Flinders Drama Centre - Class of 2020

		Class of 2020
Christian Bartlett

Georgia Laity		Georgia found her love for dancing and gymnastics when she was 2 years old. Up to the age of 18, she danced semi-professionally, appearing in Windmill Theatre Company’s feature film ‘Girl Asleep’ as a dancer. Since being at Drama Centre, Georgia’s range and abilities have developed and strengthened. She has played a plethora of exciting roles including Evelyn in Neil LeBute’s *The Shape of Things* (dir. Tiffany Lyndall-Knight), Charlie in Eliza Oliver’s *Testosterone* (dir. Teddy Dunn), Beatrice Wilde in Kevin Kurr’s *Unity* (1918)(dir. Genevieve Mooy), Dull Gret and Angie in Caryl Churchill’s *Top Girls* (dir. David Mealor), Viv in Amelia Bullmore’s *Di & Viv & Rose* (dir. Tom Healey), a Mother - Scene Seven in Simon Stephen’s *Pornography* (dir.Corey McMahon) and Bonnie in Alice Birch’s *Anatomy of a Suicide* (dir. David Mealor).

Melissa Pullinger		As an emerging actor, who recently graduated from a 4-year honours degree at Flinders University, Melissa has a passion for theatre, film and storytelling. Growing up in England, Melissa was immersed in theatre, music, dance and athletics. Aged 8 she appeared in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of The Sound of Music at the London Palladium, where she played Brigitta Von Trapp for six months. Upon emigrating to Adelaide in 2008, Melissa performed in Border Project’s *Disappearance* and then Windmill Theatre and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Grandpa. Melissa has played a variety of exciting and challenging roles across her four years of training. She performed as Jo, Emma, Lola, May and both Children in Alice Birch’s *Anatomy of a Suicide* (Dir. David Mealor), The Teacher in Simon Stephen’s Pornography (Dir. Corey McMahon), Jacquie in Gareth Ellis’ *A View of Concrete* (Dir. Anthony Nicola), Patient Griselda, Jeanine and Nell in Caryl Churchill’s *Top Girls* (Dir. David Mealor), Doris in Kevin Kerr’s Unity (1918) (Dir. Genevieve Mooy), both Lynsey and Emma in Simon Stephen’s *Country Music* (Dir. Renato Musolino) after a fellow cast member fell ill and both Evelyn and Jenny in a showing of various scenes from Neil LaBute’s *The Shape of Things* (Dir. Tiffany Lyndall-Knight). Melissa has starred in and been on the production team of various award-winning short films, including the 48hr Film Project team, The Dee cees, who won the Adelaide competition in 2018, and went on to win an award at Orlando's Filmapalooza. She was also Production Manager, co-created and starred in the short film The Garden (Dir. Aarod Vawser).

Isabel Vanhakartano		Isabel is from Australian, Finnish, and Slovakian heritage and grew up in a family of professional dancers. She began performing at the age of 7 in rhythmic gymnastics, competing on a national level before the age of 12. In high school, she moved onto dance and horse riding until her creativity and curiosity in the world led to her acting. Isabel is fascinated with the medium of film and loves the intimacy of acting on screen. She has been fortunate enough to work with Freeze Frame Pictures on their film The Groves (Dir. Dion Cavallaro), as well as collaborating with the screen students at Flinders University on various short films. She developed her screenwriting skills creating the script for the third year film block The Garden (Dir. Aarod Vawser), while also playing central character Esther in the film. During her training at Flinders Drama Centre, Isabel has had the joy of exploring an eclectic range of characters, including: Evelyn in The Shape of Things (Dir. Tiffany-Lyndall-Knight), Lynsey in *Country Music* (Dir. Renato Musolino), Sunna in *Unity 1918* (Dir. Genevieve Mooy), Isabella Bird/Mrs. Kidd/Joyce in *Top Girls* (Dir. David Mealor), Rose in *Di and Viv and Rose* (Dir. Tom Healey), and Carol in Anatomy of a Suicide (Dir. David Mealor).

