Victorian Equity Graduate Day 2024

Host(s)

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  Matthew Lutton

  Matthew Lutton is Malthouse Theatre’s Artistic Director and Co-CEO. Prior to this, he was Malthouse Theatre’s Associate Director, Associate Director at Black Swan State Theatre Company, and Artistic Director of the Perth based independent company, ThinIce. Directing credits for Malthouse Theatre include: Macbeth (An Undoing), Hour of the Wolf, Because the Night, Solaris (Lyric Hammersmith London, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh), Cloudstreet, Melancholia, Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets, The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man, Away, Edward II, Picnic at Hanging Rock (Barbican London, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh), Night on Bald Mountain, The Bloody Chamber, Dance of Death, Pompeii, L.A., On the Misconception of Oedipus, and Tartuffe. For Sydney Theatre Company he has directed The Trial, The Mysteries: Genesis, and The Duel. Other directing credits include: Love Me Tender for Belvoir Theatre and Don’t Say the Words for Griffin Theatre Company. His opera directing credits include: Make No Noise for the Bavarian State Opera, Strauss’ Elektra for Opera Australia and West Australian Opera, and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman for New Zealand Opera.
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  Linda Cropper

  An extremely experienced and versatile actress, Linda Cropper is one of Australia's most recognisable faces. She plays lead roles in the mystery thriller High Country for Binge, and Director Zoe Pepper's first feature film Birthright. Perhaps best known for her role as Geraldine Proudman in Network Ten's hit television series Offspring, she is equally at home on the stage. Linda led the cast of Grand Horizons in a production directed by Jess Arthur at the Sydney Theatre Company (STC), to outstanding reviews. She also wowed audiences in The Architect for the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) under the direction of Peter Houghton, winning a Green Room Award for Best Female Actor. From an extensive list of theatre work, notable stage credits include Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Gertrude in Hamlet, both for the Bell Shakespeare Company, Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest for Darlinghurst Theatre, Australian Realness for the Malthouse, Helen in Nora and Clytemnestra in Elektra Orestes, both for Belvoir and Poor Boy for both MTC & STC. Linda has worked on feature films both within Australia and the USA for many years now, with credits including Upgrade from director Leigh Whannell, Little Fish from director Rowan Woods, The Seventh Floor alongside Brooke Shields, The Perfectionist alongside Jacki Weaver, Teesh and Trude, With or Without You, Envy, Passion and the groundbreaking Black Rock, directed by Steven Fidler based on Nick Enright's play. Appearances on Australian TV also illustrate Linda's breadth of ability. Credits include Pine Gap (ABC/Netflix), Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Old School, Children of the Dragon and Palace of Dreams, all for the ABC. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in series Satisfaction for Foxtel and was a Silver Logie Award nominee for her work in the title role in Melba for the Seven Network, based on the life of famed Soprano Dame Nellie Melba. She also appeared in HBO miniseries The Pacific and The Leftovers. Linda's narration work include the documentaries, Fairweather Man, On Trial, The Real Hobbits, for ABC, How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer, for Essential Media, Hatsheput for BBC, and the radio play Dark Paradise for ABC. She is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).
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  Stephen Mahy

  Stephen Mahy graduated from WAAPA in 2006 and was already cast in Cameron Mackintosh’s “Miss Saigon” Australian tour in 2007-2008. He has had an expansive career on stage with his credits including Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Wedding Singer, Donating Felix, Electric Dreams, Jekyll and Hyde, The Beautiful Game, Mamma Mia, The Rocky Horror Show,Grease, Jersey Boys, Little Women, and Follies. He was most recently seen on screen in popular kids series, Barrumbi Kids. His other television credits include Love Ya. Not So Much, Spotlight, Mr & Mrs Murder, City Homicide, and Out of the Blue. In film he has appeared in the horror, Fragmentary, as well as short films such as Ava, Somewhere Between Now & Then, Repentance, Hoax, Abraxas Project, The Crate, Channelling the Echo,Warriors,What I See, and PerfTech
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  Leah Vandenberg

