Production Graduates 2018

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  Bethany Auhl

  Bethany Auhl

  Betty is a costume and set designer from Melbourne, and works across theatre, film and dance. Betty’s background is across all aspects of theatre-making from her undergraduate degree in Performing Arts (Monash University). Her previous work includes short films ‘Alexis’ (2017), ‘Relatively Speaking’ (2016), ‘Welcome to Nowhere’ (2015) and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (2015). Betty has been fortunate enough to assist designers on Melbourne Theatre Company’s ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ (2018), Little Ones Theatre’s ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ (2016) and ‘Dracula’ (2015), and Malthouse Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company’s ‘Love and Information’ (2015).

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  Kris Bird

  Kris Bird

  Kris Bird is an architect who leapt into set and costume design whilst living in Darwin and is now pursuing a full-time theatrical career. Productions she has designed include new works by Northern Australian playwrights such as Mary Anne Butler (‘Highway of Lost Hearts’, 2012; ‘Broken’, 2015; ‘The Sound of Waiting’, 2017); Kate Wyvill (‘Marbles’, 2012); Sandra Thibodeaux (‘The Lion Tamer’, 2013); Lynette Lewis (‘The Adventures of Namikili’, 2013); Stephen Carleton (‘Bastard Territory’, 2014); and Sarah Hope (‘The Hoist’, 2014; ‘Dog Dog’, 2016). She has also designed ‘God of Carnage’ (2013); ‘Slow Falling Bird’ (2013); and ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ (2012).

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  Stephanie Brook

  Stephanie Brook

  Stephanie has a background in graphic design, fine art and as a tattoo artist. It was while watching behind the scenes footage of the art department in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, that she realised her ambition to work in film. Since studying at VCA, Stephanie has worked on two TV series as a buyer-dresser and a design assistant in which she created concept art for hero props and key set pieces. Stephanie would like to continue to create unique designs and concepts for film and extraordinary TV series.

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  Andrew Crane

  Andrew Crane

  Andrew Crane

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  Tom Dahlenburg

  Tom Dahlenburg

  Tom is an experienced audio-visual designer and technician working in the performing arts. Tom has worked professionally implementing sound, visual and lighting elements for broadcast and corporate events across Australia. He has been involved in the installation of audio-visual works in Australia’s leading art galleries including the National Gallery of Victoria and Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. Tom’s credits at the Victorian College of the Arts include Audio Operator for ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ and Sound System Designer for ‘Us 28’.

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  Bethany J Fellows

  Bethany J Fellows

  Bethany J. Fellows is a Melbourne based artist and designer. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Newcastle (2004) and a Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours (2010) from Monash University where she focused on live art and participatory practices. She is interested in immersive environments and Total Theatre.

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  Rebecca Hurst

  Rebecca Hurst

  Rebecca is a set and costume designer, experienced across interior, filmic and theatrical design capacities. Prior to her studies, Rebecca designed for shows including ‘Slammed’ (2015) at the Brisbane Powerhouse, ‘39 Steps’ (2015) and ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ (2015). Whilst completing her Masters of Design for Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts, she assisted in the design for ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ (2017), before pursuing her final year projects. These experiences engaged her interest in musicals as a notion for escapism, alongside her passion for plays and opera that further explore the human experience.

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  Elena Lyons-Dawson

  Elena Lyons-Dawson

  Elena Lyons-Dawson

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  Jeremy Pryles

  Jeremy Pryles

  Jeremy Pryles is a set and costume designer based in Melbourne. He has an undergraduate degree in Fine Art (Painting) from Monash University. It was a desire for creative collaboration and a fascination for interpreting theatrical texts into the world of visual representation that brought him to the theatre community. Throughout his time at the Victorian College of the Arts he has developed an interest in the psychological representation of costume and its navigation through space.

