cast
Atharv Kolhatkar | Neal
Claudette Clarke | Mum
Josephine Gazard | Schoolgirl, Police Officer
Karina Bracken | Bird, Schoolgirl
Katherine Shearer | Jana
Madhullikaa Singh | Drinks Lady, Schoolgirl
Mason Phoumirath | Police Officer, Schoolgirl
Phillip Lye | Dad
Teresa Tate Britten | Flower Lady, Schoolgirl
Trishala Sharma | Arti
crew
Suzanne Millar | Director
Charlie Vaux | Assistant Director
Soham Apte | Production Design
Benjamin Brockman | Lighting Design
Jessica Pizzinga | Composition & Sound Design
Andrew McMartin | Stage Manager
John Harrison, Neel Banerjee | Producers
Reema Gillani | Nautanki Production Manager
ANDREW MCMARTIN | STAGE MANAGER Andrew is the Production Manager and resident Stage Manager for bAKEHOUSE and one of the co-founders of KXT. He has worked as a Stage Manager and Venue Manager in Australia and the UK. Andrew’s Stage management credits with bAKEHOUSE include Jatinga, The Laden Table and Black Jesus (KXT - Kings Cross Theatre); The Ishmael Club (Old Fitz); His Mother’s Voice (ATYP Selects); Love Field (TAP Gallery), and the development showings of Two Chairs and His Dark Materials. Other credits include Encore Vocal Group, Songs from the Heart and the Blue Moon Festival. As a venue and event manager he has worked at the Sydney Festival, Pleasance Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sydney Film Festival and Tropfest.
ATHARV KOLHATKAR | NEAL Atharv is an actor and writer based in Sydney, Australia. He trained at the Sydney Theatre School and NIDA Open in theatre and screen acting. He made his stage debut in Sydney for Nautanki Theatre’s Curry Kings of Parramatta. Most recently he entertained audiences as Nasir in kwento's The Marriage Agency by Saman Shad at KXT. Atharv is making his film debut as a lead in the forthcoming Arranged|Love by Sanjane Koneshamoorthy. Atharv is delighted to be back at KXT.
BENJAMIN BROCKMAN | LIGHTING DESIGN Ben is an award-winning Lighting Designer who works both nationally and internationally. Recent credits include Constellations (Sydney Theatre Company); Soul Trading (ATYP), The Chairs (Old Fitz) Symphonie Fantastique (KXT). Lighting Design credits for KXT bAKEHOUSE include: Coram Boy, Dresden, Jatinga, The Laden Table, Straight, Visiting Hours; for Griffin: Splinter, Diving for Pearls, Replay, 2016 & 2018 Season Launches; for Apocalypse Theatre Company: Angels in America Parts I & II, Metamorphoses; for Bontom: Chamber Pot Opera (Adelaide, Edinburgh and Sydney Fringe Festivals); for Darlinghurst Theatre Company: Broken, Detroit, The Motherfucker with the Hat, Tinder Box, Torch Song Trilogy; for Ensemble Theatre: Baby Doll, The Big Dry, Neville’s Island.
CHARLIE VAUX | ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Charlie runs the Artist Support Programs in the KXT Vault and is co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of CrissCross Productions. Earlier this year he directed Cherry Smoke by James McManus, the inaugural production at KXT On Broadway. Other directing credits include: Natives (KXT) and Bad Smoke (Flow Studios). He was Assistant Director on the bAKEHOUSE production of Coram Boy at KXT. As Stage Manager, credits include A Streetcar Named Desire (Old Fitz); Dresden (KXT) and bigHART’s SKATE festival in Barangaroo. He was one of the co-managers of the KXT Popupstairs program at KXT in the Cross, which hosted a number of new Australian works in the KXH Bordello Room along with creators across Australia. He curated the Pop Up Come Out Festival for Mardi Gras and co-curated the 2nd Biannual Step-Up Festival in collaboration with bAKEHOUSE and the KXT Step-Up team.
CLAUDETTE CLARKE | MUM Claudette is a Sydney-based actor of African-Caribbean heritage. Her theatre experience includes classic adaptations such as The Crucible (Zenith Theatre), To Kill a Mockingbird (New Theatre & Zenith Theatre), Doubt (Zenith Theatre); The History Boys (NIDA Parade Theatre). More recent theatre classics include Metamorphosis (Old Fitz Theatre); Albion (Seymour Centre) and a 9-month National Tour of Possum Magic. Claudette’s stage work also extends to multi-ethnic development pieces such as My Name is Sud (Blacktown Arts Centre and The Dreaming Festival); new works, Jatinga (KXT) and The Lady in the Barracks (Sydney Fringe). Claudette originally trained at Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in London.
