LOSE TO WIN

Mandela Mathia

Mandela was born in South Sudan and spent the majority of his childhood years in the north of the country and in Egypt, due to the civil war in Sudan. He arrived in Australia in 2008.

Since graduating from NIDA he has appeared in Sami in Paradise, The Cherry Orchard (Belvoir); The Rolling Stone (Outhouse Theatre Company); Prize Fighter (National Tour with La Boite); Othello, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Nights (Sport for Jove); Macbeth (Sport for Jove) and played Hamlet in Sydney Foreign Actors Association in the production of HEMLET.

Mandela has shown interest in not only performing on stage, but also playwriting. He co-wrote a short film with emerging successful filmmakers out in the industry, which he has starred in some of these films such as I Am Emmanuel and Kill off. Mandela has starred in All These Creatures short film that won a prestigious awards the “Palme door “ at Cannes Film Festival and the 2018 AACTA Award. With the film All These Creatures’ success, Mandela have been nominated for best leading role of Mel in the Reel-good Film Festival early in 2019. In 2022, Mandela made his debut on Australian TV on the show The Twelve starring along side some of Australian most acclaim actor Sam Neil.

Mandela was nominated for best supporting role in 2018 for the play The Rolling Stone. By the following year, he was nominated for best leading role of Mel in the Reel-good Film Festival early in 2019 for All These Creatures short film

Jessica Arthur

Jess Arthur is one of the most prolific main-stage theatre directors. Her productions include The Wolves for Old Fitz and subsequent 2019 Belvoir season. Jess was Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company 2018 – 2022, directing productions Chalkface, The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, Wonnangatta, Banging Denmark, Mosquitos and Home I’m Darling.

Jessica also worked as Assistant Director on The Harp In The South Part I and Part II, Dinner, Chimerica and Endgame for Sydney Theatre Company, as well as Miss Julie for the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Her most recent production was the world premiere of The Dictionary of Lost Words for State Theatre Company South Australia and Sydney Theatre Company, which had a sell-out season in 2023 and a return season in Melbourne 2024.

Mandela Mathia

Mandela was born in South Sudan and spent the majority of his childhood years in the north of the country and in Egypt, due to the civil war in Sudan. He arrived in Australia in 2008.

Since graduating from NIDA he has appeared in Sami in Paradise, The Cherry Orchard (Belvoir); The Rolling Stone (Outhouse Theatre Company); Prize Fighter (National Tour with La Boite); Othello, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Nights (Sport for Jove); Macbeth (Sport for Jove) and played Hamlet in Sydney Foreign Actors Association in the production of HEMLET.

Mandela has shown interest in not only performing on stage, but also playwriting. He co-wrote a short film with emerging successful filmmakers out in the industry, which he has starred in some of these films such as I Am Emmanuel and Kill off. Mandela has starred in All These Creatures short film that won a prestigious awards the “Palme door “ at Cannes Film Festival and the 2018 AACTA Award. With the film All These Creatures’ success, Mandela have been nominated for best leading role of Mel in the Reel-good Film Festival early in 2019. In 2022, Mandela made his debut on Australian TV on the show The Twelve starring along side some of Australian most acclaim actor Sam Neil.

Mandela was nominated for best supporting role in 2018 for the play The Rolling Stone. By the following year, he was nominated for best leading role of Mel in the Reel-good Film Festival early in 2019 for All These Creatures short film

Yacou Mbaye

Born in Dakar, Senegal, and based in Sydney, Australia since 2007 – Yacou Mbaye is one of Australia’s leading West African drummers and dancers. Yacou plays and specialises in Sabar, the Talking Drum, Dundun and Djembe.

Yacou comes from a long line of performers, both musicians and dancers, and has been performing since the age of 6. Music and dance is at the centre of Senegalese culture. Being born into a griot family has fuelled Yacou’s passion to pass on the traditions of storytelling through drumming and dance to the next generation. Yacou is passionate about preserving and sharing his culture with Australians, bringing the rhythms and movement of West Africa to the people of Australia.

Yacou has played and danced for greats such as Rokia Traore, Alpha Blondy, Angelique Kidjo, Toumani Diabate and Salif Keita.

In 2017, Yacou founded his own business, African Vibes & in 2018 he created his own band AfroMbollo and most recently is developing his musical career in musical composition and arrangement. Yacou’s in depth knowledge of Senegalese and pan-African rhythms offers a unique and inspiring approach to contemporary music in Australia. 

Keerthi Subramanyam

Keerthi is a Sydney based set and costume designer for live performance and film. Keerthi is a National Institute of Dramatic Art, BFA (Design for Performance, 2019) graduate, and a member of the Australian Production Design Guild.

