Staff
Sarah Austin – Artistic Director
Sarah graduated with honours from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1999 and then went on to complete a Masters in Creative Arts (Theatre Studies) in 2004. She has worked as a theatre director, writer and curator in arts companies in both Australia and overseas. Sarah founded and is Artistic Director of independent theatre company Aubergine Theatre which received Australia Council funding to stage The Not Yet Beautiful Girl (written by Ricci-Jane Adams) in 2004. She has worked as a Festival Director on Mudfest 9 and until recently was working in the Creative Programmes team in Manchester, UK at arts organisation Urbis. She has collaborated with a number of international artists and arts companies; commissioning live art events and performances, interventions and projects, devising performance works and curating international conferences.
Trevor Matthews – Business and Finance Manager
At the age of 17 Trevor Matthews formed his own theatre company to produce the unperformed scripts being produced by himself and his friends. Alongside his own theatrical endeavours Trevor also worked as freelance events producer, coordinating a diverse range of artistic endeavours, everything from short films to short play festivals and even an acquisitive art prize. For the past four years Trevor has been the Programming and Youth Arts Coordinator at Burrinja, a multi-arts venue in the Dandenong Ranges. The scope of the programming responsibilities has been vast including; establishing a professional theatre program at the venue (and at the same time working with other small venues to develop a new touring model), producing innovative arts programs for at risk young people and directing and producing an international youth film festival. Trevor holds a Bachelor of Arts with majors in Professional Writing and Screen Studies and a Graduate Certificate of Arts and Entertainment Management. Beyond his work as an Arts Administrator, Trevor maintains his own arts practice regularly writing for stage and screen.
Hayley Butcher – Program Co-ordinator
Hayley has had a long association with St Martins, she started her first acting workshops at St Martins when she was an awkward 14 year old. Upon the completion of her Bachelor of Arts (Theatre and Journalism double major) in 2002, Hayley deferred an offer of Honours from the Theatre Department to pursue her passion for acting. Her quest for training lead her back to St Martins where she was accepted into the Performers Ensemble and the inaugral Creative Ensemble in 2005. A cabaret character creation named Hayley Finkelstein, two comedy plays and two seasons of a one woman show The Audition (by Adam J A Cass) later, Hayley headed to New York City to train at the Ward Acting Studio. The intensive 10 month training transformed her creative life and since her return she has been regularly performing with Melbourne leading theatre practitioners, as well as spreading the word about this remarkable studio in midtown New York. In 2008, Hayley collaborated with fellow St Martins member and long time friend Katrina Mroz to create laugh out loud fashionistas Dash and D’Bree, who have enjoyed critically acclaimed seasons of Re: Tale and Window Shopping Walking Tours in 2009. Hayley is passionate about supporting young artists whether they are 5 or 25 and relishes her role as Program Co-ordinator at St Martins.
Tim McNamara – Venue Manager
In his time in the entertainment industry, Tim has been involved in a vast variety of events in the capacity of sound, lighting and AV technician and production manager. He completed tertiary training in lighting and sound and has since been involved with many different companies and organisations, working predominantly in the lighting field. Tim has been involved in the technical operations of St Martins on a freelance basis for the past 3 years.
Ellen Rijs – Administration Officer
Ellen holds a Bachelor of Performing Arts from Monash University and has been involved in many aspects of theatre including Directing, Stage Management, Producing and Performing. In 2008 she participated in Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre’s Internship Program, before joining the St Martins Team. She was a member of the 2006 St Martin’s Performer’s Ensemble.