  A graduate of WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) Leah is an Australian/South Asian actor, writer and voice artist with an extensive list of screen credits. Most recently Leah has appeared in the feature film Inside the popular Binge series High Country, ABC series, Savage River, SBS series The Hunting and Netflix comedy series The Letdown and Wellmania. Leah also starred in Here out West an anthology film told in nine languages set in Western Sydney. Other screen credits include Rosehaven, Jack Irish, Wentworth, The Wrong Girl, Lowdown, The Murray Whelan series directed by Sam Neill, and Adam Zwar’s Agony Aunts. Her feature film debut was in Erskenville Kings followed by Jewboy directed by Tony Krawitz which was selected at Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard competition. Her most cherished role is as a recurring presenter on the iconic ABC TV children’s program Play School, a position she has held for over twenty years and now also a writer for the show. In 2023, Leah released her first children’s album Sing with Leah, commissioned by ABC Kids Listen which is a collection of children’s songs in Hindi, Punjabi and English. Sing with Leah is available on Spotify and Apple Music. Leah recently graduated with a Masters in International and Community Development. Integrating her academic expertise and artistic skills Leah designed an online program called Tree House Cubby which specifically catered to children from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds during the Covid-19 lockdown periods. In 2019 Leah was chosen by her peers to join a delegation of Media Entertainment and Art Alliance (MEAA) screen professionals to speak to members of parliament in Canberra to advocate the importance of supporting Australian content on our screens whereby Leah championed the importance of children of all cultures to be represented on our screens. Underpinning the stories Leah has chosen to explore in her professional life have been themes aligned with identity, belonging, race, culture, resilience, agency and community. Awards/Nominations In 2021, Leah received the Stella South Asian Woman Award for her contributions and achievements in film and television from the Australian South Asian Centre. Leah was nominated for ‘Most Outstanding Performance by an Actor - Female’ for the role of Anne in the comedy series Stupid Stupid Man for Foxtel while her singing has been acknowledged with an ARIA nomination for ‘Best Children’s Album’ alongside her Playschool colleagues.
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  Adam Jon Fiorentino

  Adam Jon Fiorentino has starred on stage and screen in Australia, the UK and the USA. Adam’s extensive stage work includes starring on Broadway as Bert in Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam Theatre, NY), West End Credits include Saturday night Fever (Tony - Apollo Victoria), Follies (Young Ben -London Palladium), Australian national tour of the Disney's Aladdin (Kassim), Kiss of the Spider Woman for MTC (Valentin) City of Angels (Munoz), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Trevor Greyson), Cats, Grease and most recently the Australian Production of Moulin Rouge. Adam screen credits include Wolf Creek Series Two, Back in Very Small Business, Playing for Keeps, Five Bedrooms, Miss Fishers Modern Murder Mysteries, Spreadsheet and most recently My Life is Murder. Adam’s US screen credits include 30 Rock, The Tribe and The Sherri Shepherd Show, as well as Hollyoaks In the City (Channel 4 UK). Adam’s feature film credits include Our Brand is Crisis, Balloon Party and the recently released on Netflix Paper Champions. He has been teaching acting for stage and screen, Musical Theatre and Camera Audition Technique for the last 10 years in LA and Australia.
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  Tigist Strode

  Tigist Strode is a graduate of the Music Theatre programme at Victorian College of the Arts. Tigist is currently performing in the TEG Dainty production Tina: The Tina Turner Musical as an Ikette and Ensemble as well as understudy to Alline. She performed in Michael Cassel Group’s blockbuster Hamilton, opening their Melbourne season as ‘Eliza Hamilton’, performing as a standby for the roles of Peggy Schuyler, Maria Reynolds, Angelica Schuyler and Eliza Hamilton. Tigist performed in Hamilton’s 2021 Sydney season in the ensemble and as an understudy. Prior to this, Tigist performed with Gordon Frost’s Australia & New Zealand national tour of The Book of Mormon playing the role of ‘Nabulungi’, and earlier as understudy and swing during their Melbourne opening season. 2025 will see Tigist in MJ The Musical for Michael Cassel Group.
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  Jing-Xuan Chan

  Jing-Xuan Chan is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, and her theatre credits include Meet Me At Dawn, Hungry Ghosts and Golden Shield (Melbourne Theatre Company); Oil (Sydney Theatre Company); Opening Night and Miss Peony (Belvoir St Theatre); Incognito, Caught, and Wolf Play (Red Stitch); Single Asian Female (La Boite); Wit, Fallen, and The Merry Wives of Windsor (45 Downstairs). On screen she can be seen in Fisk, Wellmania, While The Men Are Away, Neighbours, The Family Law, Harrow, Glitch, Frayed, The Letdown, as well as in the AACTA nominated best feature film Here Out West. Jing-Xuan has been nominated for Green Room Awards for her performances in Golden Shield and in Wit, and alongside the cast of The Family Law she received the Equity Ensemble Award for a Comedy Series in 2020. She is currently an ensemble member and a board member of Red Stitch Actor's Theatre.
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  Queenie van de Zandt