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  Valentina Serebrennikova

  Valentina Serebrennikova

  Valentina Serebrennikova

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  Alia Syed

  Alia Syed

  Alia Syed hails from California with a background in neuroscience, fashion design and improvised theatre. As a theatre designer, Alia aspires to create fantastical worlds and innovative playgrounds for live performance. She is interested in experimental performance genres and multi-sensory design with a focus on in-depth collaboration and strong visual dramaturgy. Alia has designed for Melbourne Shakespeare Company, Periscope Productions and Bloomsday in Melbourne.

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  Phoenix Waddell

  Phoenix Waddell

  Phoenix Waddell

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  Alexandra Flux

  Alexandra Flux

  Alex is in her final year studying a BFA (Production) specialising in design realisation at the Victorian College of the Arts, working primarily in designing and making props and costume. She is interested in visual storytelling and at VCA she has worked in several positions including Head Prop Maker for ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ (2017), and Costume Assistant for ‘Company’ (2017) and ‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ (2017).

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  Coralee Hall

  Coralee Hall

  Coralee is a designer-maker with a passion for the magical, the fantastic, and the incredible. Creatures, beasts, and the worlds of dreams fuel her powerful and driven imagination. Coralee studied film and television before moving into production design in 2015 with the dream of working as a set, prop and costume maker for film and theatre. Her works span theatre, sculpture, puppetry, ceramics, cinema, games, and the spoken word. She enjoys working with her hands, creative problem solving and collaborating with like minded creatives. While enthusiastic about all aspects of making, she has found a particularly eager enjoyment for creature creation, puppets and sculpture.

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  Emily Harvey

  Emily Harvey

  Emily is in the final year of her BFA (Production), describing herself as a theatre maker with an interest in scenography and devised theatre. Recent credits include Design Associate for ‘AntigoneX’ (Midsumma/Theatre works, 2018) and Prop Maker for The Nose (Bloomshed, Sydney Fringe Festival Director’s Award 2017). Work at VCA in 2017 includes Costume Assistant for Never and ‘re:moving’, Prop Maker for ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’ and Set Assistant for ‘Company’.

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  Chelsea Maron

  Chelsea Maron

  Chelsea is a set and costume designer from Wagga Wagga currently studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) in Design Realisation at the Victorian College of the Arts. During her time at the VCA, Chelsea has developed a love for both designing and making after working on Kate Denborough’s dance work ‘There’s No Changing Yesterday’ as Head Mechanist and ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ as Costume Assistant. She has recently completed an internship with Associate Designer, Justin Nardella, on ‘Priscilla: Queen of the Desert’.

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  Leah Mazzone-Brown

  Leah Mazzone-Brown

  Leah is a designer and maker passionate about designing and digitally illustrating for film, character, the human body and its movement. During her time at the Victorian College of the Arts she has worked on a wide variety of dance and theatre productions, developing her set and costume design, creation and collaboration skills. Outside of the VCA, Leah has designed and created for student films, theatrical productions and the Adelaide Fringe. She is particularly inspired by new technologies and design for athletic performance. In the future, she hopes to develop her skills in digital illustration and design, particularly for costume, screen and athletic performance.

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  Bridget Milesi

  Bridget Milesi

  Bridget Milesi is a final year Production Design student with a passion for drawing, pompoms and making things. Bridget has designed sets, costumes and spaces for ‘My Ugly Brother’, Green Room award-winning ‘Backwards Anorak’ (Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide, Melbourne) and several independent films, including ‘Forging Ned Kelly’ (2016) and is currently designing ‘Granny-Flat’, a comedy web series set for release in 2018. Bridget has worked as set and costume maker for VCA shows including ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’, ‘There’s No Changing Yesterday’, ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ and ‘Mongrel’. Her 2018 design secondments include Lemony S Puppet Theatre, Snuff Puppets and Pinewood Studios.

