Current Panel Members

Panel head:
MEREDITH ROGERS has worked in independent theatre for nearly forty years as performer, director or designer. Once upon a time she played Clytemnestra at the Pram Factory, and most recently she designed Whiteley’s Incredible Blue by Barry Dickens at fortyfivedownstairs (2011) with much else (such as Running Up a Dress 1986 and John Cage’s Musicircus 2007) in between. Meredith also teaches theatre production and performance making at La Trobe University.
Members:
JUSTINE CAMPBELL is an actor, writer and graduate of the VCA. Recently, she directed a one-woman show for Melbourne Fringe, which will tour to Adelaide and Edinburgh this year. She has acted professionally for companies including Jigsaw and toured South Korea with LATT. Last year Justine received the GRIT award for female performer (Four Larks) and in 2007 the MEAA ACT Green Room award for professional performer of the year.
ADAM J. A. CASS is a theatre maker who has written, directed and performed in around two hundred plays. His highly successful monodrama, I Love You Bro was first staged in the Melbourne International Fringe Festival in 2007, and after winning or being nominated for several awards, it is still being produced by companies around the world. He has been a member of the Independent Theatre Panel since early 2009.
PATRICIA CORNELIUS is a playwright, novelist, film writer, dramaturge and a founding member of Melbourne Workers Theatre. She’s a Fellowship recipient from the Australia Council and the winner of the 2011 Victorian and NSW Premier’s literary award, 2006 Patrick White Playwright’s award, 2009 Richard Wherrett Prize, 2003 Wal Cherry Award, The Jill Blewitt Award and the R.E Ross Trust Award. She has written over 25 plays and they have earned her 10 Awgies. She taught writing for performance for 8 years at Swinburne Arts and has been mentor and dramaturge to many young playwrights.
RINSKE GINSBERG is a teacher, performer, director, dramaturg and artistic consultant. She is Lecturer in Movement at VCAM and regularly mentors artists across a range of art forms. She is current Chair of Melbourne Fringe and a former Chair of the City of Melbourne Arts House Reference Panel. She is deeply committed to fostering independent artists and to supporting the development of new work.
BEN GRANT is an actor, composer and sound designer. A NIDA graduate, Ben has performed and created sound designs and original music for many independent productions as well as the MTC, Malthouse Theatre, Bell Shakespeare, La Mama, Red Stitch, Victorian Arts Centre, and Radio National. Ben has also developed sound work with incarcerated men, at risk youth, migrant women and primary school students and has created three one man shows.
DAYNA MORRISSEY is a Melbourne based production designer and scenic artist, she completed a post-graduate diploma in Production at the VCA in 2007. Recent designs include Speaking In Tongues (Griffin Theatre Company); The City (greenroom nomination), Faces in the Crowd (Red Stitch); Devine, The Lost Stories of the Magdalen Asylum (Peepshow Inc.); Lysistrata (Monash University); Smashed (VCA Directors season).
CARL NILSSON-POLIAS is an acting graduate from the Victorian College of the Arts working in theatre, radio and film. He currently works with The Hayloft Project and Malthouse Theatre and has recently worked with Melbourne Theatre Company, ABC Radio National, and OpticNerve amongst others. He was the founding editor of the arts blog Spark Online and his writings on theatre, dance and film have appeared in RealTime Magazine since 2008.
KATIE SFETKIDIS is a lighting designer. She has a BA from Melbourne University and a post-graduate diploma in Production from VCA. She has been nominated for three Green Room Awards. Other awards include The Rory Dempster Lighting Internship, Malthouse Besen Family Artist Program, Australia Council Artstart and JUMP national mentoring program. Career highlights include: These are the Isolate (Mutation Theatre), Elektra (Fraught Outfit), In habit (Punctum), Acts of Deceit (between strangers in a room) (Dirty Pretty Theatre), Little Mercy (Sisters Grimm) and this is for you (La Mama).
RICHARD WATTS is a broadcaster, writer, editor and critic. The host of 3RRR FM’s flagship arts program SmartArts, Richard is also the National Reviews Editor at Arts Hub, and a member of the Australian Film Critics Association. His reviews have appeared in a variety of publications, and he has worked for numerous festivals and arts organisations, including three years as the Chair of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
On leave:
JOHN BAILEY is a journalist and critic whose work regularly appears in The Age, The Sunday Age and RealTime. He also lectures and teaches across a variety of disciplines including professional writing, English and Cultural Studies.
ANDREW GRAY is a freelance director, performer and facilitator. His recent directing credits include: RAWK (Arts Centre Full Tilt), The Return (Trades Hall), Colour of Glass (La Mama), A Lie of the Mind (VCA), and Orpheus (Trades Hall). Andrew is Co-Artistic Director of Melbourne Playback Theatre Company, and has an ongoing role in the web series Queer as F**k . Recent acting credits include: Quartet and Heracles 5 (A is for Atlas).
TIM STITZ is a performer, theatre-maker and producer. His critically acclaimed solo-show Lloyd Beckmann, Beekeeper (Two Blue Cherries) began its life at La Mama and toured to the Canberra Theatre Centre, Tamarama Rock Surfers, Sydney and Brisbane Powerhouse. Tim is part of the Melbourne Playback Theatre Company ensemble and is Executive Producer at Chamber Made Opera.