JACKY

Declan Furber Gillick

Declan Furber Gillick is an Arrernte writer and multidisciplinary artist from Mparntwe (Alice Springs). His practice spans theatre, television, poetry, music, rap and visual arts. Declan also works as a community organiser, mentor and educator. Jacky is Declan’s Belvoir St Theatre debut. Other credits include Scar Trees (Ilbijerri Theatre Company) and Bighouse Dreaming (Melbourne Fringe Festival). He is currently working on an adaptation of Melissa Lucashenko’s novel Too Much Lip for television. The Melbourne Theatre Company production of Jacky was awarded the 2024 Green Room Award for Outstanding New Australian Writing, while Bighouse Dreaming was awarded the 2019 Green Room Award for Best Independent Writing and Best Ensemble, Melbourne Fringe Awards for Best Performance Work, Best Writing, Melbourne Festival Discovery Award and Best Emerging Indigenous Artist. In 2018 Declan took up a residency as part of Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program. He has also worked with Melbourne Theatre Company’s First Peoples Young Artist Program. He completed a Masters of Writing for Performance at The Victorian College of The Arts (VCA) in 2017.

Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson works as a director, dramaturg, devisor, performer and writer. He is currently Associate Artist at Melbourne Theatre Company where he will direct Much Ado About Nothing later in the year. His collaboration with Declan Furber Gillick began with Bighouse Dreaming (Melbourne Fringe Festival, Brisbane Festival, Darwin Festival). Other directing credits include Rory Godbold’s Code of Conduct (Midsumma Festival), Emma Hall’s World Problems (Theatre Oostblok, Amsterdam) and Michael Gow’s Sweet Phoebe (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre). As a maker/performer he has collaborated with Brian Lipson on The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus (Melbourne Fringe, Arts Centre Melbourne), Alice Will Caroline on Doors Shut (Melbourne Fringe/Temperance Hall), Triage Live Art Collective, and as dramaturg on Emily Godard’s This is Eden directed by Susie Dee. He also created and performed three radical Shakespeare adaptations, Unsex Me, Richard II and Anti-Hamlet, which were seen across the country. He trained at Monash University, Victorian College of the Arts and Ecole Philippe Gaulier, and is an International Fellow of Shakespeare’s Globe in London. He teaches and directs regularly at VCA. His shows have won awards at Melbourne Fringe and in the Mainstage Theatre, Independent Theatre and Dance categories at Melbourne’s Green Room Awards.

Danny Howard

Born in Broome, Western Australia, Danny grew up mostly on his father’s country, Baniol country, in the far north of the Kimberly. Danny has First Nation ties all up and down the west of our island, including the Barrd, Noongar, Yamatji, Bunuba and Ngadju nations. He started his career at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2019, completing his Certificate IV in Aboriginal Theatre. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in 2024, where he appeared in productions such as The Good Hope, First Love Is The Revolution and Stupid Fucking Bird. The Belvoir season of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Jacky is his mainstage debut.

Mandy McElhinney

For Belvoir Mandy McElhinney has appeared in Tiny Beautiful Things, Cinderella, Forget Me Not. Other theatre credits include for Melbourne Theatre Company, Di and Viv and Rose, Life after George, Pride and Prejudice, The Hypocrite and Don’s Party (with Sydney Theatre Company); The Glass Menagerie, Dirty Birds which she co-wrote and co-starred in with her sister Hayley McElhinney (Black Swan); Tiny Beautiful Things (Queensland Theatre); Dreams in White (Griffin Theatre Company); Appropriate Mosquitos, In the Next Room (Or the Vibrator Play), The Beauty of Queen Leanne, Kafka’s Metamorphosis, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Great and No Pay? No Way! (Sydney Theatre Company). Mandy’s numerous television credits include Wakefield, Home and Away, The Exhibitionists, Love Child, Bad Mothers, Squinters, House of Hancock, Hyde & Seek, Paper Giants, Comedy Inc, Bed Of Roses, and MDA. Mandy’s feature film credits include Nugget is Dead: A Christmas Story, Ned Kelly and The Bank. Mandy received the AACTA Award for her role in Howzat: Kerry Packer’s War.

