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As part of Festival of the Unseen 2025

New Work Playground

Saturday 22 February 2025

Antipodes HQ, South Melbourne

Doors open 10:30am, 11am start

Entry: Free

Following the success of our monthly AMTAC Hatch Lab Sessions focusing on musical theatre projects, the New Work Playground is a new initiative expanding to include all types of text-based theatrical projects. Three projects will be chosen to present excerpts from new works in progress to gain feedback and insight from working industry professionals and peers.

Come witness projects in ongoing development while fostering a collaborative, creative, inspiring and supportive community. Alongside the producers, panellists THERÈSA BORG (she/her) & MICHELE LEE (she/her) will share their insights, offer feedback and open up the space for discussion.

What to expect:

After welcoming all attendees, the three projects have an total of 50 minutes each to briefly introduce their piece, present 15 minutes of consecutive material and then receive feedback - starting with the panel and then opening up to the other attendees. There will be a 10 minute break between each projects. Snacks and refreshments are also provided.

These sessions are free to attend for anyone who wants to sit in, observe, support and learn.

READER EOIs due Fri Feb 21st (or until all roles are filled)

Participating Projects And Creators:

ADAM & MARIE & THE IMPOSSIBLE PHOTO ALBUM (WT) by CAL SILBERSTEIN (he/him)

IAGO (WT) by KIKKI TEMPLE (she/goddess)

NO LONGER FRIENDS (WT) by ALISTAIR WARD (he/him)

Guest Panellists: THERÈSA BORG (she/her) & MICHELE LEE (she/her)

Producers and Facilitators: CAMERON STEENS (they/them), BRANDON PAPE (he/him) & ASHLEY TAYLOR TICKELL (she/her)

Biographies are available below.

Meet the Guest Panellists & Writers

Therèsa Borg

She/Her
GUEST PANELLIST
Therèsa is a director, writer and performer with a long history across commercial and subsidised sectors. Her credits including directing Sweeney Todd, Titanic and The Light in the Piazza along with multiple family shows she wrote and directed for global presentation on mainstages and arenas around the world. Most recently she worked on GWB’s Death of a Salesman as Associate to Neil Armfield and directed a new play by Paul Mitchell at La Mama. She is passionate about the development of new Australian plays and musicals.
Michele Lee

She/Her
GUEST PANELLIST
Michele Lee is a multiple award-winning Hmong-Australian writer for stage, screen, audio, live art and digital games. Across her work, she aims to centre the stories of those historically on the margins—women, people of colour, poor people and working-class people, and people from my community, the Hmong. She has made work as an independent artist, in collaboration with festivals, and commissioned and licensed by mainstage companies. Her work is generally narrative-led and often comedic.
Cal Silberstein

He/Him
WRITER
ADAM & MARIE & THE IMPOSSIBLE PHOTO ALBUM (working title)
Cal is the co-author of the musicals, Viva La Restoration, How We Ruined MacArthur's Markers, Fairybread, Strawman, Postcards From Coney Island, Hammer, and the short opera, President Joan. His new musical The Great Emu War was presented at the Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals in Connecticut, USA in March 2023. Cal is a proud alumnus of the NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and the recipient of a Tisch School of the Arts Departmental Fellowship.
Kikki Temple

She/Goddess
WRITER
IAGO (working title)
A Maori playwright, actress and artist. Takatāpui, Kikki is making moves in Naarm and is proving to be one of the most important voices in her field making art with a Pasifika voice. Based on Boonwurrung country, her notable works include And She Would Stand Like This (Antipodes) and BURGERZ (Theatreworks). She is currently writing two new works being staged in 2024.
Alistair Ward

He/Him
WRITER
NO LONGER FRIENDS (working title)
The founder and Artistic Director of Pansy Productions, Alistar is an award-winning graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts(class of 2015).Alistair has written three staged plays, and produced four, with his debut show ‘twenty-something,’ that he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, winning the People’s Choice Awardat the 2019 Melbourne Fringe Festival. He is currently writing his fourth play, and is in pre-production for hisfirst short film, as well as working as an actorin Melbourne.

Meet the Producers

Cameron Steens

They/Them
NEW WORK MANAGER & LEAD PRODUCER
A Naarm based multidisciplinary theatre maker, WAAPA graduate and all-round creative. As Antipodes’ New Work Manager, they've produced numerous developments and networking programs (including Winter Labs 2020 - present, Festival of the Unseen 2023) in addition to the premiere of Orlando, Antipodes' first production originating from the Winter Lab. Other credits include: This is Living (Assoc Director, Gavin Roach), Guys & Dolls (Production Manager, Antipodes), Protein (Assist Director & Sound Design, Autonomous Inventions), MIMMA (dir. Adam Mitchell), JTC’s RENT (dir. Mark Taylor) & BSSTC’s Assassins (dir. Roger Hodgman). www.cameronsteens.com
Brandon Pape

He/Him
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CO-PRODUCER
Brandon is the Founding Artistic Director for Antipodes Theatre Company, where he directed Ghost Quartet (two 2020 Green Room Award Nominations, return seasons in 2021 and upcoming Sydney season in 2025) and co-directed with Trudy Dunn their immersive reimagining of Guys and Dolls (thirteen 2024 Green Room Award nominations). Other Antipodes credits include Sam I Am, And She Would Stand Like This, Passing Strange (five 2023 Green Room Award Nominations), Orlando, and the Winter Lab - an annual development program for new work and bold ideas.
Ashley Taylor Tickell

She/Her
CO-PRODUCER
Ashley is the Director and Co-Founder of Melbourne based theatre company Salty Theatre and is an Associate Producer with Vass Productions. She has 30 years of experience across the theatre, television and film sectors, both on stage and screen and off. Her work has been seen and heard in Canada, the United States, the UK and Australia, first as a performer before transitioning into the roles of producer and director.