Counting and Cracking - Belvoir St Theatre (2024)

S.Shakthidharan

Shakthi is a western Sydney storyteller with Sri Lankan heritage and Tamil ancestry. He’s a writer, director and producer of theatre and film, and composer of original music.

Belvoir: The Jungle and the Sea (Co-written with Eamon Flack) and Counting and Cracking (Associate Writer Eamon Flack). His other theatre credits include Zana Fraillon’s The Bone Sparrow (Pilot Theatre, York UK), 宿Stay (Sydney Festival); and has in development a new play with Belvoir, as well as a co-commission with the MTC and STC, his first novel, a feature film with Felix Media and a new TV project.

His debut play Counting and Cracking received critical, commercial and community acclaim. The script won the Victorian Premier’s Literature Prize and the NSW Premier’s Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting; the production won 7 Helpmann and 3 Sydney Theatre Awards. Shakthi’s most recent play The Jungle and the Sea, again was met with rave reviews and had a profound impact on the Sri Lankan community. It recently won the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Drama Prize and 4 Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Mainstage Production.

Shakthi is the Director of Kurinji and previous to this was Founder/Artistic Lead of Co-Curious (2018-2022), sister company to CuriousWorks where he was Founder and Artistic Director (2003-2018). Shakthi was the Carriageworks inaugural Associate Artist and is a recipient of both the Phillip Parson’s and Kirk Robson awards.

Based in: Sydney Australia

Eamon Flack

Eamon Flack grew up in Singapore, Darwin and Brisbane. He studied at the University of Queensland (Brisbane) and subsequently trained as an actor at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Perth).

Since 2003 he has worked as a director, writer, actor and dramaturg throughout Australia and internationally. He has been the Artistic Director of Belvoir since 2016, and his directing credits include Counting and Cracking, Holding The Man, Angels in America, The Glass Menagerie, Packer and Sons, Ghosts, Ivanov, Babyteeth, Life of Galileo, As You Like It, The Rover, Twelfth Night and The Blind Giant is Dancing. His adaptations include Chekhov’s Ivanov and The Cherry Orchard, Gorky’s Summerfolk, Sophocles’ Antigone and Ibsen’s Ghosts.

Ivanov won four Sydney Theatre Awards, including Best Mainstage Production and Best Direction. The Glass Menagerie and Angels in America won Helpmann Awards for Best Play. Counting and Cracking won Helpmann Awards for Best Play, Best Direction and Best New Work; the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards; and the Victorian Literary Prize and the Victorian Premier’s Award for Drama.

His other credits include co-adapting Ruby Langford Ginibi’s memoir Don’t Take Your Love to Town with Leah Purcell, and co-devising Beautiful One Day with artists from the ILBIJERRI theatre company, version 1.0 and the community of Palm Island.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Rodney Afif

Rodney Afif was in Counting and Cracking, which toured the UK in the 2022. His other stage credits include MTC’s immersive theatre show Because the Night as well as Wait Until Dark, Three Sisters, The Balcony, Two Brothers, The Golden Dragon, Glengarry, Glen Ross and Macbeth.

Film roles include the lead in the AFI nominated Lucky Miles, Ali’s Wedding, The BBQ, Hotel Mumbai, Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, The Killer Elite, My Year Without Sex, Love’s Brother, Serenades.

Rodney has played Graham (lead cast) in the recent TV series RFDS, his other TV roles include The Hunting, Rosehaven, Offspring, Winners and Losers, East West 101, Satisfaction, Rush, All Saints & City Homicide.

Based in: Melbourne, Australia

Prakash Belawadi

Prakash is an Indian theater, film, television and media personality, teacher, activist and journalist from Bengaluru, Karnataka. Born into a family of theatre and cinema artistes, Belawadi obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in 1983, but has devoted the most part of his years to the stage, cinema, journalism and teaching.

Belawadi has represented India as a delegate in many seminars, conferences and festivals around the world, including the Beyond Bollywood conference at the Gothenburg International Film Festival, 2010; the Performing Arts Market conference in Seoul, 2011; the 50th Theatertreffen – annual theatre festival meet at Berlin, 2013; and the seminar and exhibition, ‘Nature – A Good Idea’ at Trollhättan, Sweden in 2014.

He has been faculty for film courses in Sweden and Istanbul, Turkey and is a mentor at Chanakya University, Bengaluru. He is a motivational speaker at events and Tedx conferences.

Prakash Belawadi’s debut film Stumble, which he wrote and directed, won the National Award for Best Film in the English language, 2003. The film has now been included in the national telecaster Doordarshan’s Best of Indian Cinema series.

