THIS SHOW IS ABOUT PEOPLE (Melbourne Festival); AXEMAN LULLABY (BalletLab); SKELETON TREE for Stephanie Lake and RED (Dancenorth) Brisbane Festival.
Niklas has extensive experience in exhibition lighting and events including: for Melbourne Museum, TRICERATOPS (co-design), MAKE BELIEVE; State Library of Victoria, VICTOR HUGO: LES MISÉRABLES – FROM PAGE TO STAGE; for Melbourne Museum, MAKE BELIEVE; for Melbourne’s Science Gallery, SWARM, BLOOD, PERFECTION and MENTAL; for Australian Centre for the Moving Image, WONDERLAND, GAME MASTERS, WILLIAM KENTRIDGE-5 THEMES, STAR VOYAGER: EXPLORING SPACE ON SCREEN, DREAMS COME TRUE, THE ART OF DISNEY’S CLASSIC FAIRY TALES (which also showed Walt Disney Animation Research Library), TIM BURTON THE EXHIBITION (which also showed at the Museum of Modern Art New York), HOLLYWOOD COSTUME (which also showed at Victoria and Albert Museum London).
Events and shows include: for the Commonwealth Games Arts Festival, Circus Events, 15 Big Top and Outdoor Aerial Rig Shows, Alexandra Gardens Area Lighting; at Federation Square, INTERNATIONAL PUPPET CARNIVAL and ADVENT CALENDAR; Shaun Micallef’s GOOD EVENING national tour; TRIPOD world tour; SPICKS AND SPECK-TACULAR and SPICKS AND SPECK-TACULAR – THE FINALE national tour; ICEHOUSE CHRISTMAS ON ICE SPECTACULAR.
Niklas designed lighting for the theatre interiors of Fred Schepsi’s film THE EYE OF THE STORM.
He was principal lighting designer at production and design company Traffic Light for 10 years delivering projects nationally and to Europe, Scandinavia, North America and Asia.
Niklas has won 3 Green Room Awards and received 11 nominations across all categories, including Best Lighting Design for A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE for Melbourne Theatre Company. He has also been nominated for Helpmann Awards, Sydney Theatre Awards and APDG Awards for his lighting design.
Niklas holds a Bachelor of Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts and has a postgraduate qualification in Lighting Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He has attended the Broadway Lighting Design Master Classes in New York. Niklas has an ongoing interest in architecture, architectural lighting design and luminaire design.
Sound Designer
David Greasley
David, a theatre-sound engineer for well over twenty years, is a Senior Supervisor for System Sound, a leading theatre-sound company for 43 years, where he started as Head of Sound for many productions including Cats, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Phantom of The Opera, and Mama Mia.
He has Engineered and Supervised productions such as Miss Saigon in Brazil and Korea, Love Never Dies in Australia and Japan, Les Miserables through Australia and UAE, Matilda through Australia, New Zealand and Korea, Billy Elliot in Australia and Korea, Luad Kattiya in Thailand, Wicked through Australia and Asia, Mamma Mia through Australia, King Kong in Australia and Evita in South Africa, Phantom of The Opera World Tour through South Africa, Asia & Australia.
He designed the sound for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Sydney, Dream Girls in Kuala Lumpur, the opening of the Shanghai Cultural Centre, Ultimate Broadway in China, and Funny Girl in Australia. David was Associate Sound Designer for the Australian production of Georgy Girl, and the tours of War Horse, Book Of Mormon, and Billy Elliot in Australia, Japan and Korea. David was Australian Designer for Girl From The North Country and he is currently Associate for the Moulin Rouge tour and Matilda in Seoul.
Resident Director
Therèsa Borg
Therèsa Borg is a director, performer and writer.
Her directing credits include Titanic starring Anthony Warlow at Melbourne Town Hall, ‘Sweeney Todd’, starring Anthony Warlow and Gina Riley at Her Majesty’s Melbourne, ‘The Light in the Piazza’ at Arts Centre Melbourne, ‘Disney Under the Stars’ at SOH/ Myer Music Bowl, ‘Paw Patrol Live!’ at Wembley Arena and twice voice-directing the Muppeteers in New York City. Therèsa was Resident Director on GWB’s recent tour of ‘An American in Paris’ and most recently directed Little Women at the Victorian College of the Arts for the Music Theatre Company of 2023.