Guy Simon

Guy Simon is a proud Birripi, Worimi, Waddi Waddi and Walbunga man and is the 2024 Balnaves Fellowship recipient. His theatre credits include: My Brilliant Career (Belvoir), Jasper Jones (Belvoir- Return Season & NSW Tour,) The Visitors (STC), Jacky (MTC), The Tempest (STC), White Yella Tree (Griffin Theatre Company), The Return (Malthouse Theatre), Grand Horizons (STC),Playing Beatie Bow (STC), First Love is the Revolution (Griffin Theatre Company), Cloudstreet (Malthouse Theatre), The Harp in the South (STC), Strangers in Between (Cameron Lukey Presents), Bright World, (Theatre Works), Jasper Jones (MTC), Blaque Showgirls (Malthouse Theatre, The Battle of Waterloo (STC), The Myth Project: Twin (Arthur, A Theatre Company), Black Diggers (QLD Theatre Company), This Fella, My Memory (Mooghalin Performing Arts, Yellamundie (Mooghalin Performing Arts), Junction (Bakehouse Theatre),Stolen (STC),  Lucky (IPAN Productions).

Film: Undertow, Around the Block. TV: The Secret She Keeps S2, Wakefield, The Wrong Girl, Redfern Now 2. Other: Online Series: A Chance Affair. Training: NIDA. Pronouns: He/Him

Awards: 2017 Helpmann for best Male Actor in a Supporting role in a Play

Greg Stone

Greg Stone has performed in over 90 productions for all the major theatre companies since graduating from NIDA. His credits include August: Osage County, Hir, Hamlet, Babyteeth, Stuff Happens (Belvoir); A Doll’s House Part 2, The Weir, Glengarry Glen Ross, Clybourne Park, Poor Boy, Blackbird, A Little Night Music and Angels In America (Melbourne Theatre Company); Girl From the North Country (Australia/NZ tour); Cloudstreet, Australian Realness, Pompeii LA, Eldorado (Malthouse); Oklahoma!, Funny Girl (The Production Company); Ladies in Black (Queensland Theatre/Melbourne Theatre Company); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Life x 3 (Black Swan Theatre Company); and Once (GFO Attractions). His numerous TV credits include White Fever, Fisk, Ten Pound Poms, Utopia, Jack Irish, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, Glitch, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Underbelly, Winners and Losers, Neighbours, Secret City, The Ex-PM and Offspring. Selected film credits include Disclosure, The Sunset Six, Is This the Real World, Swerve, Oranges and Sunshine, Van Diemen’s Land and The Bank. Greg has won both The Helpmann and Green Room Award for Best Male Actor in Stuff Happens.

Christina Smith

Christina Smith is a set and costume designer for theatre, opera and musical theatre, with over 25 years’ experience in the industry. Her credits for Belvoir include Black Medea. For Melbourne Theatre Company, her set and costume design work has been seen for the last 20 years on productions including Seventeen, Jacky, The Heartbreak Choir, Berlin, A View from the Bridge, The Architect, Gloria, The Odd Couple, Elling, National Interest, The Seed, Clybourne Park, Rising Water, A Behanding in Spokane, Boston Marriage, The Swimming Club, Blackbird, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Clean House, Dumb Show, Things We Do For Love, The Daylight Atheist, Honour, and Cloud Nine; as Costume Designer on Realism, Humble Boy, Proof, Sweet Bird of Youth, and Three Days of Rain; and as Set Designer on Hayfever and Boy Gets Girl. Other companies she has designed for include Seattle Opera, NZ Opera, Victorian Opera, Sydney Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, Black Swan State Theatre Company and Malthouse Theatre. She is a lecturer in Design for Live Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Emily Barrie

Emily Barrie is a designer for multiple disciplines in the performing arts. Her designs span theatre, physical theatre, parades, film and TV, with her work touring both nationally and internationally. Design credits include set and costume design for Melbourne Theatre Company, Belvoir Street Theatre, ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, Rawcus Theatre, Chamber Made Opera, Arena Theatre Company, Back to Back, Melbourne Worker’s Theatre, Circus Oz, Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, National Institute of Circus Arts, and Melbourne’s Moomba Parade. Emily’s work has been recognised with numerous industry nominations and awards. Most recently, she designed Big Name No Blankets (ILBIJERRI Theatre) and costumes for Thank God You’re Here (Working Dog Productions).

