Flinders Drama Centre - Class of 2009

		Class of 2009
Adam Balales		Adam had a vivid imagination so his parents had no choice but to in enrol him in drama class at aged five. He was then involved in many productions both and outside of school. From these beginnings it seemed a natural progression for Adam to pursue acting as a career. Adam entered Flinders Drama Centre straight from high school in 2006. Early on he played small parts in plays such as Strindberg's Ghost Sonata, Louis Nowra's *The Jungle* and Valentina Levkowicz's *Svetlana in Slingbacks. However, in his third year he hit his straps when he landed the role as Dan in Patrick Marber's Closer. He then went on to perform Stand-Up comedy and physical comedy in a comedy show devised with the assistance of writer, Caleb Lewis and director, Catherine Fitzgerald. His next straight acting gig was in the post-modern text Crave* by Sarah Kane. Outside of Drama Centre he was involved in the successful 2008 Adelaide Festival show, *Don't Look Back, devised and directed by Tristan Sharps. Adam has also acted in the short film Red wire Blue* at Drama Centre and the 2006 feature film 2:37.

Bianca Kostic-London		Bianca has relished playing women of various ages and ethnicities during her time at Flinders Drama Centre; the Russian Ludmilla in Valentina Levkowicz's Svetlana in Sling Backs, the Irish protaganist in *Molly Sweeney* by Brian Friel and the Spanish woman, Serena in *The Body Project* by American director and playwright, Leslie Jacobson. Bianca's producing credits include *Black Books* in 2007 and video clips for *Lady, Legs and Lemonade* in 2008. Also in 2008 Bianca worked with Chantal Contouri and Luke Clayson on the development of Rosalba Clemente's new script, *Swimming to New York*, for Vitalstatistix. Working with director Catherine Fitzgerald and writer Caleb Lewis on the Comedy Project in 2008 produced comic creation Asoula, a 16 year old, patriotic, haughty, half Greek, half Italian, floor gymnast who idolizes Madonna and Mara Donna. Quite simply Bianca is as unique and diverse as her ambiguous double barreled name.

Laura Jane Emes		Laura Jane Emes is a comedic actor, creator and producer best known for her 6-part satirical web series, *Welfare, starring Peter Helliar, Pia Miranda and Jackson Tozer. Upon graduating from Flinders Drama Centre in 2009, Laura Jane was awarded a Helpmann Academy Mentorship with Working Dog's Tom Gleisner. Laura Jane has acted alongside Barry Otto and Rhys Muldoon in the AACTA nominated short film, Waiting For The Turning Of The Earth. She's performed stand-up at Sydney's Comedy Store at Fox Studios, supporting comedians such as Joel Creasey and Rhys Nicholson. And she's played multiple roles opposite comedian George Kapiniaris in The State Theatre Company of South Australia's production of The Give and Take*. Laura Jane resides in Sydney with her partner and daughter.

Staten Evans		Staten left his wine marketing degree to study acting at Flinders Drama Centre and has never looked back. His thirst for acting began at School when he was lucky enough to perform Bernardo in *West Side Story* in 2002 and Quick in Cloudstreet. He tried his hand at Stand up comedy at the Comix Comedy Cellar where he worked with Dave Flanagan. At Flinders Drama Centre his favourite roles include; a range of different characters with different journeys in Moira Buffini's Love Play, the role of comic poet Versati in Steve Martin's adaptation of *The Underpants* and Bacchus, the Greek God of Food and Wine in Metamorphosis. Staten's screen credits include work as an extra in the currently screening Creeping advertisement for the Road Safety Commission and as an extra for the new Australian Film Beautiful Kate directed by Rachel Ward.

Lauren Henderson		Lauren has travelled throughout Europe, singing in some of the world's most prestigious venues, including the Vienna Town hall – (Rauthaus), the Australian Embassy in Vienna and St Nicholas' church in Prague. She has busked on Charles Bridge in Prague, and sung solo’s in two of the worlds most renowned and respected jazz clubs, Porgy and Bess in Vienna and The Akord in Prague. Along with singing, she is also an accomplished pianist and has contributed her musical talents to the internationally acclaimed channel children's television series, The Fairies. At Flinders Lauren has played the feisty Paulina in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, nurturing Gloria in Louis Nowra's *The Jungle, obsessive Angelica in Raimondo Cortese's Roulette, maniacal and quick witted C in Crave* by Sarah Kane and the obsessive compulsive fourteen-year germ-a-phoebe Kelsey Clarke in Alex Vickery-Howe's intercultural musical, *Once Upon a Midnight*, which was rehearsed and performed in Okinawa, Japan in the Kijimuna Festival of Arts, which was then performed in Adelaide's Oz Asia Festival. Lauren has studied extensively in both classical and jazz voice with Peter Deane, Guila Tiver and Charmaine Jones and has attended master classes with leading Estill Method expert, Helen Tiller, British actor Gerard McArthur, Phillip Quast, Jeremy Sams and Michael Feinstein. In her spare time, she is the lead vocalist in the bands Higher Vibe, The Ruby Hour and The Urban Jazz Quartet, which perform regularly around Adelaide.

Rowan Hopkins		A life time of studying different martial arts has given Rowan the discipline, enthusiasm and motivation needed to pursue his love of drama. Rowan has spent the last four years refining his skills for both stage and screen. His credits include Louis Nowra’s /strong>, Steve Martins adaption of *The Underpants* directed by British actor James Aubrey, Moira Buffini's *Love Play* , and Sarah Kane's *Crave* as well as many film credits including *Love Story 2050, Kitchen Catastrophe* and *Ignominy. Also at the Drama Centre, Rowan had the privilege of working with Iranian film director Ahmin Tarohk. However it was the narcissistic Larry in Patrick Marber's Closer* that he enjoyed playing the most. Rowan is keen and eager to enter the industry upon completion of his final year at Drama Centre.