Therèsa was the 2022 National Library of Australia Creative Fellow for Australian Writing. In 2021, Therèsa and composer Jane Hammond wrote ‘Songs of the Helmeted Honeyeater’, a celebration of citizen science written in collaboration with the mountain communities of Yellingbo and Corranderk and which premiered at fortyfivedownstairs and Melbourne Recital Centre. In January 2023 Theresa and Jane workshopped their new opera The Spare Room, an adaptation of Helen Garner’s celebrated novel thanks to funding from the Australia Council for the Arts.
Therèsa founded Melbourne production house TEG Entertainment Store/Life Like Touring with her partner Anton Berezin, and over the course of 20 years with their company she wrote and directed over 20 family musicals in collaboration with international studios. These shows, including ‘Scooby Doo Live: Musical Mysteries’, ‘Octonauts Live: Operation Reef Shield’, and ‘Sesame Street presents Elmo’s World Tour’, toured mainstages and arenas globally.
Therèsa’s roles in music theatre and opera include Christine, Cosette, Zerbinetta, Angelique, the Queen of the Night, Jellylorum, Musetta and Fosca for producers including Cameron Mackintosh, The Really Useful Company, Victorian Opera and Opera Australia.
Costume Design
Dale Ferguson
Dale has worked extensively with major theatre and opera companies around the world. Recent theatre credits include The Jungle and the Sea, Counting and Cracking (including 2022 Edinburgh Festival and 2019 Adelaide Festival), Sami in Paradise, The Blind Giant is Dancing, (Belvoir) Come Rain or Come Shine, An Ideal Husband, Born Yesterday, Cosi, The Weir, The Speechmaker, The Crucible, Top Girls, The Drowsy Chaperone, God of Carnage, and August: Osage County (MTC), Away, Brothers Wreck, Night on Bald Mountain, Dance of Death, Timeshare (Malthouse) A German Life (Adelaide Festival), Les Liasions Dangereues (Sydney Theatre Company), L’Appartement (Queensland Theatre) Oklahoma (The Production Company).
His recent opera credits include Tosca for Opera Queensland and WAOpera, The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera of Chicago) The Riders (VSO/Malthouse) Anything Goes (Opera Australia); Otello (Cape Town Opera, Western Australia Opera and Opera Queensland); A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Ariadne Auf Naxos for the Welsh National Opera and Boston Lyric Opera; Marriage of Figaro for Opera Australia and Welsh National Opera.
Dale is the recipient of Helpmann Awards in 2010 for August :Osage County and 2019 for Counting and Cracking and five Green Room Awards for design, most recently for Away in 2018 . He was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and two Tony® Awards in 2009 for set and costume design for the Broadway adaption of Exit the King. Dale is a Lecturer in Performance Design at The Victorian College of the Arts.
Sophie Woodward
Sophie 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 costumes for Melbourne Theatre Company’s Come Rain or Come Shine. Recent set and costume designs include Selling Kabul (Red Stitch Actors Theatre) and All the Shining Lights (HotHouse Theatre).
Earlier design work from Sophie includes Hungry Ghosts (Melbourne Theatre Company); Burn This, The One and Mr Burns, A Post Electric Play (fortyfivedownstairs); Those Who Fall in Love like Anchors Dropped Upon the Ocean Floor, Between the Clouds, Pyjama Girl and Letters from the Border (HotHouse Theatre); A Simple Act of Kindness, Fast Food, Iphigenia in Splott, Grace, Extinction, Rules for Living, You got Older, The Honey Bees, The Village Bike, Wet House, Love Love Love, 4,000 Miles and Day One. A Hotel, Evening (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre); #No Exemptions, Thigh Gap and A Long Day’s Dying (LaMama Theatre). Sophie was Costume Design Associate on Girls & Boys, Bernhardt/Hamlet, An Ideal Husband and Twelfth Night (Melbourne Theatre Company).
creative team
Director
Neil Armfield
Neil Armfield is a leading Australian director of theatre, opera and film. Alongside Rachel Healy, Neil was Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival between 2017 and 2022. Prior to that, Neil was the Artistic Director of Belvoir St Theatre for 17 years, which he also co-founded. As Artistic Director of Belvoir, and for other companies, Neil has directed over 50 productions including a focus on new and Indigenous writing, Shakespeare, David Hare and Patrick White.