Matt Scott

Matt Scott is an award-winning lighting designer with 30 years’ experience designing for all genres of live performance. Previous designs for Belvoir include Dance of Death, The Rover, Jasper Jones, Paul, The Sapphires and Stolen. He has lit more than sixty Melbourne Theatre Company productions, including My Brilliant Career, Jacky, The Heartbreak Choir, Fun Home, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Shakespeare in Love, Storm Boy, The Lady in the Van, The Architect, An Ideal Husband, Minnie & Liraz, Born Yesterday, The Odd Couple, Jasper Jones, Skylight, The Last Man Standing, The Weir, Jumpy, The Mountaintop, Elling, His Girl Friday, Red, The Seed, Tribes, Clybourne Park, Next to Normal, Blackbird and August: Osage County. Other recent credits include Dear Evan Hansen (Sydney Theatre Company/Michael Cassel Group); Medea, Drizzle Boy (Queensland Theatre); Candide, The Who’s Tommy (Victorian Opera). Matt has received and been nominated for numerous awards, including a Sydney Theatre Award, a Green Room Award and two Helpmann Awards. He is also currently a Lecturer in Production (Lighting Design) at the University of Melbourne (VCA).

James Henry

This will be James Henry’s debut with Belvoir. He has worked as a composer and sound designer on various productions, including Blak in the Room (with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company), 37, Admissions, Jacky (Melbourne Theatre Company); An Octaroon (Queensland Theatre). He received a Green Room Award in 2023 for Sound Design of Heart is a Wasteland (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company), in collaboration with Gary Watling and Lidia Fairhall. His versatile skill set extends to composing for renowned ensembles, such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and others. As a cultural advocate, he plays a vital role in revitalising indigenous languages through music. His recent fellowship deepened his understanding of traditional Aboriginal music, enabling seamless integration into contemporary contexts. James earned recognition, receiving a nomination for Best Documentary Score at the 2022 AACTA Awards. James Henry’s contributions extend beyond the stage, making him a significant figure in the cultural tapestry, bridging traditions and contemporary expressions.

Amy Cater

Amy Cater is part of the first cohort of qualified Intimacy Coordinator practitioners, training and working since 2018 when the profession first arrived in Australia. Previous stage works include A Streetcar Named Desire, Cost of Living, Is God Is, Seventeen, Jacky, Cyrano, Sunday, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Fun Home, As You Like It (Melbourne Theatre Company); Oscar (The Australian Ballet); and &Juliet (Michael Cassel Group). Selected screen credits include Love Me, The Newsreader, The Rooster, Bad Behaviour, The Clearing, Safe Home, Swift St, Sleeping Dogs, Erotic Stories, Better Man, Inside and Exposure. Amy has 20 years’ experience working with sexuality, embodiment, consent and intimacy; specifically within the adult industry, client therapy and education spaces. Amy was a director/senior photographer of ethical erotica for 4 years. She is a qualified psychosomatic therapist, sexological bodyworker and somatic sex educator. Amy has a trained background in theatre, dance and the performing arts. Amy mentors and consults on sexuality and gender best practice. Her work in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education is a key component of her cultural influence in the Intimacy Coordinator industry.

Matt Furlani

Matt Furlani is a Voice/Dialect coach and Actor, holding a Post Grad Diploma in Voice Studies and Bachelor of Dramatic Art (VCA).

Matt has worked as dialect coach on productions including Come Rain or Come Shine (Melbourne Theatre Company); Admissions (MTC); The Truth (MTC); Home, I’m Darling (MTC); Golden Shield (MTC); Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Red Stitch); Iphigenia in Splott (Red Stitch); The Cane (Red Stitch); Pomona (Red Stitch); Ulster American (Red Stitch); Burn This (16^th St);  Polygraph (OpticNerve)  

In 2016 he was a recipient of The Mike Walsh Fellowship, enabling him to travel to Scotland and work with renowned voice teacher – and author of Freeing the Natural Voice – Kristin Linklater.

He has taught Voice & Dialect at 16^th St and TAFTA since 2017.

Joel Bray

A performance maker living in Naarm (Melbourne), Joel Bray is a proud Wiradjuri man and Creative Director of Joel Bray Dance. His practice springs from his Wiradjuri cultural heritage – radically challenging colonial silos of artistic genre and the politics of racism and colonisation in 21st-century Australia. His work sits at the intersection of Indigenous heritage, skin-colour and queer sexuality. Joel trained at NAISDA and WAAPA before pursuing a career as a dancer in Europe and Israel. Since returning to Australia in 2015, Joel has created multiple award-winning works, which have toured nationally and internationally including Biladurang (Melbourne Fringe); Dharawungara and Garabari (Chunky Move); Daddy (YIRRAMBOI, Arts House and Liveworks); Considerable Sexual License (YIRRAMBOI); Giraru Galing Ganhagirri (National Gallery of Australia). He has won several awards including a Green Room Award for Best Production and three Melbourne Fringe Awards. Joel was the 2021–22 Choreographer-in-residence at Chunky Move.