Belawadi has acted in many stage plays, web series and over 70 films in five Indian languages and English. He was given the META award for Best Supporting Actor in 2005 and the Helpmann Award, Australia (2019) for Best Actor, Male in the play ‘Counting and Cracking’, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney. He was conferred ‘Pratibha Bhushan’ in 2003 by the Government of Karnataka for his contribution to culture; the Karnataka Nataka Academy Award (2011-12) for his contribution to English and Kannada language theatre; and the Government of Karnataka’s ‘Rajytosava Award’ in 2021. He has also been awarded the ‘Pride of Karnataka’ by Bangalore Round Table (2015), ‘Varshada Kannadiga’ (Kannadiga of the Year) (2015) in the field of entertainment, by News 18 Kannada.

The serial ‘Garva’, which he wrote and directed in 2001 is still considered a classic among Kannada serials.

Prakash was one of the founding members of Citizens for Bengaluru, an active platform for people to engage with the city government to make it accountable to citizens. Prakash and like-minded citizens have founded the Greater Bengaluru Parisara Foundation, a trust with the vision to realise a healthy and sustainable Greater Bengaluru with clean air; piped supply of water; recharging of ground water, well managed tanks and other resources; improved management and renewal of urban and peri-urban forests, eco-friendly parks and wetlands with rich biodiversity.

Based in: Bangalore, India

Senuri Chandrani

Senuri Chandrani (she/they) is an Australian actor of Sri Lankan (Sinhalese) heritage based in Melbourne and Sydney.

She appeared as ‘Jaya’ in the MIFF 2022 opening night feature film, Of An Age (dir. Goran Stolevski) and wrapped the development for the play, Nosferatu with Malthouse Theatre.

In 2019, Senuri graduated from VCA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting).

On stage, they portrayed titular roles such as ‘Hester’ from Susan-Lori Park’s play, f*cking A (dir. Candy Bowers) to Shakespeare’s iconic ‘Lady Macbeth’ (dir. Petra Kalive).

Senuri also writes and directs her own work, which is often informed by their experience as a queer migrant. Most recently, she directed the short film, Island Praying which premiered at MAV’s Diasporas Festival. She also co-created the short film, Purple which is published in the Directors Library. Moreover, their short film, six weeks bby won the People’s Choice Award for Cinespace’s Film Competition.

She has represented Melbourne in the City of Literature Slam O Vision competition and was awarded the global runner-up slot. She is also an alumni of the competitive Behind the Screens program at FCAC and Leading Lights at AIDC.

In addition to this, Senuri is a dancer and
recently performed a solo dance work at the No Kerfew club night; an event that celebrates South Asian intersectionality.

Based in: Melbourne and Sydney, Australia

Antonythasan Jesuthasan

Antony is an actor and writer born in Sri Lanka and based in Paris, France.

He has appeared in a number of films including Benoît Jacquot’s Casanova, Matthew Heineman’s A Private War, Cédric Anger’s L’amour est une fête, Satha Piranavan’s Friday and Friday, Lenin M. Sivam’s Roobha, Leena Manimekalai’s Sengadal, and the Palme d’Or winning Dheepan by Jacques Audiard. He will also appear in the forthcoming A Loyal Man, directed by Lawrence Valin.

For his work in Dheepan he has been nominated for Best Actor at the 2016 César awards, and the 2016 International Online Cinema Awards. He was also the winner of the Best Actor award in the ICS Cannes awards 2015.

In addition to his acting work, Antony has written a number of books including Shoba: Itinéraire d’un réfugié, Gorilla, Traitor and The MGR Murder Trial, La Sterne Rouge.

Since 2019, Antonythasan has appeared in famous Movies including the MEN IN BLUE by Sachin Dheeraj Mudigonda (Tournage USA – Mars 2022), the forthcoming TEHU by Eric Barbier (En post prod 2022), NOTRE DAME BRÛLE by Jean-Jacques Annaud (2021), the forthcoming LE GRAND MARIN by Dinara Drukarova (2021) and BAC NORD by Cédric Jimenez (2020).

Based in: Paris, France

Nadie Kammallaweera

Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Nadie Kammallaweera is a theatre, film and television actor, writer, and a translator. She has acted in stage plays, movies and television dramas.

Nadie’s recent work as an actor in Australia include Jungle and the Sea 2022, Counting and Cracking 2019 Cherry Orchard 2021 by Belvoir Street Theatre, Wakefield (ABC TV Series) and Bump (Stan Australia TV Series).

Her Theatre Credits elsewhere include Kalumali, for the Stage Theatre group Colombo; The House of Bernada Alba, Blood Wedding, Snowwhite and Seven Dwarfs and Mother Courage and Her Children for Somalatha Subasinghe Play House Colombo.

Her Television credits overseas include The Young Pope for HBO, The New Pope for HBO, Bedde Kulawamiya for SLRC (Sri Lanka) and Sansasre Piyasatahan for ITN (Sri Lanka).

