Index

DIRECTORS

2006

Tessa Leong graduated from Flinders University Drama Centre in 2006 with  Honours, the University Medal and a Diploma of Languages in French.  Her graduating show at Flinders was Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses.  Previously she directed David Hare’s The Blue Room, Michel Vinaver’s Portrait of a Woman and Mud by Maria Irene Fornes.  Tessa was Assistant Director to Tim Maddock on Flight by Mikhail Bulgakov.  Since leaving Flinders University she has worked as Assistant Director to Ingrid Voorendt at Restless Dance Company on Rebel Rebel and has directed Philippe Blasband’s Nathalie Ribout with fellow graduates under the name is this yours?  She is currently directing Out of the Boot at Urban Myth Theatre of Youth.  Later in 2007 she will be assisting Michael Hill at the STCSA on Marty Denniss’ new work Lion Pig Lion.
 

Corey initially trained as an actor before moving into directing at the Drama Centre and graduated in 2006 with 1^st class honours.  His directing credits include; Terrorism, by The Presnyakov Brothers, The Cut, by Mark Ravenhill, Splendour by Abi Morgan, The God of Hell by Sam Shepard, Features of Blown Youth by Raimondo Cortese, Some Girls by Neil LaBute and Kayak by Katherine Thompson.  For Urban Myth, Corey has worked as an Assistant Director and Vocal Tutor on My Sister Violet by Sean Riley and A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare.  He recently worked as Assistant Director on The Hulk Project directed by Steve Mayhew at The Space Theatre.  Corey has an interest in contemporary Australian and British Theatre and recently completed his Master of Creative Arts, specialising in post 9/11 Political Theatre.  He is also a founding member of 5.1, a new ensemble that focuses on the staging of contemporary theatre and the creation of new work based on classic texts.  In 2008 Corey will be undertaking an internship with U.K. theatre company Paines Plough.  For Corey's Myspace page click here
 

Benedict Andrews is a major new talent in the Australian theatre. He works with the most contemporary of aesthetics, but with a deep understanding and respect for theatre tradition.  Born in Adelaide in 1972, Benedict graduated with First Class Honours in Bachelor of Arts, from Flinders University Drama Centre.  Benedict has directed a significant number of productions since he graduated in 1995.  His early work included the Australian premiere of Wounds to the Face by Howard Barker, in which he received an Award for Best Production in the 1996 Adelaide Fringe and the Australian premiere of Jez Butterworth’s Mojo, which won Best Overall Production in the 1998 Adelaide Fringe.  In 1998, Benedict was awarded the Gloria Payten & Gloria Dawn Fellowship which he used to travel to New York, Brussels, Antwerp, Berlin, Weimar, Hamburg, and Paris to observe the processes of leading European practitioners. He was appointed resident director of the Sydney Theatre Company between 2000 and 2003. In 2000, he directed Marivaux’s La Dispute, which won the inaugural Helpman Award for Best Director of a Play.  Since 2002, Benedict has been a regular guest at Berlin’s prestigious Schaubuhne am Lehniner Platz, developing work and staging moved readings.  Two of his productions continue to play in the repertoire of this company.  He also directed the production of Marius von Mayenburg’s Eldorado for the Malthouse Theatre in May 2006.
 

David is a writer and film-maker who has also worked as a theatre and circus director.  He has written for both screen and stage, and produced and directed a number of documentaries and short dramas.  His work has been screened and performed in festivals in Australia and internationally.  In 1996 his short film Mister Bawky won multiple awards internationally.  In 1997 David directed Circus Oz for a six week sell-out season on 42nd St in New York City.  He was writer/director of the documentary Out of Our Minds in 2000 and was invited to screen in competition at the prestigious Amsterdam International Documentary Festival in 2001.  He has also been the Artistic Director of Arena Theatre and a founding member of the theatre collective Red Shed Company in Adelaide.  He has directed numerous premieres of Australian works including Melissa Reeves’ In Cahoots, John Romeril’s Black Cargo and Mary Morris’ Blabbermouth.  His own play Frankenstein’s Children (1990) premiered at the Adelaide Festival and has since been produced around Australia and in translation in Germany and Venezuela.  Most recently, he was a producer of the documentary series The Lifestyle Experts which screened on SBS TV in 2006.  David is currently completing a PhD at the University of Melbourne, investigating questions of memory, trauma and narrative in an interdisciplinary project spanning creative writing, literature, cinema and new media forms.  Other current research interests include the theory and practise of documentary film and video production; and digital storytelling as a tool for pedagogy and community development.
 

Revised: 24-10-2008