  Queenie van de Zandt is a towering force in the world of Australian musical theatre, cabaret, and comedy. From unforgettable performances in musicals such as Next to Normal (James Terry Collective) and Into the Woods (Victorian Opera), to roles in popular TV series’ such as Upright II (Foxtel/Binge) and The Newsreader S1, 2 & 3 (ABC), to movie appearances in Girl Clock and Scooby Doo and memorable stage productions like Women of Troy (STC/Malthouse) and Abigail’s Party (Ensemble), Queenie has made her mark as a multi-talented powerhouse. As the driving force behind her boutique production house Amazon Woman Enterprises, Queenie has created four albums and co-written & co-produced several multi-award-winning shows, such as BLUE: The Song of Joni Mitchell. She also nurtures her cult following of her comedy alter-ego Jan van de Stool, with regular online offerings and performances. With a staggering 22 award nominations and 9 well-deserved wins under her belt, Queenie van de Zandt's talent continues to be recognized with each new achievement. Queenie has been a proud and active member of MEAA Actors Equity since 1988. @QueenievdZandt | @JanvandeStool | @AMTAcademy
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  Tom Wren

  Tom Wren has enjoyed a successful career in Australia and internationally. Tom is best known for his role in four seasons drama Winners and Losers as ‘Dr. Doug Graham’, garnering a Logie Award nomination for Best New Talent, as well as the chilling US sci-fi drama series Hunters. Other television credits include Love Me S1 & S2, Fat Tony & Co, Rush, City Homicide, Bed of Roses, The Saddle Club, Secret City S2, The Blake Mysteries, Playing for Keeps, Wentworth, Ms Fisher’s Modern Mysteries and the US telemovie Paradise Pictures. Tom is currently appearing in the CBS series Gold Diggers and will soon be seen in the iconic Neighbours, as well as the Gristmill’s comedy series Love Divided By Eleven on Stan. On the big screen, Tom has been seen in The Inbetweeners 2, independent feature Drama and psychological drama Disclosure. In theatre, Tom played the role of Draco Malfoy in the original Australian cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and recently played the role of George Banks in the Australian Tour of Mary Poppins.
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  Clare Chihambakwe

  Most recently Clare played the role of Angie in the the Greenroom nominated play Is God Is (Melbourne Theatre Company/Sydney Theatre Company) she also understudied and performed the role of Aseni in The Heartbreak Choir (Melbourne Theatre Company), prior to this she was a cast member of the original Australian production of the acclaimed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel Group). Clare has appeared as Gary Coleman in Avenue Q (Arts Asia Pacific) and toured nationally with Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Live Theatre Productions), Eurobeat (Glynn Nicholas Group) and Dirty Dancing (Jacobsen Entertainment) which also toured to New Zealand. Clare has performed in both Sweet Charity and 42nd Street (The Production Company) and worked in New York, appearing as Agnes in Goldilocks (ODTC). Her television work includes Utopia, Love Me Season 2, Mustangs, Barracuda, Packed to the Rafters and Home and Away - in the ongoing role of Grace. Clare has also appeared in several films including Late Night with the Devil, Goddess, Happy Feet 2, the blockbuster Knowing and the upcoming feature film Better Man, The Robbie Williams biopic. Proud Equity member since 2003.
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  Nicole Nabout

  Nicole is currently in rehearsals for The Australian Shakespeare 2025 production of Macbeth playing Lady Macbeth. Her recent TV credits include The Clearing (Disney+) and Return to Paradise (ABC and BBC). She performed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing for the ASC 2023/2024 in Melbourne and Sydney. Nicole was in the Australian premier of Selling Kabul at Red Stitch in 2023 and Because the Night at The Malthouse. Career highlights include playing Evie Mansour in the final season of Jack Irish, Nada in three seasons of The Librarians and Kate in Rob Connolly's film Three Dollars with David Wenham. Other film and TV credits include Angel of Mine; Newton’s Law; The Doctor Blake Mysteries; Nowhere Boys; The Time of our Lives; Offspring; Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries; Very Small Business; Blue Heelers and Last Man Standing. Theatre credits include Oil and Wakey Wakey, Red Stich; A Good Muslim Boy, Malthouse/QTC; Secret Bridesmaid’s Business, Playbox and Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream Royal Shakespeare Company. She studied with Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