Aarod Vawser		Whether it’s performing with The Raw Shakespeare Project (Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet), or whether it’s writing – he self-published three fantasy novels and won the STARS Short Story Competition Youth Category by age 13 – Aarod has always wanted to create. And the challenging, rewarding 4 years of Drama Centre have confirmed that the theatre is his absolute jam. He has been taught by some of the most renowned teachers in the country, including Rosalba Clemente, Dawn Langman and James Wardlaw, and by industry professionals such as Caleb Lewis (playwriting & comedy), Louise Heesom (screen acting), Alirio Zavarce (devising), Hew Parham (Pochinko clowning), Roz Hervey (dance theatre), Carol Kelly (dance) and Pat Wilson (singing & cabaret). He has also been lucky enough to work with distinguished directors and to play juicy roles, including Adam in *The Shape of Things* (dir. Tiffany Lyndall-Knight), Matty in *Country Music* (dir. Renato Musolino), Taylor in *Testosterone* (dir. Teddy Dunn), Stan in *Unity* (1918) (dir. Genevieve Mooy), KJ in *The Aliens* (dir. Tom Healey), James in *A View of Concrete* (dir. Anthony Nicola), sibling and bomber in Pornography (dir. Corey McMahon) and John in *Anatomy of a Suicide* (dir. David Mealor). He directed the end of third-year feature film *The Garden, and with The Dee Cees has submitted three award-winning films to the 48-hour Film Festival, including Andii in 2018 which won awards for Best Film, Best Actress and Best Use of Line, and won Best Use of Line at the Orlando Filmapalooza. He won a merit award for the 2020 Flinders University & STCSA Young Playwrights Award for his play We Need To Talk About Julia*. Aarod is incredibly excited to graduate and enter the wide world of theatre where he hopes he can flourish, telling important stories and bringing a bit of light into people’s lives.

Julia Vosnakis		Bursting into the industry, Julia wishes to tell stories through art about her Greek migrant heritage to help forge a path for future young ethnic women of stage and screen. In her time at Flinders, Julia has been fortunate to play the following roles; Anna in Alice Birch’s *Anatomy of a Suicide* (Dir. David Mealor), Old lady – Scene 2 in Simon Stephen’s Pornography, Di in Amelia Bullmore’s *Di & Vivi & Rose* (Dir. Tom Healey), Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet (Dir. Tom Healey & James Wardlaw), Una in David Harrower’s *Blackbird* (Dir. Tom Healey & James Wardlaw), Marlene in Caryl Churchill’s *Top Girls* (Dir. David Mealor), Abigail in Arthur Miller’s *The Crucible, Rose in Kevin Kurr’s Unity* (1918) (Dir. Genevieve Mooy), Jessica K in Eliza Oliver’s *Testosterone* (Dir. Teddy Dunn) and Evelyn in Neil LaBute’s *The Shape of Things* (Dir. Tiffany Lyndall – Knight). During her time at Flinders, Julia has been involved with their award-winning 48hr Film competition team, short films, a music video and was Production Manager, co-created and starred in the short film *The Garden* (Dir. Aarod Vawser).

Ren Williams		Following her passion of filmmaking alongside acting, Ren entered in the 48 Hour Film Project in which her team, The Dee Cees, has won multiple awards over the last three years including ‘Best Film’ - later winning an award at Orlando Florida’s Filmapalooza in 2019. In her time at Drama Centre, Ren starred in productions as Jenny in Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things (Dir. Tiffany Lyndall-Knight), Philomena in the Premiere of Eliza Oliver’s Testosterone (Dir. Teddy Dunn), Sissy in Kevin Kerr’s Unity (Dir. Genevieve Mooy), Lady Nijo and Winn in Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (Dir. David Mealor), multiple roles in Moises Kaufman’s The Laramie Project (Dir. Catherine Fitzgerald), Jamie (Jason) in Simon Stephen’s Pornography (Dir. Corey McMahon) and most recently several characters in her Graduating Show Anatomy of a Suicide by Alice Birch (Dir. David Mealor). Receiving a merit for her play Touch in the 2020 State Theatre Playwrights competition, Ren has expanded her craft to playwrighting, exploring her passion in feminist theatre and creating new works for Women incorporating her interest of Interactive Theatre & Comedy (taught by Caleb Lewis), Devising (Alirio Zavarce & Roz Hervey) and Pochinko Clowning (Hew Parham).