THE SECRET LIFE OF WONDER:

WRITER

TS Hawkins is an international author, performance poet, art activist, educator, and playwright. Plays, short works, and books include Seeking Silence, Cartons of Ultrasounds, Too Late to Apologize, They’ll Neglect to Tell You, #RM2B, The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G, AGAIN, #SuiteReality, “don’t wanna dance with ghosts...”, Sugar Lumps & Black Eye Blues, Confectionately Yours, Mahogany Nectar, Lil Blaek Book: all the long stories short, and The Hotel Haikus. Hawkins’ one-act choreopoem, AGAIN, was acknowledged for having the Best Theater Moment of 2017. #SuiteReality received the 2017 Theatrical Reality Check Surya Bonaly Award, a publication in WORDPEACE; an international literary journal, and debuted in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre for the Black Lives, Black Words International Theatre Festival. tspoetics.com

DIRECTOR

Cheyenne Barboza is a Connecticut based award-winning Director and Playwright. Directing credits include: The Agitators (Theatre Horizon), The Wiz (Theatre in the X), The Last Seven Shakers (InterAct Theatre), Cartons of Ultrasounds (ReFocus Fest), Trade (Inis Nua Theatre), Directors JAM (Pirronne Yousefzadeh & Directors Gathering), Running Numbers (Playwright, Theatre in the X), The Secret Life of Wonder: A Prologue in G (ReFocus Fest). Assistant Director credits include: How I Learned What I Learned (Dir. Malika Oyetimein, Arden Theatre), The Mountaintop (Dir. Patricia McGregor, PTC). Barboza received a BFA in Directing, Playwriting & Production from The University of the Arts.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Grace Edward is a Meanjin (Brisbane) based playwright, director and creative producer from Yei, South Sudan. She believes in the power of storytelling as a tool to understand one another better. Through storytelling, Grace explores different aspects of what it means to be a third-culture child and a person of colour living in so-Australia. She has co-written, produced and directed Linking generations: A forum theatre play, Skin Deep, and Tales from the Colony which explored themes of colourism, identity, systematic Racism, and being a third-culture child living on stolen land. Grace has spoken around Australia on issues including youth leadership, education, health, intergenerational conflict, systemic racism, and displacement.

READER

Zenya Carmellotti recently toured with The Book of Mormon for their Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide & Auckland seasons and made her podcast debut in The Best Bagels in Town. Theatre credits include Puffs, Rent and StageArt’s productions of Bare, The Color Purple, Dreamgirls and Hair (including Victorian tour). Zenya performed alongside the Dreamgirls cast with Hugh Jackman at his Red Ball. In 2015, she studied with Paul Malek at Transit Dance (Cert III in Dance). Other productions include Origin Theatrical’s Connected The Musical, Lyric Opera’s Pygmalion, Chunky Move’s It Sounds Silly and Tivoli Theatre Pantomimes’ Pinocchio. Screen credits include Neighbours, The InBESTigators and the upcoming TikTok series Scattered.

READER

Originally from Perth, Mackenzie Dunn is a graduate of Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and recently toured with Shrek The Musical as Princess Fiona understudy. Other theatre credits: Evelyn Nesbit in the Australian premiere of Ragtime,Cora in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Elly Understudy in the Australian Premiere of Lazarus (The Production Company),Francine in Jersey Boys (New Theatricals), Bubba Ryan in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Squeaky Fromme in Assassins (Black Swan STC). In 2018, she won Best Newcomer in Theatre at the Performing Arts Awards Western Australia. Mackenzie recently appeared in the new ABC series Why Are You Like This?.

READER

Milo Hartill-Batsietswe 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.

READER

Scout Hook is a queer artist based in Naarm (Melbourne). A recent graduate of the BFA (Music Theatre) at the Victorian College of the Arts, Scout received the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Scholarship, Cassidy Bequest Scholarship, Mabel Kent Scholarship, Ron Freedman Memorial Award and Ron and Margaret Dobell Foundation Music Theatre Award. They made their professional debut in Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins (dir. James Powell) and appeared in the Victorian Opera’s The Magic Pudding (dir. Cameron Menzies). VCA credits included Mongrel (dir. Maude Davey), Durdles in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (dir. Jason Langley) and Dance Captain on Our House (dir. Tyran Parke).

READER

Originally from Coffs Harbour, Asha Khamis made the move interstate to study at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in the Foundation Program and the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre). During her studies, Asha has performed in Morning Melodies 2019 (dir. Jayde Kirchert) at Hamer Hall and in the VCA production of On the Town (dir. Adam Mitchell). Asha is the grateful recipient of the Ron Freedman Memorial Award. She is a passionate dancer, singer and actor and is thrilled to be playing Helena Landless in the upcoming VCA production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Dir. Jason Langley).

READER

A recent transplant to Melbourne, Australia, Julie Leung is an award-winning actor and theatre artist hailing from Vancouver, Canada. Recent Canadian credits include 4000 Miles (Belfry Theatre), The Matchmaker, Hand to God (Arts Club Theatre), Armstrong’s War (Western Canada Theatre), Alone Together (Green Thumb Theatre), and Our Town (Caravan Farm Theatre). With Antipodes Theatre, Julie recently took part in the Directing and Design Workshop with ATC’s Artistic Director Brandon Pape and is very much looking forward to working with the company again on this project for International Women’s Day.

READER

Andrea Mendez is a Latinx actor and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre Practice) graduate from the VCA. Upcoming roles include Lily in The View From Up Here with The Voice In My Hands Theatre. She is also an award winning writer and has been featured in Overland, the Australian Multilingual Writers Project and the Emerging Writers Festival.

READER ‘Voice of Father’

Augie Tchantcho is best known for his role as The General in The Australian tour of The Book of Mormon. Born and raised in Kuwait, Augie has trained in JiuJitsu and MMA and honed his theatre skills at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA). His Australian Theatre debut was in StageArt’s Dreamgirls (Marty) and The Colour Purple (Pa/Ole Mister) both of which received critical acclaim. Augie enjoys performing Shakespearean tragedies to comedies and high energy musicals.

PRODUCER

Brandon is the Artistic Director for Antipodes Theatre Company. Melbourne credits: GhostQuartet, #Really?! with Mel andPeppy, Bowie Ball,Mad World, From: New York, For: Him.NYC credits: the world premieres of Only You Can Prevent Wildfires, Happily After Ever (also Edinburgh Fringe), and Gordy Crashes for RicochetCollective (which he also co-founded)and several projects as resident producer with The Orchard Project andThe Drama League. Favorite directing credits include The Last Five Years, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Shape of Things, and Big Love. @midwestrunaway