• Nathan Lloyd

  With two nominations for this year’s Best Casting AACTA Nathan Lloyd has cemented his reputation as one of Australia’s preeminent casting directors. In addition to two previous ACCTA nominations, Nathan is a five-time winner of Best Casting from the Casting Guild of Australia. Across two decades Nathan has brought together some of the industry’s most memorable ensemble casts. His commitment to putting new and diverse talent on screen has facilitated critically-acclaimed performances and career-defining roles. Among them, Sarah Snook, Milly Alcock, Zoe Terakes, Keiynan Londale, Charlotte Maggi. Nathan’s most recent, award-winning credits include Werner Film Productions’ smash hit THE NEWSREADER, LOVE ME for Foxtel/Binge, starring Hugo Weaving, Bojana Novakovic and Shalom Brune-Franklin; Aisha Dee’s return to Australian screens in the compelling the SBS miniseries SAFE HOME, and Foxtel’s global phenomenon WENTWORTH, screened in over 200 territories. In a busy 2023, Nathan completed work on HIGH COUNTRY (Curio/Binge) starring Leah Purcell, Ian McElhinney and Aaron Pedersen, FAKE (Kindling Pictures/Paramount+) featuring Asher Keddie and David Wenham and WINDCATCHER (Unless Pictures/Every Cloud/STAN) starring Jessica Mauboy, Kelton Pell and Pia Miranda- introducing newcomer Lennox Monaghan in the titular role. Nathan has served on the Executive Committee of the Casting Guild of Australia, has been a member of the Casting Society of America since 2012 and holds a strong association with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

• Catherine Poulton

  Catherine Poulton has worked in representation since the mid 1990s. She cut her teeth as an Agent’s Assistant at Performers’ Management, a Melbourne agency representing performers across Theatre, Musical Theatre, Comedy, Film and Television. She had a foray into casting while working with Chameleon Casting, before relocating to the UK where she worked with the Jackie Palmer Agency and Stage School. It was at Jackie Palmer that she developed some of the UK’s now most recognisable actors, placing them in early career opportunities, including at the Royal National Theatre, the RSC and the Harry Potter film franchise. Upon her return to Australia, Catherine established Catherine Poulton Management (CPM) in 2002, which has since grown to be one of Australia’s most established talent agencies. Catherine has shepherded careers from their first professional booking through to Internationally acclaimed opportunities, with clients working across Film, TV, and Theatre, as well as in the Digital content space, literary work, and voice over. In 2023, Catherine also welcomed Cameron Hooper and Tania Patti on board as shareholders of the agency, and rebranded as CP Artist Management. Catherine holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne. Early career work includes positions at the Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company and Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She is President of the Australian Drama Agents’ Association, is a Mental Health First Aider with the Arts Wellbeing Collective, and has been a member of Wage Inspectorate Victoria’s Child Employment Industry Working Party for more than two decades.

• Egan Sun-Bin

  Egan is a storyteller and an Equity Organiser for the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance. He is a 2020 QUT Acting Graduate and since then, has worked as an actor, director, writer and teaching artist. Most recently, Egan has just finished working on Scenes From A Yellow Peril which was part of Queensland Theatre’s Door3 Program and was associate director for Monkey Baa’s The Peasant Prince which is currently touring along the East Coast.
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  Jenny Farrar

  As a Stakeholder Relationship Manager and Education Specialist at Media Super, Jenny is responsible for nurturing relationships and identifying opportunities for partners within various sectors of our creative industries. Jenny has 20 years’ experience as an educator within member-based organisations and 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, including her previous role as Founding Director of community bank Clifton Hill North Fitzroy and with Media Super and Cbus Super. Jenny also worked as an industrial organiser with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance for 15 years and has an Arts Degree from Monash University, has completed a Diploma in Superannuation and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  Jenny prides herself on member engagement and providing quality service and support to members, employers and those considering joining the only industry super fund dedicated to the Creative Arts, Media Super.