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  Felix Millar

  Felix Millar

  Felix is a maker, designer, artist, film-maker, and writer. He’s passionate about pushing the boundaries of theatre into spaces of play. His previous work includes making masks for the Pop Up Globe’s performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in Auckland, turning a car-park into a comfortable play-space for the 2015 adults only game-show ‘Fetish Ball’ in Wellington, and various other pieces of freelance prop-making, set-construction, and assorted maker-designer hullabaloo. He is currently expanding his practice into digital sculpting, writing rules for storytelling games, and using a laser-beam to cut fun shapes into things.

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  Stephanie Neoh

  Stephanie Neoh

  Stephanie is a designer and maker from Singapore, based in Melbourne. She is particularly excited by making ideas come to life: from seeing a concept in her head to being able to feel the finished product in her hands. Stephanie enjoys collaborative processes – especially sharing and bouncing ideas off other creatives. Whilst at the Victorian College of the Arts, Stephanie has developed her design and construction skills in set and costume. She sees herself beyond the walls of theatre and hopes to explore design and making in other areas, such as fashion, styling, film and television, as well as makeup.

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  Helen Rofe

  Helen Rofe

  Helen found her passion for stage design through her own experiences within the worlds of musical theatre and visual art at Secondary School. The desire to find a career that melded the two passions led Helen to studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) in Design Realisation at the Victorian College of the Arts. Throughout her time at the VCA, Helen has worked as a Costume Assistant on dance works including Kate Denborough’s ‘There’s No Changing Yesterday’ (2017) and found a love and talent for scenic art through her role as Head Scenic Artist on ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ (2017).

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  Tess Shipley

  Tess Shipley

  Tess is in the final year of her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Production at the VCA. As an emerging set and costume designer, she finds great satisfaction in creating tactile and emotive environments in theatre, film and illustration. During her study at VCA, Tess’s credits have included Head Scenic Painter for ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’ (2017) and Costume Assistant for ‘Nineteen Ninety Nine’ (2017).

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  Madeline Smith

  Madeline Smith

  Madeline is a designer and maker currently studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) in Design Realisation at the Victorian College of the Arts. Madeline is happiest when applying her practical skills in designing and making for set, costume, props, character design, sculpting, scenic painting and wig styling. Madeline comes from Tasmania where she took a gap year in 2017 to design for the school productions of 9 to 5, ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ and Bijou Creative’s production of ‘Ruthless!’ For her costume design of the latter Madeline was nominated for a Tasmania Theatre Award.

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  Lotte Welsh

  Lotte Welsh

  Lotte is in her final year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) at VCA, where she has developed her passion for theatre design. Her previous works at VCA include Costume Assistant for ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’ and Set Assistant for ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’. Lotte enjoys working with unusual fabrics and textures and immersing herself in the theatre-making process.

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  Nathanael Armstrong

  Nathanael Armstrong

  Nathanael Armstrong is a Melbourne based sound designer and engineer, currently completing his final year at the Victorian College of the Arts. During his time at the VCA Nathanael has developed a passion for Sound Design and Audio System Design. He has worked on a variety of projects at the VCA, including: Sound Designer for ‘A Chorus Line’, Audio Systems Design for ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’, Audio Operator for ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’, and Audio Operator for ‘Oh What A Lovely War Mate!’ Nathanael was also a part of the production team for ‘Spring Awakening’ (VCA).

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  Noah Huxtable

  Noah Huxtable

  Noah is a Melbourne-based lighting designer whose interest in the arts stemmed from a love of concerts, pop culture and staged spectaculars. After being involved with various school and amateur theatre programs, he developed a particular interest in lighting design. Some of his credits include Lighting Designer for the student devised piece ‘Nineteen Ninety Nine’ (VCA Frisk 2017), dance piece ‘Reference Material 0.1’ (chor. Alisdair Macindoe) and most recently Gloria (dir. Jane Davidson), a choral work which took place at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne.