Nadie’s feature films include Asoka Handagama’s This is My Moon, Prasanna Vithanage’s August Sun, Visakesa Chandrasekaram’s Pangshu, Malith Hegoda’s Strage Familiar and Fabrizio Costa’s Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Some of the national level awards Nadie has won in Sri Lanka are Best Supporting Actress in a Movie 2021, Best Actress in a Series 2018, Best Translation (Drama) of the Year 2005, Presidential Award for Best Female Actor in a supporting role 2005, Best upcoming actress (Movie) 2004 and 2003, and BUNKA award of recognition of valuable contribution to the Sri Lankan Theatre .

Nadie has co written the screen play Thaala (Sri Lankan Children’s movie) and she is currently co writing a screen play with director Anura de Silva for Ashram Productions (Sri Lanka).

Nadie is currently based in Sydney.

Ahilan Karunaharan

Ahilan Karunaharan is a multi-disciplinary artist of Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry working across stage and screen in Aotearoa. A Graduate of The New Zealand National School of Drama and Victoria University of Wellington, his work interrogates memory, nostalgia, dislocation, and loss from a diaspora lens.

From pioneering and trailblazing works for the South Asian community, International Arts Festivals, immersive participatory installations, and musicals, Ahilan has worked with acclaimed theatre companies across the globe for Tara Arts, Silo Theatre, Auckland Theatre Company, Native Earth in Canada, Planet IndigenoUS Festival, and Belvoir St Theatre.

Ahilan is the founder of Agaram Productions, a multi-award-winning production house championing alternative narratives and otherness, and guest tutors at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand School of Drama and The Actors Programme.

Ahilan was awarded The Bruce Mason Playwrighting Award, recognizing his work as an outstanding New Zealand playwright, and an Excellence in Arts Leadership award in 2020. He is also the recipient of multiple Auckland Theatre Awards and an Arts Foundation Laureate award, the highest artistic accolade in New Zealand celebrating his artistic contribution and achievements to the creative sector. He is currently developing a TV series SERENADE.

Based in: Tamaki Makarau, New Zealand

Abbie-lee Lewis

Abbie-lee Lewis is a Kalkadoon actress who trained on the Aboriginal Theatre and Acting courses at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Perth.

Her credits include David Finnigan’s Scenes from the Climate Era, for Belvoir St Theatre, Seanna Van Helten’s Fallen, directed by Penny Harpham, for Sport for Jove; Our Town, directed by Clare Watson, for the Black Swan State Theatre Company of Western Australia; a national tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (as Hermia) for Bell Shakespeare; and Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree, directed by Ian Michael at the Blue Room Theatre, Perth.

Her television credits include Black Comedy for ABC.

In recent years she has also worked as an assistant director, collaborating with Peter Evans on Hamlet for Bell Shakespeare and with Jena Prince on Charlie Pilgrim for the Australian Theatre for Young People. Last year she made her directing debut with Bruce Pascoe’s Cutter and Coot for Moogahlin Performing Arts and has since directed Jane Montgomery Griffiths’ an ox stand on my tongue, for Belvoir’s 25A and Hannah Belanszky’s Saplings for ATYP.

Based in: Kalkatungu Country, Australia

Gandhi MacIntyre

Gandhi (born on the same date as the Mahatma) emerged from the Methodist Drama Society in Colombo into the Lionel Wendt Theatre and it was at this period that he won a scholarship to the Drama Studio, London, where he obtained his formal qualifications. Later he migrated to Australia.

His theatre credits include Pearlfishers, Madama Butterfly (Opera Australia), Let’s Give Them Curry (Canberra National Multicultural Festival), Rasanayagam’s Last Riot (Ralph Wilson Theatre), The UN Inspector is a Sri Lankan (Lionel Wendt Theatre) and Irangani (Belconnen Theatre).

Gandhi also has over twenty Australian film and television credits including Babe, Fat Pizza, Embassy, and Heroes.

Ghandi is the official representative and auditioner in Australia for the Drama Studio, London and has tutored at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Australia, the University of Western Sydney, and Australian Theatre for Young People.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Radhika Mudaliyar

Radhika Mudaliyar, a Sydney-based actor of Indian heritage, is a graduate of the renowned Bachelor of Arts in Acting program at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Recently seen in Stan’s ‘Prosper,’ she is eagerly anticipated in Belvoir Theatre’s acclaimed production, ‘Counting and Cracking.’

Whilst at WAAPA, a few notable roles Radhika portrayed are; ‘Hermia’ in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ ‘Cleante’ in Moliere’s ‘Tartuffe,’ ‘Aarzu’ in Suzie Miller’s ‘Caress/Ache,’ and the titular role in Sophocles’ ‘Antigone.’

In 2023, Radhika was awarded the Best Actor prize at the Buddha International Film Festival for her role in ‘All is Well’ and was also named a finalist in the competitive Equity Neighbours Internship.

She earned the ‘Most Outstanding Actor’ award at the Vice Chancellor’s Shakespeare Awards for her original devised Bharathanatyam piece titled ‘A Nayika named Hamlet.’

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Shiv Palekar

Shiv Palekar was born in India, raised in Hong Kong and is now based in Sydney.