Jennifer Medway

Jennifer Medway is the Head of New Work at Melbourne Theatre Company and has been since 2022.

A dramaturg with over a decade of professional experience in the development of new Australian work, she was Melbourne Theatre Company’s Literary Associate from 2017-2021 and Acting Literary Manager of Melbourne Theatre Company 2021-2022. Prior to this she was Resident Dramaturg at the Australian Theatre for Young People, Studio Artist at Griffin Theatre Company, Associate Artist-Dramatugy at Belvoir, Literary Assistant also at Belvoir, and a regular script assessor and dramaturg for Playwriting Australia.

Jennifer was on the judging panel for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award’s Book of the Year and the Nick Enright Playwriting Prize from 2018-2020 and is a regular mentor, speaker, panellist and guest lecturer for a variety of organisations across Australia.

Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson works as a director, dramaturg, devisor, performer and writer. He is currently Associate Artist at Melbourne Theatre Company where he will direct Much Ado About Nothing later in the year. His collaboration with Declan Furber Gillick began with Bighouse Dreaming (Melbourne Fringe Festival, Brisbane Festival, Darwin Festival). Other directing credits include Rory Godbold’s Code of Conduct (Midsumma Festival), Emma Hall’s World Problems (Theatre Oostblok, Amsterdam) and Michael Gow’s Sweet Phoebe (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre). As a maker/performer he has collaborated with Brian Lipson on The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus (Melbourne Fringe, Arts Centre Melbourne), Alice Will Caroline on Doors Shut (Melbourne Fringe/Temperance Hall), Triage Live Art Collective, and as dramaturg on Emily Godard’s This is Eden directed by Susie Dee. He also created and performed three radical Shakespeare adaptations, Unsex Me, Richard II and Anti-Hamlet, which were seen across the country. He trained at Monash University, Victorian College of the Arts and Ecole Philippe Gaulier, and is an International Fellow of Shakespeare’s Globe in London. He teaches and directs regularly at VCA. His shows have won awards at Melbourne Fringe and in the Mainstage Theatre, Independent Theatre and Dance categories at Melbourne’s Green Room Awards.

Jess Keepence

Jess is a freelance Stage Manager based in Naarm/Melbourne and a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts.

She is excited to be working at Belvoir for the first time and bringing Jacky to a new audience on Gadigal land. 

Over the years, she has worked on many productions/projects including: Jacky, Topdog/Underdog, My Sister Jill, Slap Bang Kiss, Emerald City, Heisenberg, Arbus & West, Hay Fever, Macbeth, The Odd Couple, Jasper Jones, Miss Julie and Buyer and Cellar (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Hate Race, Homo Pentecostus, Stay Woke, Blackie Blackie Brown, My Dearworthy Darling and Good Muslim Boy (Malthouse Theatre); Blak in the Room – Gunawarra Re-creation (Ilbijerri Theatre Company & Melbourne Theatre Company); Sunshine Super Girl (Performing Lines); Heart is a Wasteland and Jack Charles Vs The Crown (Ilbijerri Theatre Company); Here We Are Amongst You, Glass, Song for a Weary Throat and Catalogue (Rawcus); Janet’s Vagrant Love (Sydney Festival); At the Illusionist’s Table (Scott Silven/Melbourne International Arts Festival).

She has also worked on events such as Melbourne International Arts Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and Castlemaine State Festival.

Maddison Craven

Maddie (she/her) is an Sydney based stage manager and a graduate of NIDA’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Technical Theatre and Stage Management. Maddie is passionate about creating an inclusive environment in the arts and giving space to smaller voices. 

Maddie is excited to be returning to Belvoir after her secondment on Belvoir’s 2023 season of “At What Cost?” And her role as the ASM on Belvoir’s 2024 season of “Never Closer”. Maddie’s other previous works include JRP’s Production of ‘In The Heights’ performed in the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House and Griffin Theatre Company’s 2024 Sydney season of “Golden Blood”, a co-production with Sydney Theatre Company.