Rachel Jones		Rachel began a Bachelor’s Degree in Media before being accepted into Flinders Drama Centre. During her time at Drama Centre Rachel has played a range of different roles including Gertrude in Steve Martin's *The Underpants, directed by English actor James Aubrey, C in Sarah Kane's Crave, and Anna in a self-directed production of Patrick Marber’s Closer. She has completed a Mike Leigh style workshop in film acting, helped in the development process and played a small role in Rob Marchand's forthcoming feature film using this process. She has also played the role of Abby in a film adaptation of Neil Labute’s The Mercy Seat*. She has also enjoyed transforming her voice for radio voiceovers and playing various characters in television commercials. Her most recent triumph was playing a dog in an RSPCA documentary.

Ashton Malcolm		Ashton’s childhood heroes were Calamity Jane, Jean Valjean and Playschool's Bonita, so it was inevitable that she would find her way onto the stage. At Drama Centre she has enjoyed playing a great variety of roles, Louise in Steve Martin's adaptation of *The Underpants, M in Sarah Kane's Crave* and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical. Her favourite role so far has been the chain-smoking, trailer trash in Neil LaBute's Bash. Ashton enjoys comedy and has created several characters that she plans to eventually unleash onto unsuspecting audiences. In 2008 she developed her love of film through assisting on and featuring in, Robert Marchand's feature film *Six Characters, and through co-writing and starring in the short film Washed Away*. Ashton has always had a passion for music and is currently teaching herself to play guitar with an old 70s songbook.

Melissa Matheson		Melissa has acted in many productions during her 4 years at the Flinders Drama Centre and continues to relish every aspect of performing. She has just finished developing her own physical theatre show about women and dating. In 2008 she performed in Alex Vickery-Howe’s intercultural musical, Once upon a Midnight in Adelaide's Oz Asia festival and in the Kijimuna Festival of Arts in Okinawa. She has also studied the Mike Leigh method of film acting with television director Robert Marchand, worked on a number of film creative developments and directed a music video for the local band Lady, legs and Lemonade.

Lydia Nicholson		Lydia left a law degree to study at Drama Centre and has never looked back. Her favourite roles at Drama Centre have included Hilde, in Ibsen's *Lady From the Sea, Susan, in Mark Ravenhill's The Cut* and Carol in David Mamet's Oleanna, which Lydia also co-directed. Working with director, Catherine Fitzgerald, and writer, Caleb Lewis, on a Comedy Project in 2008 gave Lydia an unexpected love of stand up comedy, as well as unearthing her thoroughly compelling but utterly terrifying skills in Sarah Palin impersonation. Her screen credits include extra work on McLeod’s Daughters and feature films *Deck Dogz* and *Love Story 2050. Lydia spent an extended period in 2007-2008 working with Robert Marchand as his assistant director during the character-improvisation process of his feature film Six Characters. As well as dabbling in directing, Lydia is also interested in writing and her debut play Kate By Numbers* had its first public reading at Drama Centre this year.

Michelle Pastor		Earlier this year her love of music theatre and cabaret lead her to embark on a long-awaited dream of creating her own one-woman show; with the working title: *Spoil Your Love Life, mentored by Adelaide's own Libby O'Donovan. In 2008 Michelle performed five roles in a production of Loveplay* by Moira Buffini and toured to Okinawa, Japan as the menacing Blue Fairy in a new cross-cultural musical Once Upon A Midnight, directed by Catherine Fitzgerald; which also featured in the 2008 OzAsia Festival in Adelaide. On the east coast, Michelle completed a Bachelor of Arts in Drama at Newcastle University, 2006, during which, she trained in Lecoq mask technique and appeared as Jennifer in Martin Crimp's adaptation of Moliere's *The Misanthrope* and The Player in Tom Stoppard's *Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead*, for which she was nominated for the City Of Newcastle Drama Award for best non-professional actress in 2006. She has completed master classes with Richard Jasek, Tom McSweeney, Charmaine Jones, Neil Semer, Simon Stollery and Avigail Herman. Michelle trained in classical voice with Annabella Redman from 2004 to 2007. In 2003, Michelle completed a Certificate IV in Performing Arts at ED5 Performing Arts Centre, NSW. She has trained extensively in many styles of dance including jazz, contemporary, ballet, tap, Latin and music theatre. She currently trains with ZigZag circus in Silks and acrobatics.

Tim Smith		Tim has dedicated the last four years of his life to developing and refining his skills as an actor for stage and screen at Flinders Drama Centre. Throughout this time he has undertaken a variety of different roles including Sean and Mark from Louis Nowra’s The Jungle, George from Janis Balodis’s *Wet and Dry, Benjamin Cohen from Steve Martin’s The Underpants, A from Sarah Kane's Crave, Bill from David Ives's Sure Thing, Man 2 from David Auburn's Miss You* and a variety of roles from Ionesco's The Man with the Luggage. Tim has also been involved with several creative development pieces including *We All Feel Better in the Dark* directed by Corey McMahon and a stand-up comedy night directed by Catherine Fitzgerald. He is currently involved in developing the graduating show of 2009 to be written by Caleb Lewis and directed by Michael Hill. Tim also enjoys being both behind and in front of a camera. He is a photographer and his film credits include Chopper B in the short film Leaving Home directed by Nick Moss and Rex on Channel 9's McLeod's Daughters.