Keerthi has designed set and costumes for Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner, Chewing Gum Dreams at the Old Fitz, Chop Chef at Riverside Theatres, and designed the costumes and was a set realiser on Belvoir’s At What Cost.

Keerthi has been an associate designer on a wide range of theatre shows including Sydney Theatre Company’s Grand Horizons, Belvoir’s Jungle and the Sea, Wayside Bride, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Boomkak Panto, Cursed!, and Hayes Theatre Co’s Young Frankenstein. 

Keerthi has also worked as a props supervisor on Belvoir’s Into the Woods and Blessed Union. 

Keerthi’s film credits include working as a design assistant on Operation Buffalo, as production & costume designer on various short films and music videos and most recently as an art director on SBS’s mini series Appetite.  Keerthi is one of Belvoir’s Artistic Associates. She is currently working across theatre and art installation. 

Brendon Boney

Brendon’s work includes At What Cost?, Belvior Theatre, The 7 Stages of Grieving, The Sydney Theatre Company- (Design Associate), Black Ties, Illbijerri Theatre- Musical Director & Composer, Winyanboga Yurringa, Black Cockatoo, Dubboo, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Gods of Wheat Street (ABC1), Redfern Now (SBS), Offspring (Network 10), Winners & Losers (Seven Network), Underbelly Chopper (The Nine Network) & Musical Contributor plus providing lead character Willie’s singing voice in Bran New Dae (2009).

Brendon Boney is a Wiradjuri/ Gamilaroi man who grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales and is now based in Ettalong Beach on the Central Coast of New South Wales. He’s been a recording and performing artist touring the world for the past decade and is an APRA PDA winner. He’s performed Bluesfest Byron Bay, Woodford Folk Festival, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Brisbane Festival, Friendship Festival (Seoul, Sth Korea) & The Aussie BBQ (UK). Brendon’s written for and collaborated with artists such as PJ Harding, Jaguar Jonze, Becca Hatch, MXWLL, Tessa Thames, Xavier Dunn & Tasman Keith and his work has over 80 000 Spotify streams.

Kate Baldwin

Kate Baldwin is a disabled, Japanese-Australian lighting designer, who lives and works on the lands of the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation.

Since graduating from NIDA in 2019, some of her credits as Lighting Designer include: Forgetting Tim Minchin (25A); Girl Band (National Theatre of Parramatta and New Ghosts Theatre Company); Lose to Win (Red Line Productions); The Great Australian Play (Red Line Productions and Montague Basement); Nothing (National Theatre of Parramatta), Tom at the Farm (KXT); Albion (New Ghosts Theatre Company, Secret House & Seymour Centre); Top Coat (Sydney Theatre Company); The Box Show (Critical Stages Touring & Junkyard Beats); Guards at the Taj (National Theatre of Parramatta); Chewing Gum Dreams (Green Door Theatre Company and Red Line Productions); seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Darlinghurst Theatre Company and Green Door Theatre Company); and House at Boundary Road, Liverpool (Bontom).

She completed a residency at Sydney Theatre Company as Design Associate (Lighting) in 2021 and 2022. She was also a part of Ka-llective, which had residencies with PACT and CPAC in 2021 and 2022.

Ayah Tayeh

Born on Wurundjeri land and currently working on Gadigal land, Ayah is a stage manager with a passion for new work and diverse storytelling. Her Belvoir credits include: The Boomkak Panto (2021), A Room of One’s Own (2021) and My Brilliant Career (2020). Other credits include: 7 Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Breaking Glass (Sydney Chamber Opera), and Double Delicious (Contemporary Asian Australian Performance with Sydney Festival).

Laura Farrell

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

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

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

Jen Jackson

Jen Jackson (she/her) is a Korean-Australian stage manager, living and working on Gadigal land, with a particular passion for new Australian work and a commitment to diversity in theatre.

After attending UNSW in a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Theatre & Performance, she continued her studies at NIDA with a degree in Technical Theatre & Stage Management. Recent productions she has stage managed include Lost in Shanghai (Contemporary Asian-Australian Performance), The Bridal Lament (Contemporary Asian Australian Performance & Performance Space), Pony (Griffin Theatre Company), End Of. (Griffin Theatre Company), Nothing (National Theatre of Parramatta), and Golden Blood (Griffin Theatre Company).

Jen hopes to help bring to life stories of all kinds that challenge, entertain, reflect, make us feel, think, and examine ourselves – the kind of stuff that made her fall in love with theatre in the first place.