Since graduating from NIDA, Shiv has appeared in Counting and Cracking (Belvoir); The Tempest, The
Real Thing, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and Disgraced (Sydney Theatre Company); The Sound Inside (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Almighty Sometimes (Griffin Theatre Company); and has toured nationally twice in The Merchant of Venice and The Players (Bell Shakespeare).

Shiv made his feature film debut in the feature film The Greenhouse. He has also starred in the short film Among Men.

Shiv’s most recent television credits include his ongoing appearance in Amazon Studios’ Daytime-Emmy nominated remount of Neighbours, as well as Apple TV/Paramount’s
Shantaram.

For his work in the Beauty Queen of Leenane and Counting and Cracking, he received two Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and Best Actor respectively. For his work in ‘The Sound Inside’ he received a nomination for Outstanding Performance at Melbourne’s Green Room Awards.

He is also an associate artist and founding member of theatre ensemble The Corinthian Food Store Collective for who he has starred as Lester in This, This is Mine.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Dushan Philips

Dushan played the role of Niv in Stay Woke (Malthouse and Darlinghurst Theatre) and more recently tread the boards in Bighouse Dreaming (Arts Centre Melbourne).

Other stage credits include Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth (Australian Shakespeare Company) playing the roles of Lord Capulet and Macduff. He has worked on Fury, The Antipodes (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre); Right Now (Malthouse Theatre Company) and The Crocodile (Malthouse Theatre Company).

Previous TV credits include ABC’s Glitch, Channel 10’s Offspring, Foxtel’s Wentworth, Stan’s Romper Stomper and the American TV Series Hunters. He was also main cast in Channel 31’s ghost hunting six-part series Sonnnigsburg. Recent television roles include Fires and Jack Irish – Hell Bent, both for the ABC, Stan original series The Gloaming and Channel Ten’s My Life is Murder, directed by Leah Purcell.

Dushan won a Green Room Award for his performance in Angels In America, for Dirty Pretty Theatre (2017).

Based in: Melbourne, Australia

Nipuni Sharada

Nipuni Sharada Pathirage is an actor, voice artist, and vocalist in theater, television, and film based in Sri Lanka.

She has been employed as a lecturer in drama and theater at the University of Peradeniya and the University of the Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA) in Sri Lanka. She has a BPA (honours) degree in Acting with a first-class from the UVPA, Sri Lanka, in 2017, and she won the gold medal for the highest GPA. She has received recognition for her proficiency in acting, theatre music, and designing at a number of Sri Lankan theater festivals. Most recently, she won the Best Actress award at the State Theatre Festival 2022 in Sri Lanka for her performance in the Antique Kada Maranayak directed by Asoka Handagama.

She is also interested in applying theater and music to community development and empowerment. Moreover, she is an emerging researcher who explores her own practice and lived experience as a performer and a community theatre practitioner. Her latest research work, titled ‘Let’s Redesign Our Town!: Empowering children to advocate a change in their urban city using theatre,’ was presented at a research conference conducted by the South Asian University in 2023, India.

Currently, she is studying for her Masters at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and her dissertation analyzes her own experience in performing in ‘Counting and Cracking’ as one of the original cast members of the play.

Based in: Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Kaivalya Suvarna

Kaivalya Suvarna is a Melbourne based actor who works internationally in theatre, TV & film, but is always happiest working on a Belvoir story.

He first performed the role of ‘Young Thirru’ during the UK tour of ‘Counting & Cracking’ (2022) and then went on to play the role of ‘Ahilan’ in the show’s spiritual successor ‘The Jungle and the Sea’ later that year.

His other theatrical credits include ‘Sai’ in Malthouse Theatre’s ‘Stay Woke’ (2022) and ‘Tom’ in Sarah Goodes’ ‘Earthquakes in London’ (2021).

Outside the theatre he has recently worked on Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ (2023) and ‘Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky’ (2024), ABC’s ‘Utopia’ (2023) and Apple TV’s ‘Shantaram’ (2021).

Kaivalya is honoured to be a part of this story’s journey through the world and to be bringing it to life in the company of such talented, devoted artists.

Based in: Melbourne Australia

Rajan Velu

Rajan Velu is a graduate of Actors Centre Australia and has worked extensively across Theatre, Television, and Film in Australia and the United States.

Rajan’s theatre credits include Jungle and the Sea (Belvoir), Counting and Cracking (Belvoir), Life of Galileo (Belvoir), Norm and Ahmed (Australian Theatre Live), The Last Highway (Urban Theatre Projects), The Drum (Sydney Opera House), Friends in Transient Places (Fresh Produce’d LA), The Changeling (Independent Shakespeare Company LA), Henry V (Independent Shakespeare Company LA).

Film credits include This Little Love of Mine, Eat Spirit Eat, Honeyglue and the short film Bug which hit the festival circuit last year.

