Counting and Cracking

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). He has in development a new play with Belvoir and a co-commission with the Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company. He has a feature film with Felix Media and a new TV project also in development. 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 won the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Drama Prize and 4 Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Mainstage Production. Shakthi is the Director of Kurinji, was previously Director of Co-Curious, and was Founder and Artistic Director of CuriousWorks from 2003-2018. He is a Creative Australia and Sidney Myer Fellow, and a recipient of the Phillip Parson’s and Kirk Robson awards.

Eamon Flack

Eamon Flack is the Artistic Director of Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney. He is a director, writer, dramaturg and script developer for stage and screen.

 Eamon was born in Singapore and grew up in Singapore, Darwin, Cootamundra and Brisbane. He has a BA (English and History) from the University of Queensland, and trained as an actor at WAAPA from 2001 to 2003. He has worked around Australia and internationally, from the Tiwi Islands to Sri Lanka and the UK. He has led Belvoir’s new work development in various guises since 2006, and has commissioned and developed many of the company’s most acclaimed new works over the last 15 years.

His productions of The Glass Menagerie, Angels in America and Counting and Cracking won the Helpmann Awards for Best Play in 2015, 2016, and 2019. 

His key directing credits include: Counting and Cracking (with Associate Director S. Shakthidharan, winner of the Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play and nominated for the Sydney Theatre Award Best Direction of the Mainstage Production), The Jungle and the Sea (co-directed with S. Shakthidharan, winner of Best New Work and Best Production at the Sydney Theatre Awards), Angels in America, The Glass Menagerie, Into the Woods, Tommy Murphy’s Packer & Sons, Rita Kalnejais’s Babyteeth, Alana Valentine’s Wayside Bride (co-directed with Hannah Goodwin), Tom Wright’s adaptation of Brecht’s Life of Galileo, Eamon’s own adaptations of Hendrik Ibsen’s Ghosts and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Ivanov (Sydney Theatre Awards Best Production and Best Director), as well as The Rover, The Blind Giant is Dancing, As You Like It, and Beckett’s The End. His other directing credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bob Presents/B Sharp) and Wulamanayuwi and the Seven Pamanui by Jason de Santis (Darwin Festival).

His writing and adaptation credits include: Associate Writer of S. Shakthidharan’s Counting and Cracking (winner of the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Victorian Literary Prize and the Victorian Premier’s Award for Drama, Helpmann for Best New Work), co-writer with S. Shakthidharan of The Jungle and the Sea (Winner, Best New Work, Sydney Theatre Awards 2022); a stage adaptation of Christina Stead’s The Man Who Loved Children; Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Ivanov, Gorky’s Summerfolk, Sophocles’ Antigone and Ibsen’s Ghosts; co-adapter with Leah Purcell of Ruby Langford Ginibi’s memoir Don’t Take Your Love To Town; and co-deviser of Beautiful One Day with artists from ILBIJERRI, version 1.0, and the community of Palm Island.

For orchestral concert he has adapted and directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream alongside Mendelssohn’s score for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Belvoir St Theatre conducted by Simone Young, and directed and co-created Beethoven and Bridgetower with Anna Goldsworthy, Rita Dove and Richard Tognetti for the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

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

Shanaka Amarasinghe

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

Emma Harvie

Emma is a graduate from the Actors Centre Australia and has studied at The Atlantic Acting School in New York. She is a proud Equity member. Theatre credits include: Counting and Cracking (Belvoir UK Tour), My Brilliant Career (Belvoir), The Wolves (Belvoir), Dance Nation (STCSA/Belvoir), The Astral Plane (Belvoir 25A), 44 Sex Acts in One Week (Clubhouse Productions), Wherever She Wanders (Griffin Theatre Company), The Last Wife (Ensemble Theatre), Wrath (KXT/JackRabbit), A Cheery Soul (Sydney Theatre Company), The Harp in the South Parts 1 and 2 (Sydney Theatre Company), The Hypochondriac (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), The Wolves (Redline Productions), Taking Steps (Ensemble Theatre), The Players (Bell Shakespeare), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sydney Theatre Company), Orfeo ed Euridice in the Art Gallery of NSW (Spectrum Now Festival)

Film credits include: Ladylike (Chekhov’s Gun Productions) 

TV credits include: LiMBO (ABC/Bunya Productions), Colin from Accounts (Easy Tiger/Binge), Frayed Season 2 (Guesswork/Merman), Diary of an Uber Driver (ABC/Revolver), The Letdown Season 2 (ABC/Netflix).