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  Jack Jones

  Jack Jones

  Jack Jones is a third year student in BFA (Production) at the Victorian College of the Arts. He is a lighting designer and production manager and has extensive experience in professional lighting for large-scale events. He was Head Electrician on VCA productions ‘Nineteen Ninety Nine’, ‘Occupied’ and ‘Mongrel’. In 2018 he was awarded an internship with Jack Morton Worldwide (JMW) and RIEDEL Communications at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

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  Christopher Maxwell

  Christopher Maxwell

  Christopher is an eager lighting technician and lighting designer currently completing the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) at the Victorian College of the Arts. Christopher is gaining more experience in many types of performance for both technical production and design as his journey at the VCA progresses. Chris’ credits at the VCA, across the disciplines of Theatre, Music Theatre and Dance, include Lighting Crew for ‘Mongrel’ (2016) and ‘Beyond the Line’; Lighting Operator for ‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ and various Melbourne Fringe shows; Head Electrician for ‘re:moving’ and multiple Frisk Festival shows; and Lighting Designer for dance ON in 2017.

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  Nicholas Moloney

  Nicholas Moloney

  Nick is passionate about collaboration and the potential of lighting to enhance emotion and narrative in live performance. Alongside lighting, he pursues an interest in sound and projection. He has been working in the arts since completing a Diploma of Live Production in 2014. He has worked with a number of local lighting designers including Shane Grant, Niklas Pajanti, Scott Allan, Bronwyn Pringle, Jamie Henson and Rebecca Etchell. His design credits include ‘AntigoneX’ (Theatre Works 2018), ‘Never’ (VCA 2017), ‘re:moving’ (VCA 2017) and ‘Blues in the Night’ (Chapel Off Chapel 2016).

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  Henry Paulet

  Henry Paulet

  Henry Paulet is a Melbourne based sound designer, sound engineer and lighting designer for dance, theatre, live music and corporate events. He has worked at a professional level across sound, lighting and vision with acclaimed artists such as Jonathon Welch, The Little Stevies and the Michelle Nicolle Quartet, as well as on major Melbourne events such as the Australian Open and numerous high profile corporate events. While completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) at the Victorian College of the Arts Henry has been a committed and passionate member of the audio and vision departments at VCA, across numerous Dance, Theatre and Music Theatre seasons.

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  Jedd Schaeche

  Jedd Schaeche

  Jedd Schaeche is a Melbourne based sound designer and engineer with skills in lighting and vision. Jedd has always loved the sonic qualities of sound in space and how it can be used as a storytelling device. Jedd has worked on many shows outside of the VCA including his work at LSS Productions and as Sound Designer for ‘Us’ by Margret Hickey (2015). While studying at the VCA Jedd has worked as System Technician for ‘Speak of the Devil’ (Frisk 2017) and ‘Mother Courage’ (dir. Chris Kohn).

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  Mungo Trumble

  Mungo Trumble

  Mungo first discovered an interest in production while volunteering with Wonthaggi Theatrical Group, and recently was awarded a Gippsland Associated Theatre Award for Most Outstanding Lighting Design on their production of ‘Chicago’ (2017). At the Victorian College of the Arts, Mungo was Technical Designer for ‘Student Works’ (2016), Head Electrician for ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’ (2017) and Lighting Designer for ‘re: moving’ (2017). In 2017 he received the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Scholarship. Mungo is interning with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year and hopes to work in lighting design and technical management in the future.

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  Jonathan Wedgwood

  Jonathan Wedgwood

  Jonathan is a third-year undergraduate production student at the Victorian College of the Arts, who is interested primarily in the realm of lighting design. As a lighting designer, he believes that light has a large impact on how we perceive both everyday life as well as performance. He enjoys creating works for a diverse range of performance disciplines including dance, theatre and musical theatre. Some of his recent lighting design credits include ‘Us 28’ choreographed by Gideon Obarzanek (2018), ‘(re)PURPOSE: The MVMNT’ choreographed by Natalie Abbott for Dancehouse (2017), ‘Donuts, (un)REALities & GROUPness’ choreographed by Natalie Abbott (2017) and ‘No One’ choreographed by Oliver Saverigo (2017).