Some highlights include; The Tempest, Hamlet, Up the Road, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Keating!, Toy Symphony, Dallas Winmar’s Aliwa, Angels in America, A Cheery Soul, Signal Driver and The Blind Giant is Dancing.
In 2022, Neil directed the world premiere of oratorio Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan at the Adelaide Festival and Brett Dean’s Hamlet at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. For the 2021 Adelaide Festival, Neil directed the Australian premiere of A German Life by Christopher Hampton, starring Robyn Nevin, as well as Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Festival Theatre.
In addition to his work in Australia, many of Neil’s productions have also played internationally. These include Cloudstreet (toured to London, Dublin, Zurich, New York), Hamlet (with Richard Roxburgh), Diary of a Madman (with Geoffrey Rush, toured to Moscow, St Petersburg, New York), Exit The King (Broadway), The Book of Everything (toured to New York), The Judas Kiss (toured Australia with Bille Brown, London, New York and Toronto with Rupert Everett), The Secret River (adapted by Andrew Bovell) and the world premiere of David Hare’s I’m Not Running for National Theatre in London.
Neil frequently collaborates with major opera companies, having directed productions at The Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Chicago Lyric Opera, Zurich Opera, Bregenz Festival, Washington National Opera, Opera Australia, Canadian Opera, Welsh National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. In addition to classics by Mozart, Britten and Wagner, Neil has experience directing new operas including Frankie and The Eighth Wonder by Alan John, Love Burn by Graeme Koehne and Bliss and Hamlet by Brett Dean.
For screen, Neil directed and co-wrote the feature film Candy, starring Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish, which screened at over twenty international films festivals including In Competition at the Berlinale. Neil was awarded Best Adapted Screenplay at the AFI Awards and an AWGIE for Best Screenplay. Neil’s second feature film Holding The Man premiered at Sydney Film Festival in 2015. For television, Neil directed miniseries Edens Lost for ABC (AFI Award Best Director and Best Mini-Series), The Fisherman’s Wake (by Andrew Bovell), which won an ATOM Award for Best Original TV Production, and Coral Island (by Nick Enright).
Over his distinguished career, Neil has received 2 AFI Awards, 12 Helpmann Awards and several Sydney Theatre, Victorian Green Room and Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Awards. He holds Honorary Doctorates from Sydney and NSW Universities, and in 2007 was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia.
Set Design
Dale Ferguson
Dale has worked extensively with major theatre and opera companies around the world. Recent theatre credits include The Jungle and the Sea, Counting and Cracking (including 2022 Edinburgh Festival and 2019 Adelaide Festival), Sami in Paradise, The Blind Giant is Dancing, (Belvoir) Come Rain or Come Shine, An Ideal Husband, Born Yesterday, Cosi, The Weir, The Speechmaker, The Crucible, Top Girls, The Drowsy Chaperone, God of Carnage, and August: Osage County (MTC), Away, Brothers Wreck, Night on Bald Mountain, Dance of Death, Timeshare (Malthouse) A German Life (Adelaide Festival), Les Liasions Dangereues (Sydney Theatre Company), L’Appartement (Queensland Theatre) Oklahoma (The Production Company).
His recent opera credits include Tosca for Opera Queensland and WAOpera, The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera of Chicago) The Riders (VSO/Malthouse) Anything Goes (Opera Australia); Otello (Cape Town Opera, Western Australia Opera and Opera Queensland); A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Ariadne Auf Naxos for the Welsh National Opera and Boston Lyric Opera; Marriage of Figaro for Opera Australia and Welsh National Opera.
Dale is the recipient of Helpmann Awards in 2010 for August :Osage County and 2019 for Counting and Cracking and five Green Room Awards for design, most recently for Away in 2018 . He was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and two Tony® Awards in 2009 for set and costume design for the Broadway adaption of Exit the King. Dale is a Lecturer in Performance Design at The Victorian College of the Arts.
Composer
Alan John
Alan John is one of Australia’s most prolific composers for theatre, opera, television and film. Theatre credits include THE JUNGLE AND THE SEA, PACKER AND SONS, THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE, TWELTH NIGHT, SUMMER OF THE SEVENTEENTH DOLL, STUFF HAPPENS, ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY, THE JUDAS KISS (Belvoir); A GERMAN LIFE (Adelaide Festival), I’M NOT RUNNING (National Theatre London); THAT EYE THE SKY, A DOLL’S HOUSE, (State Theatre Company of South Australia). MACHU PICCHU, ORLANDO, THE SEASON AT SARSAPARILLA, MOTHER COURAGE, HEDDA GABLER (Sydney Theatre Company); HAMLET, AS YOU LIKE IT, THE WINTER’S TALE, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Bell Shakespeare).