FELINO DOLLOSO | UNDERSTUDY Felino is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne Australia. He is a Best Australian Actor nominee in the AFIN International Film Festival 2019. His theatre credits include Coup D’etat with bAKEHOUSE, A Quiet Night in Rangoon at New Theatre, Havana Harlem at Sydney Fringe Theatre, Cabesang Tales with Knights of Jose Rizal Theatre, Empress of China with Belvoir St Theatre. His Television credits include Upright, Better Man, Maximum Choppage, House of Hancock, Hyde and Seek, Spirited, Spirited 2, All Saints MRU, Answered by Fire. His film credits include Balibo, Mother Fish, Candy, Ra Choi, Survive or Die, The Adventures of a Happy Homeless Man, Suppose the night tasted like sugar, Seeing the Elephant, Callabona Red, The Devil’s 6 Commandments, The Fence, It’s about Survival, Immigrants and Cigarettes, Let’s shoot Max instead, The Dealer, Sushi Noh, In Heaven They Sing Karaoke.
JESSICA PIZZINGA | COMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGN Jessica’s credits include: Production Manager for Darlinghurst Theatre's Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; Touring Production Manager for Art's on Tour's Wild Thing; Video Designer for Ensemble Theatre’s A Broadcast Coup; Technical Director of ETC: Experiments in Theatre presented at Riverside in collaboration with NIDAX; Sound Designer, Co-Composer and System supervisor of Eugene for NIDA’s October Main Season in collaboration with Force Majeure (2022); Mic Technician for STC’s Tenant of Wildfell Hall (2022); Production Manager of Picnic at Hanging Rock in NIDA’s Main Season (2022); Mic Technician for ATYP’s The Deb (2022); Sound designer and Composer on Hotel in NIDA’s Festival of Emerging Artists (2021-2022); Assistant Event Coordinator for Barangaroo in Sydney Festival (2021-2022); Sound Designer/Composer, Systems’ supervisor for DRRRM PLAY in NIDA’s Festival of Emerging Artists (2020); Sound Designer/Composer and System’s supervisor for Perfect Stranger in NIDA’s June Season (2021).
JOHN HARRISON | PRODUCER John is Co-Artistic Director of bAKEHOUSE. Directing credits include Coram Boy (KXT); Visiting Hours (KXT, bAKEHOUSE and Vivid Sydney); Great Expectations (ATYP Under The Wharf); and in 2014 he directed the development showing of His Dark Materials. Producing credits include Jatinga, The Laden Table and Black Jesus (KXT - Kings Cross Theatre); The Ishmael Club (Old Fitz); His Mother’s Voice (ATYP Selects); the StoryLines Festivals in 2009 and 2012; Metamorphoses (bAKEHOUSE & Apocalypse at PACT).
KARINA BRACKEN | BIRD; SCHOOLGIRL A graduate of the Australian Academy of Dramatic Art (AADA), Karina’s theatre credits include Dalo Chips & Imli Chutney (Shopfront Arts Lab), Jatinga (bAKEHOUSE), Flame Trees (Depot Theatre), and Animal Farm (Archway 1 Theatre). For television, she has appeared in Bump, Pieces of Her, Reef Break and The Commons. Film work includes the independent feature film Greed, as well as roles in the short films Weather Girl, Boyz and Hirani. Other credits include a music video for the song Tulips by Tigerilla ft. Gill Bates, which was nominated for a J Award for Best Music Video, and the web series, Chronic Dreams.
KATHERINE SHEARER | JANA A graduate of Adelaide's Flinders University Drama Centre, BA Honours in Performance, Kat is no stranger to new works, last performing on the Sydney stage in Brave New World's Asylum, a world premiere directed by Richard Hilliar. Having taken some considerable time out from acting to concentrate on a film producing career, this was initially ignited by producing/performing her 2015 NSW premiere of Charlotte Josephine's one-woman play, Bitch Boxer. With a sell-out season at Old 505, and a return season at the KX Hotel, during the 2015 Fringe Festival. Kat has a long history with bAKEHOUSE, having been part of the cast for Her Holiness and Visiting Hours, and has acted alongside Suzanne Millar in several productions on the Sydney indie stage. Other highlights include Eurydice (Foul Play Theatre S.A), Scenes From An Execution (Tooth & Sinew), Metamorphoses (Apocalypse Theatre at PACT) and the delicious dual role of Helen/Sybil in Steven Berkoff's two-hander Decadence, which won the Sydney Fringe award and nominated Best Theatre Adelaide Fringe. Kat has studied musical theatre at Guildford School of Acting (UK), scene study classes at Ivana Chubbuck in LA, and in Sydney with Kevin Jackson. She is passionate about new works and Australian stories and is thrilled to be part of this production.