His television credits include, Criminal Minds-Beyond Borders, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Scandal, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, All Saints, Doctor Doctor, RFDS, Diary of an Uber Driver, Born to Spy and the AACTA nominated shows, Savage River and The Disposables.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Sukania Venugopal

Sukania Venugopal has worked in Malaysia and Singapore in theatre, TV and movie projects.

She also worked with the late Yasmin Ahmad on the feature movie Talentime.

She performs and co-directs dance dramas with The Temple of Fine Arts in Malaysia and Temple of Fine Arts abroad. She also performs in children’s theatre with The Jumping Jellybeans.

She has performed in musicals such as Oliver! with Philharmonic Theater and Puteri Gunung Ledang with Enfinity. Sukania is a pioneer performer with The Instant Cafe Theatre Company.

1n 2017 she won Best Supporting Role the play Ghost Writers by The Necessary Stage for Singapore Life Awards and also Best Supporting Role for Language Archive by PH7 productions in Boh Cameroonian Awards in Malaysia.

In 2019 she performed in the highly acclaimed play Counting and Cracking with the Australian Belvoir Theatre Company for the Sydney Arts Festival 2019 and Adelaide Arts Festival 2019. This production received 8 nominations for theatre awards in Australia.

In 2020 she performed with The Necessary Stage (Singapore) production of The Year of No Return which addresses Environmental issues.

In 2022 January she performed in a Pulitzer Prize winning play Night Mother a PH7 production in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

In 2022 she performed in Counting and Cracking at the Edinburgh International Festival in Aug 8th – Aug 14th and also at The Rep Birmingham from Aug 19th – Aug 27th.

In 2023 she performed Mahabharata with Why Not Theatre a Canadian Theatre co. at the Shaw Festival at Niagara On The Lake in Canada ( Feb 28th – Mar 26th). Also performed Mahabharata at Barbican London( UK) from Oct 1st – Oct 8th. In 2023 she performed Call Of The Flute with Kalpana Dance Company as Narrator incorporating Dance and Theatrical movements on Nov 25th at the Temple of Fine Arts in Malaysia.

In 2024 performed Hi Can You Hear Me, a production by the Necessary Stage a Singaporean Theatre Co. at the Singapore Esplanade from March 21st – March 31st.

Based in: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sukhbir Singh Walia (Sunny)

Sukhbir Singh Walia (more commonly known as Sunny S. Walia) is an Indian Australian actor based in Melbourne. He returns to Belvoir’s Counting and Cracking having previously been part of the ensemble on their 2022 UK tour.

Walia made his television debut in Apple TV’s Shantaram, taking on the character of Sub Inspector Chavan Sharma opposite Charlie Hunnam. His other television credits include SBS series Swift Street, Stan’s Bad Behaviour and AMC’s Preacher. Sunny also plays the recurring role of Sasha McLain in Amazon/Network 10’s Neighbours.

Feature film credits include the award winning Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism directed by Nick Kosakis, Mark Williams Blacklight opposite Liam Neeson and recently wrapped Jonathan Hensleigh’s Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky again opposite Liam Neeson and Michael Shank’s Together opposite Dave Franco and Alison Brie.

Sunny was the recipient of the 2020 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Pitch award. He is trained as a rifleman in the Australian Army Reserves and is fluent in Punjabi and Hindi. Sunny is proud to be part of the South Asian diaspora in Australia and continues to work in bringing strong, leading South Asian characters to our stage and screens both locally and internationally.

He is represented by Natalie Simpson at Artist Management Australia.

Based in: Melbourne Australia

Kranthi Kiran Mudigonda

Kiran Mudigonda is one of the leading Carnatic Violinists in Australia. He had his training in India under illustrious teachers from the Dwaram and Parur traditions of Carnatic Violin and is currently undertaking advanced training from Pasur MA Sundareswaran. He has been performing Carnatic Classical Music for the past 2 decades across India, Australia and New Zealand. He is equally adept at singing and playing South Indian percussion instruments Mridangam, Kanjira, Ghatam (Clay Pot) and Morsing (Indian Jew Harp).

He has participated in cross-genre collaborative development projects and has provided violin accompaniment to numerous dance recitals and music concerts at various prestigious venues in India and Australia. He was part of Belvoir Street Theatre’s award winning play “Counting and Cracking”, which was featured in the Sydney Festival in 2019.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Venkhatesh Sritharan

Venkhatesh was born into a musical family, with his mother Sangeetha Vidwan Varalakshmi Sritharan, being a well-known Veena artist in Sri Lanka and Australia. He began to learn flute at the tender age of five under the tutelage of Sri Suthanthiraraj. While continuing to be his student, Venkhatesh was fortunate to have the opportunity to refine his skills under flute maestro Ramani Thiagarajan in Chennai.

