ORLANDO

By RACHEL LEWINDON and WILLOW SIZER

June 14th - July 14th 2021

Antipodes Theatre Company will support writing team Willow Sizer and Rachel Lewindon through the development of their collaborative music theatre piece Orlando, an adaptation of the novel by Virginia Woolf.

The Company will explore an innovative and inclusive music theatre method. Their approach actively questions the traditions, storylines, stereotypes and creative methods established within the entertainment industry. Through experimentation, improvisation, and collaboration between cast, composer, writer and director, they hope to develop a robust yet flexible template for future music theatre creators.

This project was previously developed as part of Antipodes Theatre Company's inaugural 2020 Winter Lab.

Abbotsford Convent’s Pivot is a short-term residency program supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and Creative Victoria. From May – September 2021, the Convent will be offering artists money, space, time and support for their practice as well as access to audience insight and a professional research team from Patternmakers.

To learn more about Pivot, visit abbotsfordconvent.com.au

Composer & Musical Director: RACHEL LEWINDON (she/her)

Writer & Performer: WILLOW SIZER (they/she)

Dramaturg: MAUDE DAVEY (she/her)

Artistic Director & Producer: BRANDON PAPE (he/him)

Movement Consultant: TEAGAN NOWICKI (she/her)

Performers: KALA GARE, MILO HARTILL (she/her) & TOMAS PARRISH (they/he)

Biographies are available below.

Meet the Team

Rachel Lewindon

She/Her
COMPOSER AND MUSICAL DIRECTOR
An award-winning composer, sound designer, pianist and musical director. Her sound palette has developed from her classical piano background with contemporary influences of voice, processive ensemble work and timbral electronic synthesis. She is thrilled to have had her work premiered both internationally and nationally as well as enjoying frequenting the local parks with her canine companion, Henry. Upcoming work can be found at www.rachellewindon.com
Willow Sizer

They/She
WRITER & PERFORMER
Willow Sizer is an actor, musician, writer and a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Music Theatre BFA. Their work in Cabaret includes Put the Blame on Mame (2017) and two seasons of their Green Room nominated work Death of a Demi Diva (2019). They have been a core artist with internationally-renowned provocateurs Finucane and Smith Unlimited since 2018. In 2019, they completed a cross-disciplinary commission, Cowboys and Taxes, for Victorian College of the Arts and were nominated for a Green Room for their year’s work: Paulette in Legally Blonde (James Terry Collective) and Pearl White in Ghost Quartet (Antipodes Theatre Co). Most recently they were assistant Music Director and performer in Jo Cliffords landmark play The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven (Bullet Heart Club) and performed in a redevelopment of Lachlan Philpott’s play BISON at Theatreworks (wreckedALLprods). Willow is represented by Central Melbourne Talent.
Maude Davey

She/Her
DRAMATURG
Maude Davey has been making work in and out of Melbourne for more than thirty years. Trained as an actor at VCA, she regularly appears in film, on TV and on stage. In 2016 she completed a Masters in Writing for Performance at VCA. Selected credits: Finucane & Smith’s The Burlesque Hour/Glory Box, her burlesque retrospective My Life in the Nude, and Retro Futurismus (nominated for 6 Green Room Awards). Recent directing: Gender Euphoria (Melbourne Festival) and Dance Nation (Red Stitch). Recent acting: Anthem (Melbourne Festival) and Melancholia (Malthouse) for which she won a Green Room Award for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role.
Brandon Pape

He/Him
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
Brandon is the Artistic Director for Antipodes Theatre Company. Brandon recently relocated to Melbourne after spending six years in New York City. Melbourne credits: Mad World (David Butler Studio), From: New York, For: Him (The Butterfly Club) and several shows with the cabaret duo Mel & Peppy. NYC credits: the world premieres Only You Can Prevent Wildfires, Happily After Ever (also Edinburgh Fringe), and Gordy Crashes for Ricochet Collective (which he also co-founded). Favorite directing credits include The Last Five Years, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Shape of Things, and Big Love.

Meet the Collborators

Kala Gare

She/Her
PERFORMER
Kala Gare is a Melbourne-based performer working between the Music Theatre and Music industries. Kala trained at VCA and graduated with a BFA in Music Theatre. Theatre credits include Bright Star (Pursued By Bear), Thoroughly Modern Millie (The Production Company), Master Class (Andrew Kay Productions), Maureen in Rent (Chapel Off Chapel), Olivia in Twelfth Night (Melbourne Shakespeare Company), and Anastasia Steele in 50 Shades! (David Venn Enterprises). Most recently, Kala was part of the original Australian cast of Six the musical in the chaotically brilliant role of Anne Boleyn. Kala is also a classically trained musician with a Diploma in Classical Piano. Her Musical Director credits include Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! (Chapel Off Chapel) and Legally Blonde Junior (Performing Artists Company). Photo by Kurt Sneddon
Milo Hartill

She/Her
PERFORMER
Milo Hartill is a Perth born and bred actor, also located in Melbourne, who trained at WAAPA (2018) and the Victorian College of the Arts (2019-present) in Musical Theatre. Recently Milo was featured in the viral “I Need You to See Me” video, by Vidya Makan, and was a finalist for the inaugural AOC Initiative, set up by Tarik Frimpong. Milo has performed in many queer and burlesque performance venues and events in 2020, including the Melbourne Midusmma Festival in fem fantasy and on the mainstage, Oddball: 2020 Vision, Decolonise Pride 2020, performing and hosting, and also 2020 Rave Relief.
Teagan Nowicki

She/Her
MOVEMENT CONSULTANT
Teagan is a Naarm based actor and graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts with a BFA in Music Theatre. Theatrically she has been seen in Green Room nominated productions Bring It On The Musical (David Venn Enterprises) and Bright Star (Pursued By Bear), as well as two seasons of immersive theatre piece, Mad World (David Butler Studios). In 2020 she appeared in Deep End: Everything Gone, a web series collaboration between movement and film creatives supported by City of Melbourne and most recently workshopped new musicals, Miss Saigon-Wrong as Ellen by Chi Nguyen and Flat-Earthers: The Musical by Lou Wall and Jean Tong.
Tomas Parrish

They/He
PERFORMER
Tomas is originally from Wollongong, Dharawal Country, and acknowledges the Dharawal people, and that sovereignty was never ceded. Tomas studied at Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) completing the Music Theatre Foundation Program (2015), and the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) last year. He was the recipient of the Nancye Hayes Scholarship which he used to further his studies in London. Credits include The Music of AR Rahman (MSO 2017), Vivid White (Ensemble, MTC 2017), A Chorus Line (Bobbie and Paul Understudy, 2018), Patti Lupone - Don’t Monkey With Broadway (Hamer Hall, 2018) and Into The Woods (Steward and Baker Understudy, 2018).