KATIE POLLOCK | WRITER is an award-winning writer for stage, radio and screen. Her works include her solo show Rough Trade (which she also performed in seasons in Sydney, regional NSW and Melbourne), The Curve; Normal; The Becoming; The Hansard Monologues; Blue Angel Hotel; A Quiet Night in Rangoon; A Girl Called Red; Nil by Sea; Contact; O is for Oxygen; Blue Italian; and many short works. Her plays have been produced by ABC Radio National, Apocalypse Theatre, Canberra Youth Theatre, Casula Powerhouse, Critical Stages, Eastside FM, Hothouse, Merrigong, MOAD, New Theatre, Old 505, Riverside Parramatta, Redline, Seymour Centre, subtlenuance, Sydney Fringe, Tamarama Rock Surfers, Theatre Works, and The Street. Awards include the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, the Martin Lysicrates Prize, the Inscription/Edward Albee Playwriting Scholarship and three AWGIE nominations. She is currently adapting her award-winning play Normal for the screen, developing original TV series ideas, and working as a note-taker in writers’ rooms after training on the AWG’s First Break program. Rough Trade, Normal and The Curve are published by Currency Press. Other plays are available at Australian Plays Transform.
MADHULLIKAA SINGH | DRINKS LADY; SCHOOLGIRL Madhullikaa is an emerging actor/director and trained Indian classical dancer working on Gadigal land. Madhu’s recent stage credits include Ma Ki Rasoi (My Mother’s Kitchen) at KXT, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and Shopfront Artslab program. She recently completed her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre & Performance studies at the University of Sydney earning her credits in ethnographical work, dramaturgy and production. As the Vice President of the University of Sydney Union, she plays an integral role in shaping the creative landscape of the Festival of Creativity 2023. She directed (2021) and produced (2022) a cast and crew of 30 BIPOC creatives in the People of Colour Revue at the Seymour Centre during which fuelled her innate passion to platform stories of and from underrepresented minorities.
MASON PHOUMIRATH | POLICE OFFICER; SCHOOLGIRL Mason (He/Him) is an actor/dancer currently living and working on Dharug and Eora land. He trained as an actor at the University of Wollongong, graduating with a Bachelor of Performance in 2015. Theatre credits include: Australian Graffiti (Sydney Theatre Company), National Tour with Poetry In Action (2022), A Very Expensive Poison (New Theatre), The Human Voice (Periscope Productions), The Linden Solution (KXT); Don Giovanni and Attila (Opera Australia). Whilst studying at Wollongong, Mason performed in the AWGIE Award winning play, The Gap, written by powerhouse playwrights; Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves and Angela Betzien. Mason has also worked as a dancer, having performed in Tut (2016) with Shaun Parker and Company for Art and About Sydney, as well as Static of the Radio, an six hour durational dance marathon performed at Sydney and Melbourne Fringe (2016).
NEEL BANERJEE | PRODUCER Neel is an intercultural theatre practitioner based in Sydney, Australia. An emerging creative leader in Western Sydney, Neel was born and raised in India; and currently lives on the Darug land as a 1st generation settler. His work involves cultural development, burgeoning theatregoers, community engagement, education and training through live performing theatre. Neel works extensively amongst culturally and linguistically diverse actors, creatives and audiences. His creative development combines personal and the political, ritualistic and physical theatre. As an artist, Neel is interested in a collaborative and interrelation approach to theatre development. Neel is the founder and creative director of Nautanki Theatre. Under his creative leadership in the last decade, Nautanki has presented a body of theatre work that validates the South Asian diasporic experience in Australia. Nominated for Parramatta Citizen of the Year 2023 for his contribution to arts & community, Neel has recently completed his international residency in Bangladesh (FEB’ 2023), International Producers Training offered by Powerhouse Museum and Factory International, UK (AUG’ 2023). Neel is selected for the prestigious Emerging Leadership Program offered by McKinsey & Company through Australian Scholarship Federation (OCT’ 2023).
PHIL LYE | DAD Returning to the stage after a long layoff (seven years) Phil has had a long and happy relationship with bAKEHOUSE, spanning almost twenty years, including classic drama: Great Expectations, The Crucible, The History Boys, Our Town, and contemporary works such as the compelling StoryLines suite. He is delighted to be involved in this beautifully penned work which shines a light on the miserable plight of those suffering the consequences of domestic abuse and in particular, coercive control, a form of abuse with which we are only recently becoming educated.
