2024 Developing the Dramaturg SA – Participants Announced!

APT is so thrilled to announce the participants of South Australia’s Developing the Dramaturg program. After an incredible inaugural year in NSW, we’re stoked to be partnering with leading theatre companies of South Australia to take this skills development and placement program to Kaurna country.

The five participants will partake in a 3-day intensive skills development workshop (known as ‘Story Lab’) with leading dramaturgs and creatives, then spend 4 weeks on placement in their matched theatre company putting those skills to use under the guidance of a hand-picked mentor.

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Alexis West

Alexis West, a Birra Gubba, Wakka Wakka, South Sea Islander and Caucasian woman. A mother, writer, director, collaborator and performer in life, film, theatre, poetry, dance, weirdness and events. Written, collaborated, performed and directed works with No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability, Karrikarinya Theatre Collective, Kurruru Youth Arts, State Theatre Company South Australia, Yirra Yaakin, Act Now Theatre Company, Jute Theatre, Illbijerri Theatre, Slingsby Theatre Company, Theatre Republic, Hit Productions, Tjaratjura Dance Theatre and A Daylight Connection.

Alexis has presented and shared stories for NITVs ‘Around the Traps’ on SBS-NITV. Written and directed short documentaries.

She has been published in ‘Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia’, ‘Mindshare’, ‘Ora Nui’, ‘Our Mob’ and ‘Spirit Festival Catalogues’ and translated into Polish for ‘Poetiks’, ‘The Rock Remains’ First Nations SA Anthology. Alexis works with Act Now Theatre creating, performing and working as a facilitator, curator and mentor for the First Nations Pathway Program. She has worked as a dramaturg, collaborator, performer and mentor. Passionate about storytelling on any platform, creating with kindred spirits, considering ways to inspire and create pathways and opportunities for others. Alexis’ most recent tour was with Hit Productions ‘The Sunshine Club’ by Wesley Enoch.

Alexis will work with Brink Productions.

Anthony Nocera

Anthony Nocera is a writer based in Adelaide. He writes essays, criticism and plays. 

In 2017, he was commissioned to co-write Boys of Sondheim for Woodward Productions. The play premiered at Melt Festival before touring to Sydney Mardi Gras in 2019. In 2023, Anthony’s work My Hair is Thinning was developed as part of Vitalstistix’s Adhocracy program and Theatre Republic presented his short play Black Widow Pussy as part of the FUTURE:PRESENT new writing incubator.

Anthony’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, The Age, Metro, Vice, Voiceworks and CityMag among many others. His essays have been anthologised in collections published by Black Ink and Wakefield Press. He has appeared at the National Young Writers Festival and Noted Festival. 

His work has been rejected from many publications and places of note.

Anthony will work with Windmill Theatre Co.

Bonet Leate

Bonet Leate (she/her) is a Singaporean-Australian performer and producer currently working on Kaurna Yerta. She has diverse experience across stage, screen, and creative industries and holds a Bachelor of Media from The University of Adelaide. Bonet has appeared on stage as Mother in RUMPUS Theatre’s production of ‘Coldhands’ and in upcoming short film ‘The Mourning After’ by clarice would like a word productions. She aspires to tell stories that are both magnetic and poignant; exploring perspectives that are inclusive, intersectional and reflective of Australian experiences. Bonet looks forward to expanding her creative and professional practice through APT’s Developing the Dramaturg Program and is thrilled to be paired with the team at ActNow Theatre. Bonet is a proud member of MEAA. 

Bonet will work with ActNow.

Kate Cheel

Kate is an Italian-Australian actor, performance-maker and multimodal arts facilitator.

A graduate of Adelaide College of the Arts (Acting), her theatre credits as an actor include Tree of Light, The Giant’s Garden, Emil and The Detectives (Slingsby Theatre), Kill Climate Deniers (Kinetik Collective), Baby Doll (Ensemble Theatre), Dead Cat Bounce (Griffin Theatre), The Overcoat (Belvoir 25A), That Eye, The Sky, The Glass Menagerie, Three Sisters, Jessikah (State Theatre Company SA), Big Bad Wolf, Fugitive (Windmill Theatre), Home Invasion (An Assorted Few). Kate is a collaborator with The Bait Fridge, a multi-disciplinary artist collective working in experimental and socially engaged performance – with projects spanning live music events, gallery installations and community collaborations. Recent projects with The Bait Fridge include co-directing Alien(N)ation: an immersive performance devised as an examination of accessibility in collaborative practice with a collective of Deaf, Disabled and multicultural artists, and as movement director/dramaturg on exhibition performances of Rockamora: a large-scale, interactive puppet installed at ACE gallery. Kate currently works as a creative facilitator at Tutti Arts, delivering performing arts programs and devising works with learning disabled and neuro-divergent artists. She has been engaged as a freelance dramaturg, movement director, teaching artist, workshop leader and performance mentor.

Alexis will work with Brink Productions.

Ting Zhang

Ting Zhang is an academic and practitioner in the field of theatre and performance studies. She obtained her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Sydney, where her research focused on the role of dramaturgy in contemporary theatre.

Ting’s extensive background bridges the practical and academic realms of both Chinese and Western theatres. As a playwright and script translator, she has contributed to several Chinese and Australian theatre productions. During her tenure as a journalist and editor at China Art News, a leading arts newspaper in China, she curated topics and conducted interviews with a diverse array of theatre artists. Ting’s interests span a wide range of theatrical forms, with a distinct emphasis on documentary theatre. She is dedicated to capturing and reflecting the social realities and individual experiences that often go unnoticed, thereby enriching the depth and subtlety of the theatrical narrative.

Ting will work with State Theatre Company South Australia.

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SUBMISSION DEMOGRAPHICS

In 2024, APT received 14 applications to the Developing the Dramaturg – SA (aka DtDSA) program. As with all programs, applicants are given the option to self-report on certain demographics. These are not factored into assessment of applications, but help APT assess the reach of our programs.

For 2024 submissions, these demographics were as follows:

DtDSA 2024	Number	% of Total
Total Submissions	14	100%
Location
SA	14	100%
Not identified/Prefer not to answer	0	0%
Gender
Female-identifying	10	71%
Non-binary	1	7%
Male-identifying	4	29%
Trans	0	0%
Other gender identity	1	7%
Not identified/Prefer not to answer	0	0%
CALD, PoC, or non-Western
Yes	13	93%
No	1	7%
Not identified/Prefer not to answer	0	0%
Australian First Nations
Yes	2	14%
No	12	86%
Not identified/Prefer not to answer	0	0%
Living with Disability and/or d/Deaf
Yes	4	29%
No	10	71%
Not identified/Prefer not to answer	0	0%
LGBTQIA+
Yes	5	36%
No	9	64%
Not identified/Prefer not to answer	0	0%

2024 ASSESSING PANEL

In 2024, the Developing the Dramaturg – SA panel consisted of representatives from each of the partner companies: Clare Watson, Ross McHenry, Karina Bryce, Julian Hobba, Stephen Nicolazzo, Karen Wilson, and Yasmin Gurreeboo.

We kindly ask that applicants do not contact the assessing panel to request feedback on their submissions.