Opera credits include THE EIGHTH WONDER (Opera Australia), HOW TO KILL YOUR HUSBAND, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (Victorian Opera/Malthouse Theatre).
Musical Theatre credits include THE ADVENTURES OF SNUGGLEPOT AND CUDDLEPIE, JONAH JONES, FRANKIE – AN OPERA FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, CAN YOU HEAR COLOUR?
Film credits include HOLDING THE MAN, LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI, THE BANK, and the recent STORM BOY, and TV credits include THE SHARK NET, THE FARM, LOVE MY WAY, THE BEAUTIFUL LIE.
Awards include 2002 APRA Award for Best Score Feature Film for THE BANK, APRA Award for Best Music Mini Series for THE SHARK NET (2004) and THE BEAUTIFUL LIE (2016); 2010 Sydney Theatre Award and Helpmann awards for Best Music for DIARY OF A MADMAN, Sydney Theatre Award for THE WHITE GUARD.
Lighting Designer
Niklas Pajanti
Niklas Pajanti is an award-winning lighting designer whose practice ranges across contemporary art forms and performance styles including theatre, dance, opera, circus, musical theatre, comedy, events, exhibitions and public spaces.
Niklas has designed for a range of leading Australian and international companies including: Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse, Chunky Move, Victorian Opera, Brink, Ilbijerri, Dance North, Dancehouse, The Eleventh Hour, Ranters Theatre, BalletLab, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne Festival, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Commonwealth Games Festival Melbourne, Federation Square and Waterfront City.
He designed lighting for the Helpmann Award winning production of ANGELS IN AMERICA as well as THE WILD DUCK for Belvoir which toured to the Vienna Festival, Holland Festival and The Barbican London; and lighting RUPERT for Melbourne Theatre Centre which went on to commercial seasons at Sydney’s Theatre Royal and The Kennedy Center, Washington DC.
Niklas’ lighting for theatre includes: for Melbourne Theatre Company, BERLIN, COSI, A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, ASTROMAN, A DOLL’S HOUSE PART 2, RUPERT, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, THE BEAST, QUEEN LEAR; for Belvoir, MY URRWAI, ANGELS IN AMERICA, WILD DUCK, BABY TEETH, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, THE PROMISE, BAGHDAD WEDDING,THE PILLOWMAN, YIBIYUNG; for Sydney Theatre Company, COSI, WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING (with Brink Productions), AUSTRALIA DAY (with MTC), SPRING AWAKENING, and I WANT TO DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES (Chunky Move/STC); for Malthouse ONE NIGHT THE MOON, KITTEN (with Jenny Kemp), NOT LIKE BECKETT; for The Eleventh Hour, ENDGAME (with Melbourne Festival and tour to Enniskillen International Beckett Festival), THE SONG OF THE BLEEDING THROAT, OTHELLO, KING JOHN (with Adelaide Festival); for Bell Shakespeare, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING; for Ranters Theatre AFFECTION; HOLIDAY (with Griffin Theatre), INTIMACY (Germany and Portugal tour Nooderzon Festival Groningen Netherlands); CROSSING LIVE and THE HIVE (Chamber Made); HEART IS A WASTELAND, WHICH WAY HOME Ilbijerri); BASS BATH (Dark Mofo); THE EXPERIMENT (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide Festivals); SEMAPHORE (Arts House); WHEN THE RAINSTOPS FALLING (Brink Productions); SPRING AWAKENING (The Hayloft Project/B Sharp); THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES (Bell Shakespeare); SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (Victorian Opera); LUCREZIA BORGIA (Melbourne Opera); and REMBRANDT’S WIFE (Opera Australia, upcoming).