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  Blaze Bryans

  Blaze Bryans

  Blaze is a reliable and competent stage manager who thrives in all aspects of creating and facilitating live works. Her passion for the craft began with the weekends she would spend in Korea watching her father act on screen, as she helped out behind the scenes. This then evolved into a fully-fledged goal to pursue a career in production. Over the years, she has gained experience across disciplines such as theatre, musical theatre, contemporary dance and live events. Her credits whilst studying at the Victorian College of the Arts include: the Victorian State Schools Spectacular (2017), ‘Henry V’ (2017), and ‘Spring Awakening’ (2016).

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  Jordan Carter

  Jordan Carter

  Jordan has been involved in live performance from the age of eight, beginning on stage in community theatre and drama class. After graduating from Kambrya College in 2010, she was accepted into a Diploma of Theatre Arts at Swinburne University (2011 – 2012) where she had her first opportunity to experience stage management and decided to permanently move backstage. At the Victorian College of the Arts, Jordan has been a part of the crew for ‘Cloudstreet’, Frisk Festival, ‘Crush’ and ‘dance ON’. Last year Jordan interned with the stage management team on The Production Company’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.

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  Olivia Clark

  Olivia Clark

  Olivia is a driven and hardworking stage manager who brings passion to her work. Whilst at Victorian College of the Arts she worked in the disciplines of Theatre, Music Theatre, Dance, Opera and Orchestra, also completing secondments on The Victorian State School spectacular and ‘Priscilla: Queen of the Desert’ (Michael Cassel Group). Olivia made her professional debut in 2016 on ‘Avenue Q’ (Prince Moo Productions) at Crown Theatre Perth as the Assistant Stage Manager. She has also worked on the Moomba Parade (2017, 2018) and with Peter Jones Special Events for ‘Australia Day’ (2018). Olivia is excited to continue her career with a focus on musical theatre and events.

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  Jacob Davis

  Jacob Davis

  Being exposed to the behind the scenes of the Nowra Players by his grandparents at a very young age, Jacob has since dedicated himself to theatre and events. At the Victorian College of the Arts Jacob has worked on many shows including: ‘Spring Awakening’ (2016), ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ (2017) & ‘re:moving’ (2017). During this time Jacob has also had the opportunity to work with The University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & The Victorian State School Spectacular (2017). Throughout his final year Jacob has interned with Sydney New Year’s Eve 2017, White Night Ballarat 2018 & The Victorian State School Spectacular 2018.

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  Rose Jenkins

  Rose Jenkins

  Rose is a third year Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) student, majoring in Stage Management. She became fascinated with the backstage world of performing arts from a young age, and now that passion drives her work as a stage manager. Within the Victorian College of the Arts, Rose’s credits include: Assistant Stage Manager for ‘Studio Plays’ (2016), Costume Manager for ‘dance ON’ (2017), and Stage Manager for ‘Synthetic Upper’ by Rhys Ryan in ‘re:moving’ (2017). Rose also received the Daryl Wilkinson Encouragement Award in 2017. She is excited to embrace whatever opportunities may await her in the industry.

• Bridget McWilliams

  Bridget McWilliams

  Bridget is in her final year of completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) at The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), majoring in Stage Management. Her career started by first taking part in a TAFE course focused around the technical elements of events and theatre. She has also worked on events like Woodford Folk Festival and Byron Bays Blues fest as well as local theatre community productions. Bridget has worked on the VCA’s 2017 dance production of ‘There’s No Changing Yesterday’ by KAGE’s Kate Denborough. She has worked on the 2017 Victorian State School Spectacular and has recently interned on Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Outside of VCA she has worked on ‘Dead Royal’.

