Catapult 18+

CATAPULT ARTISTS 2011 !

MAYSA ABOUZEID

I like theatre that can really make people think about something they wouldn’t normally think about. In my recent history have been involved ARAB( Anti Racism Action Band) for 7 years. ARAB is a youth performing arts project in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. They mostly do hip hop but also other performance like comedy or monologues. They do a big show each year. If ARAB hadn’t found me when I was 16 I wouldn’t be a performer now. It will be great working with St Martin’s, I’ve never worked w them before. It will also be great working w other young emerging artists

THOMAS BANKS

Thomas Banks lives with cerebral palsy, but his pure determination and energetic personality is the things which makes him so successful in what he does. He vigorously throws himself fully into any theatre project with a high level of commitment, but it just shows how passionate he is about making theatre which gets people talking.

In 2010, Thomas was a participant as part of a project with Platform Youth Theatre where he wrote and performed in a short 12 minute monolog called “The Power Of Love”. It was a spoken word and multimedia exploration about falling in love with another guy, so it tackled both disability and sexuality which are issues that are not generally discussed. As the performance has received positive recognition from the audiences who have seen it, he’s currently working on expanding the work to a full 45 minute performance with the vision of touring nationally and internationally in 2012 – 2014.

Thomas grew up on a country farm on the outskirts of Geelong, but he has always had a fascination for theatre. He loves to be involved with every theatre project that he comes across and his passion for making “real theatre” which makes people stop and talk about is visible from the moment he throws himself onto the stage.

REBEKAH BERGER

Some kids are brought up in household of artist suppressing parents who ban even the simplest forms of creative expression, I was not. I rebelled by doing VCE Math Methods starting a Bachelor of Science, both of which didn’t quite work out. So I find myself here, an artist in training. Having worked with Monash Uni Student Theatre (MUST) for the past three years I have started to emerge as a well rounded theatre maker who predominately works behind the scenes. This year my path has changed once again as I’m studying Auslan (sign language) full time in order to one day be an interpreter and create Deaf theatre. From here, from here right now though, I wish to experiment, creating pieces from odd places and odd practices

TEAME ERSIE

I specialise in physical theatre. I have done many circus performances with different kind of tricks, including contortion, acro-balance (adagio and pyramid), juggling ( foot juggling- Icarian games, fire twirling) , handstands and other acrobatics.

Contortion is my favorite act. My nickname is ‘Spiderman Contortionist’. I enjoy doing this kind of amazing act! One of my skills is squeezing my body through a tennis racquet. As a professional artist, I have travelled around the world ansd performed as part of circus tours and festival s. I worked as the director and trainer and had my own circus which ran community education programs using theatre. We trained young people who had a lot of difficulties, such as orphans.

I love circus and physical theatre, particularly acts which are able to convey important messages and educate others.

TIMOTHY JONES

Timothy Jones is an aspiring writer, dedicated producer and occasional performer. Devoted to comedy and biting satire, Timothy is inspired by the hyperbolically sensual prose of Mills and Boone, the tarnished harlequins of popular culture, and meticulously co-ordinated outfits. Jaded by the lack-lustre realist theatre championed by certain companies in Australia, Timothy endeavours to utilise elements of realism in his work – before injecting it with a well-deserved dose of absurdity. Recently, Timothy has worked on Rose and Bean Productions’ “Shiva”, an original comedy “Westgate College” with Ally Bruce, and “Dash and D’Bree Take It” in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. (In his spare time, Timothy also publishes ‘romance stories’on his blog thrillsandswoon.tumblr.com.)

JOSHUA LYNZAAT

Joshua is a Bendigo boy who moved to Melbourne in 2007. While studying a Bachelor of Music (Voice) at the University of Melbourne, he has become deeply involved with the student theatre community working primarily as a performer, designer and deviser. In 2010 Joshua co-founded with Hannah Roe the company Scratch and Sniff (scratchandsniff.wordpress.com) devising and performing their first show ‘The Goods’ in October. Joshua just wants to make theatre that is fun, messy and surprising. His interests include clowning, optical illusion, puppetry, throwing food around, and combining performance art with narrative.

BRIENNA MACNISH

I am an independent theatre maker and occasional arts administrator. For me, the importance of theatre lies in the way it allows an audience to have a truly communal experience and to exercise empathy as one of many, I believe that, today, this is a rare and important experience. I am not interested in making theatre for other theatre-makers. Rather, I would like my theatre to seek new audiences, ensnare them, seduce them and above all respect them. Finally, I would like to tell stories that are meaningful in the moment they are made, in the place they are made and to the people they are made by, for and with.

PATRICK MCCARTHY

Patrick McCarthy is a Melbourne based director, playwright, actor, and producer. He is the founder and Artistic Director of independent company Mutation Theatre. His writing credits include Fluorescent Façade: Howard Arkley and Suburbia (2008), The Corpse of Hamlet (2009) and Habitat (2010). He made his directorial debut in 2010 with his play Habitat, which was performed at The Function Room in Fitzroy, a venue he co-founded. He also co-directed Mutation Theatre’s production of The Arrival, based on the book by Shaun Tan, which was presented as part of the 2010 Melbourne Fringe Festival, winning both the People’s Choice Award and the Theatre Works Award.

GEORGIA MILL

I am very interested in both the visual and performing arts. At present I have a strong interest in sculpture and in particular, working with metals. I really love the idea of two art forms blending together and enjoy the aspects of set design and the contribution that the visual arts can make to a performance (however small it may be). In previous theatre projects that I have been involved in, I have enjoyed the absurd mix of comedy and tragedy and the effects created. I appreciate many forms of theatre and the different challenges it can pose for audiences.

SALIAH SIRYON

Hi i am Saliah siryon.I love theatre due to the fact that im able to use the space provided to portral my character. Theatre also gives me the chance to tell my story and represent other people who stories aren’t been told. As an actor I have been involved in series of projects with Western Edge Youth Art, namely: chronicle, playback west, space invader and as well as few extra for upcoming movie.

ANNA VAN VELDHUISEN

Anna van Veldhuisen is a percussionist, theatre maker and pub trivia champion. Recently graduating from the VCA with a music degree, she works in contemporary cross artform performance as a performer, producer and director. Straddling the intersections between beat poetry, ‘classical music’, theatre, and sound art, her work irreverently ponders and pokes fun at what makes humanoids tick.

With the support of Australia Council funding, she is spending 2011 undertaking mentoring and career development whilst preparing pieces for a number of Australian festivals in late 2011 and 2012. Anna is excited to be creating new collaborative relationships, testing ideas on a receptive audience and developing theatre skills as part of Catapult. Her online home can be found at www.annalouise.net

When she grows up, Anna is going to be an ice cream taste tester and/or back up dancer for Lady Gaga.

MATTIE YOUNG

Mattie has been a deviser, a performer, a director, a collaborator and a writer. This year she wants to see what happens when these roles are flung together. For Mattie, the theatre-making process is just as important as the theatrical outcome. She is interested in developing this process through investigation and collaboration with artists from different creative backgrounds. She is particularly attracted to physical theatre traditions such as Butoh and Viewpoints and uses these, and other methods, to devise work from scratch. She is excited about developing her understanding of how theatre is made, beginning to forge her own theatre-making practice, and contributing to Melbourne’s youth theatre community.