For dance, Niklas’ work includes: for Dance North, WAY FINDER, RED, COMMUNAL TABLE, DUST, SPECTRA (Sydney Festival, Brisbane Festival, Japan and France tour); Martin Hansen’s IT’S ALL IN MY VEINS (Dance Massive/ Dancehouse); Nicola Gunn’s PIECE FOR PERSON AND GHETTO BLASTER (Australian National tour, Performance Space 122 New York; international tour 2017); for Chunky Move, COMPLEXITY OF BELONGING (with Melbourne Theatre Company, Schaubühne, Melbourne Festival and Brisbane Festival), AN ACT OF NOW, BLACK MARROW 247 DAYS, SINGULARITY, I WANT TO DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES, TENSE DAVE; for KAGE, THE COLLAPSIBLE MAN; APPETITE; Shaun Parker’s THIS SHOW IS ABOUT PEOPLE (Melbourne Festival); AXEMAN LULLABY (BalletLab); SKELETON TREE for Stephanie Lake and RED (Dancenorth) Brisbane Festival.
Niklas has extensive experience in exhibition lighting and events including: for Melbourne Museum, TRICERATOPS (co-design), MAKE BELIEVE; State Library of Victoria, VICTOR HUGO: LES MISÉRABLES – FROM PAGE TO STAGE; for Melbourne Museum, MAKE BELIEVE; for Melbourne’s Science Gallery, SWARM, BLOOD, PERFECTION and MENTAL; for Australian Centre for the Moving Image, WONDERLAND, GAME MASTERS, WILLIAM KENTRIDGE-5 THEMES, STAR VOYAGER: EXPLORING SPACE ON SCREEN, DREAMS COME TRUE, THE ART OF DISNEY’S CLASSIC FAIRY TALES (which also showed Walt Disney Animation Research Library), TIM BURTON THE EXHIBITION (which also showed at the Museum of Modern Art New York), HOLLYWOOD COSTUME (which also showed at Victoria and Albert Museum London).
Events and shows include: for the Commonwealth Games Arts Festival, Circus Events, 15 Big Top and Outdoor Aerial Rig Shows, Alexandra Gardens Area Lighting; at Federation Square, INTERNATIONAL PUPPET CARNIVAL and ADVENT CALENDAR; Shaun Micallef’s GOOD EVENING national tour; TRIPOD world tour; SPICKS AND SPECK-TACULAR and SPICKS AND SPECK-TACULAR – THE FINALE national tour; ICEHOUSE CHRISTMAS ON ICE SPECTACULAR.
Niklas designed lighting for the theatre interiors of Fred Schepsi’s film THE EYE OF THE STORM.
He was principal lighting designer at production and design company Traffic Light for 10 years delivering projects nationally and to Europe, Scandinavia, North America and Asia.
Niklas has won 3 Green Room Awards and received 11 nominations across all categories, including Best Lighting Design for A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE for Melbourne Theatre Company. He has also been nominated for Helpmann Awards, Sydney Theatre Awards and APDG Awards for his lighting design.
Niklas holds a Bachelor of Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts and has a postgraduate qualification in Lighting Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He has attended the Broadway Lighting Design Master Classes in New York. Niklas has an ongoing interest in architecture, architectural lighting design and luminaire design.
Sound Designer
David Greasley
David, a theatre-sound engineer for well over twenty years, is a Senior Supervisor for System Sound, a leading theatre-sound company for 43 years, where he started as Head of Sound for many productions including Cats, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Phantom of The Opera, and Mama Mia.
He has Engineered and Supervised productions such as Miss Saigon in Brazil and Korea, Love Never Dies in Australia and Japan, Les Miserables through Australia and UAE, Matilda through Australia, New Zealand and Korea, Billy Elliot in Australia and Korea, Luad Kattiya in Thailand, Wicked through Australia and Asia, Mamma Mia through Australia, King Kong in Australia and Evita in South Africa, Phantom of The Opera World Tour through South Africa, Asia & Australia.
He designed the sound for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Sydney, Dream Girls in Kuala Lumpur, the opening of the Shanghai Cultural Centre, Ultimate Broadway in China, and Funny Girl in Australia. David was Associate Sound Designer for the Australian production of Georgy Girl, and the tours of War Horse, Book Of Mormon, and Billy Elliot in Australia, Japan and Korea. David was Australian Designer for Girl From The North Country and he is currently Associate for the Moulin Rouge tour and Matilda in Seoul.
Resident Director
Therèsa Borg
Therèsa Borg is a director, performer and writer.