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 translator. She has acted in stage plays, movies, and television dramas. Nadie’s recent work as an actor in Australia includes Counting and Cracking (2024), 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 Bernarda Alba, Blood Wedding, Snow White and the 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 Strange 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 the BUNKA Award of Recognition for Valuable Contribution to Sri Lankan Theatre. Nadie has co-written the screenplay Thaala (Sri Lankan Children’s Movie), and she is currently co-writing a screenplay 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 which won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Production for Young People..

Based in: Kalkatungu Country, 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

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

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

Vaishnavi Suryaprakash

Vaishnavi is an actor, dramaturg and dancer. Born in India and raised in south-west Sydney, she graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting in 2017.

For Belvoir, Vaishnavi’s credits include Nayika: A Dancing Girl, Counting and Cracking (Sydney + UK Tour), Life of Galileo, and Sami in Paradise. Other theatre credits include Grand Horizons, White Pearl, and Julius Caesar for Sydney Theatre Company; What The Ocean Said for Sydney Opera House; Moby Dick for Sport for Jove; Pramkicker for Vox Theatre; and Blue Christmas at KXT for New Ghosts Theatre.

Vaishnavi’s screen credits include Wakefield (ABC), Pieces of Her (NETFLIX), The Secrets She Keeps (Lingo Pictures), and Appetite (SBS). Her short film credits include Pass the Parcel and Blake Prize winner Stories of Kannagi.

For her performance in Counting & Cracking, Vaishnavi received a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role as “Young Radha”.

Vaishnavi also holds an Arts/Law degree from the University of Sydney, and received the Glorias Fellowship in 2022. She was a Literary Associate at Belvoir 2022-23, and a Literary Assistant at Royal Court Theatre, London in 2023. Vaishnavi resides in Sydney, Australia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kalieaswari Srinivasan

Kalieaswari Srinivasan’s stage credits include Une pierre de patience, directed by Clara Bauer, at last year’s Les Francophonies Festival, Limoges; Counting and Cracking with Belvoir at the 2019 Adelaide Festival; The Prisoner, directed by Peter Brook and Marie Helene Estienne, at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris, and on tour in Europe and the USA; The Tempest at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord; On the Other Side — Concert for Piano and Silences, directed by Diego Pileggi at the Grotowski Institute, Wrocław; Land of Ashes and Diamonds for Indianostrum Théâtre at Le Petit Salle of Theatre du Soleil, Paris; Ki Raa Kulambu, directed by Rajiv Krishnan, presented in Tamil Nadu; and Kunti Karna, directed by Koumarane Valavane and performed in India and France. Her films include Dheepan, directed by Jacques Audiard, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2015; Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengalum, directed by Vasanth S. Sai; Biryani, directed by Jay Emmanuel, which she co-wrote; the short films Begum Parvathi, directed by Radhika Prasidhha, and Pablo Neruda, directed by Bagu; and Rettai Jadai, directed by Franziska Schönenberger and Jayakrishnan Subramanian. She appeared in two installations bridging theatre and fashion at BOZAR, Brussels: Figure Studies, directed by Andrew Ondrejcak, and Kabul to Bamako, directed by Clara Bauer.

Harish Vijaya

Biman Wimalaratne

Biman Kasun Wimaratne is an actor, performance coach, and a political activist involved in the Peoples Protest in Sri Lanka – for an inclusive and accountable society. A versatile actor, Biman has starred in shows such as ‘The Pillowman’ (dark comedy) and the ‘12 Angry Men’ (drama). Loves getting on stage for some standup comedy. Graduate – Actors Centre 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

Tim Dashwood

Belvoir: The Life of Galileo. Other Theatre: Sydney Theatre Company:Julius Caesar, Death of a Salesman, No Pay? No Way!, Lord of the Flies. Opera Australia: Whiteley, West Side Story on Sydney Harbour, Krol Roger, Faust. shake & stir theatre co.: Fantastic Mr Fox, Jane Eyre, George’s Marvellous Medicine. New Theatre: The Removalists. Outhouse Theatre Co: Ulster American. Empress Theatre: Cyprus Avenue. Packemin Productions: Les Miserables. Sport for Jove: Rose Riot, Servant of Two Masters, Measure for Measure, Fallen. ATYP: Intersections: Arrival, War Crimes. NSW Public Schools: Macbeth. Red Line Productions: Fierce. As Actor: Kay & McLean Productions: The Graduate. Bell Shakespeare: Richard III. shake & stir theatre co.: Fantastic Mr Fox, Animal Farm, Dracula, Wuthering Heights, George’s Marvellous Medicine. Darlinghurst Theatre Company: A Chorus Line (understudy), Deathtrap. Gordon Frost Organisation: Fame: the Musical. Queensland Theatre Company: Managing Carmen, The Odd Couple, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Rabbithole, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Exception and the Rule. The Escapists: Packed. La Boite Theatre Company: The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay. Other: President of the Society of Australian Fight Directors incorporated. Training: Bachelor of Theatre Arts: university of Southern Queensland, Certified by the Society of Australian Fight Directors incorporated.