As one of Sydney’s leading Carnatic flautist, Venkhatesh has learnt numerous instruments including the Tabla, Piano, Veena as well as classical vocal and has performed for dance ballets, arangetrams and has accompanied in various cross-genre projects including performing for Counting and Cracking, a play produced by Belvoir and Co-Curious for the 2019 Sydney Festival. Venkhatesh is also a member of the local Sydney Band, Eastern Empire.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Janakan Suthanthiraraj

Janakan Suthanthiraraj is an established South-Indian artist with a background in the field of Carnatic music. He has over 20 years experience as a performing artist both in Australia and abroad.

In 2019/2020 he had the privilege to work as a theatre artist for Co-Curious and Belvoir Theatre performing in “Counting & Cracking” for Sydney Festival. The production was awarded both the prestigious Helpmann and Sydney Theatre awards for best sound design.

In 2016 he produced the music for Rasana school of Aesthetic Arts, “Rasalayam” – A neo-classical Bharatanatya production. He was also invited to compose the opening item for the 2010 Sydney Peace Prize Awards, held at the Opera House.

He is also a co-founder of Eastern Empire with whom he has performed for notable festivals including Parramasala (2015) and the Sydney Festival (2017). He is also a teacher at the Ghana Layam music academy, founded by his father and Guru Sri R. Suthanthiraraj

Janakan was first introduced to the wider realms of Carnatic music under the guidance of his father and guru, Sri R.Suthanthiraraj. From there, he pursued extensive training under Mridanga Virtuoso Sri Ravi M.Ravichandhira. Janakan is currently under the guidance of “Nada Oli” Melakaveri Sri K.Balaji.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Anandavalli

Anandavalli is a veteran classical Indian dancer with an international career spanning over 45 years. Born in Sri Lanka, she performed as a young prodigy across India and Europe under the tutelage of dance luminaries from both the East and the West.

In 1985 she migrated to Australia and founded the Lingalayam Dance Academy and Company. Lingalayam’s work incorporates dance, live music, text and design. The company’s central focus is to express the timeless, unique role of women and dance in our society.

Anandavalli is deeply committed to advancing the course of Indian dance as well as the broader scope of artistic development in Australia. Through a series of innovative, national and international collaborative partnerships, today Lingalayam’s choreographic vocabulary far transcends the boundaries of its original performative paradigms, and presents contemporary work founded on its classical origins.

Anandavalli was the pivotal actor/dancer in the 2022 Belvoir Street Theatre & Lingalayam Dance Company’s 2022 co-production of the ‘The Jungle and The Sea’, which won four Sydney Theatre Awards, including Best Mainstage Production. She is the Cultural & Costume Advisor and Choreographer for the Belvoir and Co-curious, 7 Helpmann Award winning epic production of ‘Counting & Cracking’ since its inception.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Dale Ferguson

Dale Ferguson’s credits for Belvoir include The Jungle and the Sea, Sami in Paradise, The Blind Giant is Dancing, Brothers Wreck and The Power of Yes.

Dales other theatre credits include Death of a Salesman (GWB, Andrew Henry Presents) 37, Come Rain or Come Shine, An Ideal Husband, The Weir, The Speechmaker, The Crucible, Top Girls (MTC); A German Life (Adelaide Festival); Emerald City, L’Appartement (Queensland Theatre); Because the Night, Away, Brothers Wreck, Night on Bald Mountain, Dance of Death, Timeshare (Malthouse Theatre); Exit the King (Broadway); Cosi, Away, Les Liasions Dangereues (Sydney Theatre Company). Opera credits are Tosca (Opera Queensland WA Opera); The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Anything Goes (Opera Australia); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2021 Adelaide Festival, Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera).

Dale received Helpmann Awards for August: Osage County and for Counting and Cracking. He has also received a number of Green Room Awards, most recently in 2022 for Because the Night and Tony and Drama Desk nominations for Exit the King on Broadway.

Dale is a Lecturer in Performance Design at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Based in: Melbourne, Australia

Damien Cooper

Damien Cooper is a lighting designer for Dance, Theatre, Opera and Film.

Belvoir designs include The Weekend, Into the Woods, Light Shining In Buckinghamshire, Wayside Bride, Things I Know To Be True, Mark Colvin’s Kidney, The Dog/The Cat, Radiance, The Glass Menagerie, Miss Julie, Stories I Want to Tell You in Person, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Peter Pan, Strange Interlude, Neighbourhood Watch, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, The Seagull, Gethsemane, Keating!, Toy Symphony, Peribanez, Stuff Happens, The Chairs, The Spook, In Our Name, The Underpants, The Sugar House, A Taste of Honey, The Ham Funeral, Exit the King.

STC designs include On the Beach, White Pearl, Top Girls, Dinner, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Disgraced, Arcadia, Orlando, The Golden Age, Suddenly Last Summer, The Women of Troy, The Lost Echo, Riflemind, Tot Mom, The Shape of Things, Far Away, Bed, Julius Caesar, Summer Rain, Boy Gets Girl, The Metamorphosis, The Cherry Orchard, A Walk With the Goons, The Art of War, The Great, Honour, Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness, Blood Wedding, Bloodland, Under Milk Wood, The Splinter, Storm Boy, The Long Way Home, Children of the Sun, Cyrano de Bergerac.