Her directing credits include Titanic starring Anthony Warlow at Melbourne Town Hall, ‘Sweeney Todd’, starring Anthony Warlow and Gina Riley at Her Majesty’s Melbourne, ‘The Light in the Piazza’ at Arts Centre Melbourne, ‘Disney Under the Stars’ at SOH/ Myer Music Bowl, ‘Paw Patrol Live!’ at Wembley Arena and twice voice-directing the Muppeteers in New York City. Therèsa was Resident Director on GWB’s recent tour of ‘An American in Paris’ and most recently directed Little Women at the Victorian College of the Arts for the Music Theatre Company of 2023.
Therèsa was the 2022 National Library of Australia Creative Fellow for Australian Writing. In 2021, Therèsa and composer Jane Hammond wrote ‘Songs of the Helmeted Honeyeater’, a celebration of citizen science written in collaboration with the mountain communities of Yellingbo and Corranderk and which premiered at fortyfivedownstairs and Melbourne Recital Centre. In January 2023 Theresa and Jane workshopped their new opera The Spare Room, an adaptation of Helen Garner’s celebrated novel thanks to funding from the Australia Council for the Arts.
Therèsa founded Melbourne production house TEG Entertainment Store/Life Like Touring with her partner Anton Berezin, and over the course of 20 years with their company she wrote and directed over 20 family musicals in collaboration with international studios. These shows, including ‘Scooby Doo Live: Musical Mysteries’, ‘Octonauts Live: Operation Reef Shield’, and ‘Sesame Street presents Elmo’s World Tour’, toured mainstages and arenas globally.
Therèsa’s roles in music theatre and opera include Christine, Cosette, Zerbinetta, Angelique, the Queen of the Night, Jellylorum, Musetta and Fosca for producers including Cameron Mackintosh, The Really Useful Company, Victorian Opera and Opera Australia.
Costume Design
Dale Ferguson
Dale has worked extensively with major theatre and opera companies around the world. Recent theatre credits include The Jungle and the Sea, Counting and Cracking (including 2022 Edinburgh Festival and 2019 Adelaide Festival), Sami in Paradise, The Blind Giant is Dancing, (Belvoir) Come Rain or Come Shine, An Ideal Husband, Born Yesterday, Cosi, The Weir, The Speechmaker, The Crucible, Top Girls, The Drowsy Chaperone, God of Carnage, and August: Osage County (MTC), Away, Brothers Wreck, Night on Bald Mountain, Dance of Death, Timeshare (Malthouse) A German Life (Adelaide Festival), Les Liasions Dangereues (Sydney Theatre Company), L’Appartement (Queensland Theatre) Oklahoma (The Production Company).
His recent opera credits include Tosca for Opera Queensland and WAOpera, The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera of Chicago) The Riders (VSO/Malthouse) Anything Goes (Opera Australia); Otello (Cape Town Opera, Western Australia Opera and Opera Queensland); A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Ariadne Auf Naxos for the Welsh National Opera and Boston Lyric Opera; Marriage of Figaro for Opera Australia and Welsh National Opera.
Dale is the recipient of Helpmann Awards in 2010 for August :Osage County and 2019 for Counting and Cracking and five Green Room Awards for design, most recently for Away in 2018 . He was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and two Tony® Awards in 2009 for set and costume design for the Broadway adaption of Exit the King. Dale is a Lecturer in Performance Design at The Victorian College of the Arts.
Sophie Woodward
Sophie 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 costumes for Melbourne Theatre Company’s Come Rain or Come Shine. Recent set and costume designs include Selling Kabul (Red Stitch Actors Theatre) and All the Shining Lights (HotHouse Theatre).
Earlier design work from Sophie includes Hungry Ghosts (Melbourne Theatre Company); Burn This, The One and Mr Burns, A Post Electric Play (fortyfivedownstairs); Those Who Fall in Love like Anchors Dropped Upon the Ocean Floor, Between the Clouds, Pyjama Girl and Letters from the Border (HotHouse Theatre); A Simple Act of Kindness, Fast Food, Iphigenia in Splott, Grace, Extinction, Rules for Living, You got Older, The Honey Bees, The Village Bike, Wet House, Love Love Love, 4,000 Miles and Day One. A Hotel, Evening (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre); #No Exemptions, Thigh Gap and A Long Day’s Dying (LaMama Theatre). Sophie was Costume Design Associate on Girls & Boys, Bernhardt/Hamlet, An Ideal Husband and Twelfth Night (Melbourne Theatre Company).