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.

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), The 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). 

Amy Hume

Amy Hume is a voice and dialect coach for theatre and screen, and Lecturer in Voice at Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). Recent theatre credits include Fangirls, Counting & Cracking, Sami in Paradise (Belvoir), The Sound Inside, Fun Home, Cyrano (Melbourne Theatre Company), An American in Paris (Australian Ballet and GBS), Six the Musical Australia; Billy Elliot Australia (LWAA), White Pearl (Sydney Theatre Company), Merrily We Roll Along (Hayes). Recent coaching for screen includes Bad Behaviour (Stan), New Gold Mountain (SBS), and The Secrets She Keeps (Ten). Amy previously taught BFA Acting and MFA Voice students at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) from 2015 – 2019. Amy also facilitates voice training for individuals and organisations across different industries, recently working with NSW Parliament, Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, and NSW Department of Education. She is a Designated Linklater Teacher and currently serves on the Board of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), the international organisation for voice and dialect practitioners.

Steve Hendy

Tom Houghton

Chloe Greaves

Zainab Syed

Zainab Syed is the Director of International at Creative Australia, leading the organizations’
international engagement strategy for the arts.

Originally from Pakistan, Zainab has lived, studied and worked across Romania, Yemen,
England, Wales, US and Australia. Her practice sits at the intersection of social justice and live
performance. After graduating from Brown University, USA, she toured across the world as a
performance poet working with incarcerated women, trauma victims and refugees in prisons and
detention centres.

From 2014-2017 Zainab worked as a researcher with the Centre for Muslim States and Societies
in Perth, WA and New York University, USA. Between 2017-2023 Zainab worked at Performing
Lines WA in Perth and Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney as a Senior Producer spearheading
ambitious works of scale with artists across dance and theatre. Her work has focused on
facilitating intercultural collaborations, developing inclusive frameworks for creating new work
and pathways for culturally diverse artists; as well touring Australian works regionally, nationally
and internationally alongside advocacy work enabling systemic change within small to medium
and mainstage institutions in Australia.

Zainab has served on the board of the Blue Room Theatre board and Theatre Network Australia
board. She is also a founder of Pakistan Poetry Slam, co-founder of HME-WRK: a diverse arts
collective, a Humanitarian Observer with the Australian Red Cross Immigration Detention
Program and a 2020 Churchill Fellow.

SUE DONNELLY

One of Australia’s most prominent and experienced arts administrators, Sue Donnelly was the Executive Director of Belvoir from August 2017 to March 2022. Sue is no stranger to Belvoir, having worked here as General Manager from 2004 to 2006.

Since 2012, Sue has led Queensland Theatre ensuring its position as one of the best in the country. Prior to Queensland Theatre, Sue was Executive Director of the national lobbying and advocacy organisation Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG).

With more than 20 years of experience in arts and cultural development, health and social policy, Sue has held a diverse range of senior executive positions including Director of UNSW Foundation; Director of South East Arts (UK); Public Affairs Manager for Sydney Symphony; and Director of Arts Development, Arts NSW.

She has consulted and lectured in arts business development and management, and served on wide-ranging Government advisory boards, funding committees and tribunals, as well as the boards of numerous arts and not-for profit companies.

Sue holds a Master of Social Work with Merit and a Bachelor of Social Studies from the University of Sydney and is an alumnus of the Asialink Leaders’ program.

She has been a peer assessor for the Australia Council, Arts NSW and Arts Queensland, and is currently a member of Live Performance Australia’s Executive Council, and sits on the boards of Chunky Move and PAC Australia (formerly APACA).

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.

Georgiane Deal

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).

Clive Meldrum

Gayda de Mesa

Gayda de Mesa graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) with a

Bachelor of Dramatic Art (Production). She has spent her career in technical production working in theatre and live events.

She is currently the Senior Venue Technician for Belvoir St. Theatre. Her recent productions as Sound Engineer include She Loves Me (Hayes Theatre Co), Cry-Baby (LPD Productions), Gypsy (Luckiest Productions), Melba (Hayes Theatre Co), Cabaret (David M. Hawkins Productions), Big Fish (Hayes Theatre Co/RPG Productions) and Rent (Highway Run Productions).

Her Stage Management credits also include Once (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Monty Python’s Spamalot (One Eyed man Productions/Hayes Theatre Company), Cry-Baby (LPD Productions), The Sound of Waiting (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), An Act of God (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Sunset Strip (Griffin Theatre Company), The Guru of Chai (Indian Ink/Belvoir St Theatre), the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and the Lord Mayor’s Picnic for Sydney New Year’s Eve.

Clare Hibberd