Damien has been awarded Three Sydney Theatre Awards – Best Lighting; Three Green Room Awards – Best Lighting; Two Australian Production Designers Guild Awards – Award for Best Lighting Design Der Ring des Nibelungen; Award for Best Lighting Design The Glass Menagerie.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Stefan Gregory

Stefan Gregory is an Australian composer and sound designer for theatre, dance and film. His recent productions include: Medea (Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY), Yerma (The Young Vic, London), Medea, Ibsen Huis, Husbands And Wives (Toneelgroep Amsterdam), Drei Schwestern, Engel In Amerika, Medea (Theatre Basel), Trilogie de Vengeance, Les Trois Soeurs (L’Odeon, Paris), Avalanche (Barbican, London), There Is Definitely A Prince Involved (Australian Ballet, Melbourne), L’Chaim (Sydney Dance Company), Wonangatta, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Arturo Ui (Sydney Theatre Company), The Present (Broadway, NY), Counting And Cracking, The Wild Duck, Thyestes (Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney), The Dig (Netflix). He has worked with many esteemed directors and choreographers, including Simon Stone, John Crowley, Neil Armfield, Benedict Andrews, Anne-Louise Sarks, Eamon Flack, Kip WIlliams, Gideon Obarzanek, Matthew Lutton, Ralph Myers, Angelica Mesiti.

Stefan has won two Sydney Theatre awards, and OBIE, was nominated for a drama desk award, has received a Sidney Myer Fellowship and has won a Helpmann award.

Stefan was a band member of Faker from 2004-2009, which achieved a platinum release with This Heart Attack and was nominated for several ARIA awards (Australian Recording Industry Association).

Stefan has a degree in pure mathematics (Hons. 1st) from the University of Sydney and also studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, but did not finish his diploma.

The son of science teachers and amateur folk musicians, Stefan grew up in a steel agricultural shed on a bushland property in the hinterland of Sydney with no electricty and a pet wallaby called Basil, where he nearly died from a red back spider bite at the age of nine.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Stephen Francis

Steve has worked extensively in theatre, dance and screen.

His Belvoir credits include Cursed!, My Brilliant Career, Packer & Sons, Things I Know To Be True, Winyanboga Yurringa, Every Brilliant Thing, The Sugar House, The Book of Everything, The Power of Yes, Ruben Guthrie, Baghdad Wedding, and Capricornia.

His other theatre credits include The Children, The Weir, The Sublime (MTC); No Pay No Way, Appropriate, Still Point Turning, The Father, The Hanging, Disgraced, Battle of Waterloo, Switzerland, The Long Way Home, The Secret River, Machinal and Bloodland (STC); Hamlet, Henry V (Bell Shakespeare); and Between Two Waves, This Year’s Ashes, Speaking in Tongues (Griffin).

For dance, Steve has composed music for Wudjang, Sandsong, Dark Emu, Bennelong, Belong, True Stories, Skin, Walkabout, Bush (Bangarra Dance).

His awards include Helpmann Awards for Best Original Score in 2012 and 2003 and Best New Australian Work in 2003 and Sydney Theatre Awards in 2011 and 2014.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Nigel Poulton

Nigel is an award-winning movement director, fight and intimacy coordinator, SAG-AFTRA/MEAA stunt performer and actor, with over 25 years of professional experience. Selected theatre credits include: for Belvoir St Theatre, Holding the Man, The Master and Margarita, Miss Peony, Packer and Sons, Things I Know To Be True, Stop Girl, Blessed Union, At What Cost?, The Jungle and the Sea; for Sydney Theatre Company, Oil, On The Beach, Do Not Go Gentle, Fences; for Bell Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth; for Melbourne Theatre Company, Bernhardt/Hamlet; for Ensemble Theatre, Memory of Water, Mr Bailey’s Minder, Suddenly Last Summer. Nigel’s film and television work includes: Deadloch,Nautilus,Poker Face,Thor: Love and Thunder,Spiderhead,Ding Dong I’m Gay, Occupation 2, Pirates of the Caribbean V, Deadline Gallipoli, The Water Diviner, The Bourne Legacy, Vikingdom and Winter’s Tale.

In 2021, Nigel was awarded the status of Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors, as one of only two recipients outside the US with this accolade. He has also won a Green Room Award for outstanding contribution to the stage.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Laura Farrell

Laura Farrell (she/her) is a Voice and Dialect Coach living and working on Gadigal land. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Voice from NIDA; a Post Graduate Diploma in Voice from the Victorian College of the Arts; and a Bachelor of Music Theatre from the Victorian College of the Arts. A current lecturer for NIDA’s BFA, Laura has also taught on multiple Sydney actor training programs, including NIDA’s Diploma of Stage and Screen and Diploma of Music Theatre, Actors Pulse, Sydney Acting Studio, Actors Centre Australia and The University of Wollongong.

