S.S. Metaphor

Ash Flanders is a multi-award-winning writer and performer based in Melbourne. Recent stage credits include The Temple (Malthouse Theatre), Ash Flanders is Nothing (Brunswick Ballroom), and End Of. (Darebin Speakeasy). He created queer theatre company Sisters Grimm with Declan Greene, co-writing and performing in Calpurnia Descending (Malthouse Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company), Little Mercy (Sydney Theatre Company), The Sovereign Wife (MTC Neon), and Lilith: The Jungle Girl (Melbourne Theatre Company). Other theatre credits include Blackie Blackie Brown: The Traditional Owner of Death (Malthouse Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company), Buyer & Cellar (Melbourne Theatre Company), Hedda (Belvoir St Theatre), and Psycho Beach Party (Little Ones Theatre). His solo work includes Playing to Win, Special Victim, Meme Girls, and Negative Energy Inc. He has won several Green Room Awards for cabaret and theatre in both writing and performance. He lost a Helpmann Award to Tennessee Williams and will never forgive him. Television continues to prove elusive.

Sarah Giles is an award-winning opera and theatre director. Directing credits include: Blaque Showgirls (Malthouse Theatre), The Truth, Straight White Men (Melbourne Theatre Company), No Pay? No Way!, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Perplex, Mrs Warren’s Profession, Marriage Blanc, Money Shots, Ruby Moon (Sydney Theatre Company), The Popular Mechanicals (State Theatre of South Australia), Lorelei (Victorian Opera/Opera Queensland), O Mensch, Pas à Pas, and Into the Little Hill (Sydney Chamber Opera/Sydney Festival). Sarah was Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company and Richard Wherrett Fellow. Sarah has received a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Director. Her production Lorelei with Victorian Opera, in addition to receiving a Green Room Award nomination for Best Direction of an Opera, received five Helpmann Awards nominations, including Best Direction of an Opera, and won the Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work. Sarah is a graduate of NIDA and the University of Melbourne. 

Zenya is a Melbourne based actor, singer, and dancer. Completing her Cert IV in Dance at Transit Dance. Her stage credits include The Book of Mormon (Gordon Frost Organisation), The Secret Life of Wonder: A Prologue in G (Antipodes Theatre), Puffs (Lifelike Touring), Rent (James Terry Collective), The Very Last Night Show (P&O Cruises), Bare, The Color Purple, Dreamgirls, Hair: The Victorian tour, Hair: The Summer of Love (StageArt), Connected (Origin Theatrical), Pygmalion (Lyric Opera), It Sounds Silly (Chunky Move), and Pinocchio (Tivoli Theatre Pantomimes). Zenya’s screen credits include Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Fisk (ABC), Scattered (Balloon Tree Productions), Spreadsheet (Northern Pictures), The InBestigators (Gristmill), Playing for Keeps (Screentime), Neighbours (Freemantle Media), and the podcast The Best Bagels in Town (Jake Fehily/Spotify). 

Will Conyers is a graduate of the National Theatre Drama School and Founding Director of the Musical Theatre Course. Select theatre credits include Jesus Christ Superstar, Torch Song Trilogy, Mame, Gypsy, Sweet Charity, Man of La Mancha, Footrot Flats The Musical, Half a Sixpence, The Magic Wishing Chair, All the Lives of Me, The Magic Pudding, The Prodigal Son, Possum Magic, The Magic Faraway Tree, Fiddler on the Roof, Is There Life After High School?, Closer Than Ever, Dutch Courage, McCubbin, The White Mouse, and STATUS - The Play. Will has directed Lorna Luft, Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical, Rocky, and Anastasia) and Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Wicked, and Pippin). TV credits include Neighbours, The Flying Doctors, Skirts, and Lift Off. He was Head of Acting at CQU (2000–03) and along with Nancye Hayes was chosen to take up an Artist Residence at WAAPA. Will hosted Broadway at Bedtime (JOY 94.9) for six years and was Artistic Director of Cabaret venue, Downstairs at Alma's. 

Natalie is a singer, actor, and cabaret artist whose performances have been acclaimed internationally. Natalie is delighted to return to Malthouse’s stage following her role in My Dearworthy Darling. Her recent stage credits include Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Melbourne Theatre Company), Dance Nation (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre), Darlinghurst Nights (Hayes Theatre Company), Ladies in Black (Queensland Theatre Company), Strictly Ballroom, Mary Poppins (Disney/Cameron Mackintosh), and Women of Troy (Sydney Theatre Company). Natalie also has attracted a large following for her recordings and one woman shows, her latest being Carmen Live or Dead. Recent screen credits include Street Smart, Neighbours (Network 10), and the successful feature film Ali’s Wedding. She has received several major awards for her work as a vocalist. 