REEMA GILLANI | NAUTANKI PRODUCTION MANAGER Reema hails from an artistic family and has an extensive career as an actor on stage, TV & radio. She began her acting journey at an early age which then led to her joining and performing with Ajoka Theatre at the age of 18. Ajoka is a pioneering progressive grass-roots level Pakistani theatre company that has presented works based on human rights and social issues. In Australia, Reema has been active on the theatrical scene for the last 20 years, co-directing, acting and producing in independent theatre. In 2015, she joined The Nautanki Theatre Company as the Production Manager and has also acted in many of the company’s productions, more recently, Ten Years to Home and The Jungle Book. Reema ran Nautanki’s South Asian Theatre Festival as Festival Manager for 6 years running and acting, writing & co-directing Booha Kholo (The Closed Door) and Jahan Ara ke Teen Roop (The Three Faces of Jahan Ara) for the festival.
SOHAM APTE | PRODUCTION DESIGN Soham is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer creating work on unceded Gadigal land.
After moving to Sydney from Dubai, Soham studied at a specialist visual arts and design school where his love for art history and design practices grew exponentially. That love kept growing during his time at NIDA studying Design for Performance (BFA, 2022). He is passionate about designing for films, music videos, and theatre. Through his personal work, Soham is currently developing a visual language and aesthetic called Indo-futurism, inspired by Indian culture, religion, history, and philosophy. Recent credits include: Mr. Bailey’s Minder (Ensemble Theatre); Cherry Smoke (KXT); Fruit Box Pride Festival (KXT); How To Defend Yourself (Old Fitz); The Marriage Agency (KXT). In addition to theatre, Soham has also been production and costume designing for music videos and short films such as Kafana, (dir. Marko Cvijanovic), which was selected for Oz Film Festival 2021.
SUZANNE MILLAR | DIRECTOR Suzanne is Co-Artistic Director of bAKEHOUSE Theatre and the Creative Director at KXT on Broadway. Her practice is focused on new Australian writing, theatre for social impact, and mentoring. She has been key to the establishment of KXT - Kings Cross Theatre, now KXT on Broadway which is the birthplace of bold work and the training ground for our most exciting artists. As director: Dresden; Jatinga; Black Jesus; The Laden Table (KXT); His Mother’s Voice (ATYP); Two Chairs (CRACK!); Junction (NIDA & TRS); A Land Beyond the River (NIDA & TRS); Coup d’Etat (Riverside Theatres, NIDA, TRS); her holiness (Seymour Centre & Riverside Theatres). Suzanne is the founder and facilitator of bACE Mumbai, established in 2014, an international program working with award-winning NGO Apne Aap Women’s Collective (AAWC) to establish an arts program in Kamathipura, and build an artists exchange between Sydney & Mumbai. As producer: Visiting Hours, (bAKEHOUSE & Vivid); His Dark Materials in dev (ATYP); Coram Boy (KXT); Great Expectations (ATYP). Suzanne is a leading arts educator who has worked extensively with student and emerging artists. She currently oversees the KXT Step Up mentoring program and facilitates arts mentorships in Western Sydney, including I AM WE ARE in Mt Druitt.
TERESA TATE BRITTEN | FLOWER LADY; SCHOOLGIRL Teresa Tate Britten is a Singer-Actor and Voiceover Artist, originally from the Northern Territory. She studied Music, Education and ARTS, completing her studies at UNSW & NIDA, specialising in Voicecraft, Theatre, Musical Theatre and Screen Acting. Teresa played Chutki in Jatinga, under the direction of Suzanne Millar for bAKEHOUSE and Corazon in Jordan Shea’s Kasama Kita at Belvoir Street’s 25a theatre, directed by Erin Taylor. Teresa absolutely loves exploring her vocal ability, performing in Soul Cabaret with Maddison Mckoy and Katrina Retallic, The Things I Could Never Tell Steven by Australian composer and lyricist Jye Bryant, entertaining in Sydney’s acclaimed Coogee Carols alongside many favourite performers with whom she shared this same home ground for almost ten years. Teresa guest appeared in Girl and Body by Charlotte Mars, The Pool by Erica Long with Felicity Jurd and Laura Cameron, and in the ABC children's television program, The Unlisted. She starred alongside Hugh Jackman in QANTAS’ Celebrating Australian Diversity campaign in 2019 and has been the voice for many corporate and commercial brands over the years, including Aussie Home Loans, The Australian Government, Aldi, Nova FM, Dettol and Jurlique. Teresa attributes her multicultural upbringing as having influenced much of the versatility in her work. She was raised in a remote community out of Alice Springs, NT to Asian and New Zealander parents and identifies with a number of cultural multitudes of this rural and diverse upbringing.
TRISHALA SHARMA graduated from Loyola College Mount Druitt in 2016, where she performed in Into The Woods and worked with bAKEHOUSE on the development and production of I Am We Are. She was part of the development of Jatinga in the Invisible Circus Women’s Festival at KXT and played the lead role in the world premiere production of Jatinga at KXT in 2017. Human Activity marks Trishala’s return to the KXT stage.