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  Rachel Nagy

  Rachel Nagy

  Rachel will be graduating this year from the VCA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production - Stage Management). Study highlights include being Costume Manager for Company, Stage Manager for the rehearsed reading of ‘The Insatiable Moon’ and Undercroft Stage Manager for The Victorian State School Spectacular 2017. Rachel was also Assistant Stage Manager for Watch This’ ‘A Little Night Music’. Her desire is to work in music theatre, plays and opera.

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  Natasha Noel

  Natasha Noel

  Natasha is a confident and energetic stage manager who thrives in a collaborative and creative environment. From an early age, Natasha has always been involved in the arts, and with her love of performing onstage, the move to behind the scenes was an easy one. During her time at the Victorian College of the Arts Natasha has worked in various management roles across streams such as contemporary dance, orchestra, theatre and musical theatre. Some of her VCA credits include: ‘Us 28’ (2018), ‘re:moving’ (2017), The Victorian State School’s Spectacular (2017) and ‘Spring Awakening’ (2016). Natasha aspires to continue her passion for the arts and is excited to see what the future holds.

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  Talia North

  Talia North

  Talia first discovered her flair for stage management on her high school shows, and was shortlisted for The Lyrebird Awards’ Rising Star Technical Award as an Assistant Stage Manager on ‘Oz’. She enjoys pursuing her passions and learning her craft at the Victorian College of the Arts and has loved working on University shows including as an Assistant Stage Manager on ‘The Castle, Oh What a Lovely War, Mate!’; and as a Stage Manager on ‘re:moving’. Her internship as Balcony Stage Manager with White Night Melbourne was an empowering experience and she looks forward to continuing to make the magic happen in the theatrical and stage management world.

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  Sarah Strong

  Sarah Strong

  Moving from a small town in Queensland, Sarah has enjoyed developing her skills and knowledge while at the Victorian College of the Arts. She has especially enjoyed her roles as Sub Stage Manager at the 2017 State School Spectacular and Assistant Stage Manager at the 2018 Moomba Parade. Sarah hopes to one day work with travelling shows and experience the arts all over the world.

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  Lucie Sutherland

  Lucie Sutherland

  Lucie Sutherland is in her final year studying for a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production). At VCA, she has been awarded the Daryl Wilkinson Stage Management Award (2016) and has worked on productions including ‘Three Blind Mice’ & ‘Matrophobia’ (2016); ‘There’s No Changing Tomorrow’; The Victorian State Schools Spectacular 2017 and will be interning with The Production Company and Melbourne Theatre Company in 2018.

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  Cointha Walkeden

  Cointha Walkeden

  Cointha has always been an avid participant in the performing arts with most of her experience based on-stage as a performer. Cointha delved into the world “behind the scenes” whilst undertaking a production traineeship in her gap year. Upon realising that she thrived in artistic environments, she dismissed her offer to study International Relations and instead found herself studying Stage Management at the Victorian College of the Arts. Cointha’s VCA production credits include Assistant Stage Manager for ‘dance ON’ (2017) and ‘Scenes From’, Assistant Stage Manager and Props Manager for Company, and Costume Manager for re:moving. She has also worked on the 2017 Victorian State Schools Spectacular and ‘School of Rock the Musical’.

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  Ashleigh Walwyn

  Ashleigh Walwyn

  Originally from the UK, Ashleigh grew up in Malaysia, where she found her love for theatre. Starting in school productions and moving to the KL Players, Ashleigh’s passion for live performance skyrocketed. At the Victorian College of the Arts, Ashleigh has worked on ‘Spring Awakening’ (2016), ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’ (2017), ‘Company’ (2017), & ‘re:moving’ (2017). Ashleigh worked as Principal Cast Movement Stage Manager on The Victorian State Schools Spectacular 2017. In her final year at VCA, Ashleigh has taken on internships with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018 & The Victorian State Schools Spectacular 2018. Graduating this year, Ashleigh’s excited for her career ahead!