For Belvoir, Laura’s coaching credits include Into The Woods, directed by Eamon Flack (2023), Blue, directed by Deborah Brown (2023), Jungle And The Sea, directed by Eamon Flack (2022), Tell Me I’m Here, directed by Leticia Caceres (2022),Fangirls, directed by Paige Rattray (2022) and Counting And Cracking, directed by Eamon Flack (2022).

Other credits include Pear Shaped, directed by Miranda Middleton (Rogue Projects, 2023), F*** It Bucket, directed by Alyssa McClelland (LeftBank Productions UK, 2022), Reluctant Sea Shanty for UNHCR, directed by Kyra Bartley (FINCH, 2022), Picnic At Hanging Rock, directed by Claudia Osbourne (NIDA, 2022), Paper Stars, directed by Miranda Middleton (Salty Theatre, 2021) and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., directed by Heather Fairbairn (NIDA, Sydney 2021).

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Thinesh Thillainadarajah

Thinesh Thillainadarajah is an Eelam Tamil Queer creative hailing from Toronto, Canada. Whilst his formal training was in law, sound design and music production, his creative interests have been multi-faceted. His ideas around community, multiculturalism and identity were heavily influenced by his upbringing in Toronto and shows up in the work he creates.

Thinesh’s previous community engagement work includes work for the Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company and the Belvoir Street Theatre. Outside of his community engagement work, he is the creative producer ofHot Sauce, curating intimate gatherings to roving dance parties that aim to create an intentional space to celebrate the lives of queer people of colour.

Thinesh also guest produces episodes forShoes Off, a podcast series exploring and celebrating what it means to be Asian in Australia. Most recently, he won for Best News & Current Affairs at the Australian Podcast Awards for You Have Been Told A Lie,a podcastseries chronicling the Nadesalingam family’s journey to Australia, the geopolitical and national forces at play when it comes to Australia’s immigration policy, and what this all says about Australian identity.

Based in: Sydney, Australia

Barry Searle

After an already extensive freelance career in many aspects of the theatre industry, Barry worked for Sydney Theatre Company as Assistant Technical Manager, then Technical Manager for over 23 years. During that time, he Production Managed a long list of shows including many Wharf Revues.

Since leaving STC in 2019 and going back to the freelance world, Barry has continued his long friendship with the Wharf Revue team up until April (with more to come) as well as working with the 2020 Sydney Festival, NIDA, on Prima Facie for Griffin Theatre Company, 宿(stay) for Kurinji and Museum of Modern Love for the Seymour Centre, both as part of the 2022 Sydney Festival.

Sheryl Talmage

Working across the Theatre, Events, Film & Television industries for 35years, Sheryl has faced many varied roles with great confidence & success.

Most recently she has taken up a casual Resident Stage Management position with the team at the Sydney Opera House since September 2022. Following the Covid lockdowns of 2021 & 2022 Sheryl returned to work on the Public Events of ELEVATE Sydney & VIVID Sydney. She has also worked productions & events including, United Arab Emirates National Day47 as an Operations Manager, Bran Nue Dae as Production Co-ordinator, DAE’s White Night – Carlton Garden as an Operations Manager and The World Expo Dubai – Al Wasi Plaza Puppet Shows, puppet builder & Operations Manager for Balooga Entertainment /Artists In Motion.

As a Stage Manager, following her graduating NIDA she worked in the Musical Theatre Industry extensively. Alongside this Sheryl worked various roles in Children’s Television (Wiggles/ Hi-5/ Raggs/ New MacDonalds Farm), Production Managed the build & installation of many P&O/Princess cruise ship shows, across the world and had the enjoyment of calling multiple Sydney Harbour NYE fireworks before data cable & timecode removed the intensity of the task. Across her many and varied experiences, she has a firm ability to deliver projects with the highest quality and professionalism.

Ayah Tayeh

Born on Wurundjeri land and currently working on Gadigal land, Ayah is a theatre maker with a passion for new work and diverse storytelling.

Her credits include: City of Gold (Sydney Theatre Company), The Boomkak Panto (Belvoir), A Room of One’s Own (Belvoir), seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Darlinghurst Theatre Company 2021/2022), My Brilliant Career (Belvoir), Breaking Glass (Sydney Chamber Opera), and Double Delicious (Contemporary Asian Australian Performance with Sydney Festival).

Mia Kanzaki

Mia Kanzaki is a Sydney based stage manager who is passionate about diverse stories and inclusive practices in the arts. She is a graduate of WAAPA’s Bachelor of Performing Arts (Stage Management).

As Stage Manager, her credits include Tiddas(Belvoir) andThe Face of ji*zo(Red Line Productions). As Assistant Stage Manager, her credits includeHolding the Man, Blessed Union, theAt What Cost?National Tour,The Weekend(Belvoir), andSummer of Harold(Ensemble Theatre).