Tyler Ray Hawkins is a multidisciplinary artist with a Masters of Design from NIDA. Tyler’s practice spans set, costume, AV, film, theatre, event, fashion. He also has provided creative direction and design consultation for major brands and commercial clients such as Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Museums Victoria, Opera Australia, Disney Theatrical Group, Heaps Gay, FBi Radio, and Louis Vuitton. Previous credits include Festival Designer for Adelaide Fringe Festival, Bondi Feast Festival, Greater Sunrise, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Belvoir St Theatre), The Smallest Hour, A Strategic Plan (Griffin Theatre Company), Intersection: Arrival, Intersection Chrysalis, Moth (ATYP), Howling Girls (Sydney Chamber Opera), The Three Graces (Theatre Works/The Anchor), and Black Birds (Black Birds). Screen credits include Faboriginal, Scout, The Shore, A Chance Affair, Brown Lips (Noble Savage Pictures), Saint Lo (Megan Washington), Eaglehawk (Dollhouse Collective), and various independent stage and screen productions. 

Jude Perl is a Melbourne-based singer, songwriter, and comedian. She has written and performed six solo comedy shows and won three Green Room Awards for Best Original Song. Her fifth show I Have A Face won her a fourth Green Room Award for Cabaret Artiste, as well as Best Cabaret at Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2018. Jude has created a name for herself by writing and performing hilarious, yet brutally honest, stream-of-consciousness style lyrics, set to undeniably catchy and well-crafted songs. Earlier this year Jude performed her sixth solo show Participation Award at Melbourne International Comedy Festival and made her debut performance at the televised Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala. During lockdowns she’s a jigsaw puzzle maestro and finds herself rewatching the entire series of Daria for the eighteenth time. 

Jed Palmer is a composer and sound designer working across film, TV, theatre, dance, and installation. Previous projects for Malthouse Theatre include Blaque Showgirls, Meow Meow's Little Mermaid, Blak Cabaret, and Calpurnia Descending. Other stage projects include Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark (Sydney Theatre Company), Ghosts, Toast and the Things Unsaid (Sandpit/Grumpy Sailor), and The Sovereign Wife (Sisters Grimm/Melbourne Theatre Company). Jed scored sci-fi action feature Upgrade, which was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Original Score. He has composed for feature films Animals (Sundance Film Festival), I Used To Be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story (Hot Docs/Sydney Film Festival), OtherLife (Melbourne International Film Festival), The Infinite Man (SXSW), Ukraine Is Not a Brothel (Venice Film Festival), and Wasted on the Young (Sydney Film Festival). 

Katie Sfetkidis is a lighting designer and contemporary artist based on Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung Country. She has worked extensively in theatre, dance, and experimental performance for almost 15 years across Australia and internationally. Select credits include Loaded, Atomic, Meme Girls, Calpurnia Descending, Tame (Malthouse Theatre), Abigail’s Party, Happy Endings (Melbourne Theatre Company), Easy Riders, Exit Strategies, The Director, A Singular Phenomenon (APHIDS), Merciless Gods, The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, Dracula, Dangerous Liaisons, Salome, Psycho Beach Party (Little Ones Theatre), and Monty Python’s Spamalot (One Eyed Man Productions). Katie received a Green Room Award in 2015 and has several nominations. She is currently the Feminist Emissary for the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre.

Lyndie is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, she has worked as a stage manager and an assistant stage manager both nationally and internationally. Credits for Malthouse Theatre include Because The Night, Importance of Being Earnest, Solaris, The Temple, Blasted, Going Down, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Wild Bore, Timeshare, I Am a Miracle, and The Good Person of Szechuan.  
Select credits include Token Armies, Common Ground (Chunky Move), Calamity Jane (One Eyed Productions), Funny Girl, Curtains, Dusty, Hello Dolly, Jesus Christ Superstar (The Production Company), Big Bad Wolf, Grug, Grug and the Rainbow (Windmill Theatre), Separation Street, Ants, and Cerita Anak (Polyglot Theatre). 

Amelia is a graduate from Victorian College of the Arts. She has worked on productions in numerous stage management roles. Her credits include Mamma Mia, Earthquakes in London, NUTI, WOW, Body, Snore, and Fefu and Her Friends. She has also completed internships on Moomba Playground with Opera Australia, and Asia TOPA with Arts Centre Melbourne. Other credits include Because The Night (Malthouse Theatre), 2019 Helpmann Awards and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel). Amelia is excited to be working with Malthouse Theatre's team.