In partnership with Australian Plays Transform (APT), Brink will be housing two dramaturgs, Alexis West and Kate Cheel, over the second half of 2024.
Developing the Dramaturg aims to increase diversity in the field of dramaturgy through skills development and placement in producing organisations. Following APT’s successful program in NSW in 2023, they have turned their focus to Kaurna Country/South Australia in 2024.
APT is committed to fostering a more inclusive and dynamic community of dramaturgs, and this initiative will help to expand the range of stories and perspectives that are brought to the stage. This program is supported by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet through Arts South Australia.
Emerging dramaturgs will receive a paid position working closely with Artistic Director Stephen Nicolazzo and playwrights Jannali Jones, Sonya Rankine, Anthony Nocera, Dan Giovannoni and Christos Tsiolkas throughout their time with Brink.
DRAMATURG
ALEXIS WEST
Alexis West, a Birra Gubba, Wakka Wakka, South Sea Islander and Caucasian woman. A mother, writer, director, collaborator and performer in life, film, theatre, poetry, dance, weirdness and events. Written, collaborated, performed and directed works with No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability, Karrikarinya Theatre Collective, Kurruru Youth Arts, State Theatre Company South Australia, Yirra Yaakin, Act Now Theatre Company, Jute Theatre, Illbijerri Theatre, Slingsby Theatre Company, Theatre Republic, Hit Productions, Tjaratjura Dance Theatre and A Daylight Connection.
Alexis has presented and shared stories for NITVs ‘Around the Traps’ on SBS-NITV. Written and directed short documentaries.
She has been published in ‘Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia’, ‘Mindshare’, ‘Ora Nui’, ‘Our Mob’ and ‘Spirit Festival Catalogues’ and translated into Polish for ‘Poetiks’, ‘The Rock Remains’ First Nations SA Anthology. Alexis works with Act Now Theatre creating, performing and working as a facilitator, curator and mentor for the First Nations Pathway Program. She has worked as a dramaturg, collaborator, performer and mentor. Passionate about storytelling on any platform, creating with kindred spirits, considering ways to inspire and create pathways and opportunities for others. Alexis’ most recent tour was with Hit Productions ‘The Sunshine Club’ by Wesley Enoch.
DRAMATURG
KATE CHEEL
Kate is an Italian-Australian actor, performance-maker and multimodal arts facilitator.
A graduate of Adelaide College of the Arts (Acting), her theatre credits as an actor include Tree of Light, The Giant’s Garden, Emil and The Detectives (Slingsby Theatre), Kill Climate Deniers (Kinetik Collective), Baby Doll (Ensemble Theatre), Dead Cat Bounce (Griffin Theatre), The Overcoat (Belvoir 25A), That Eye, The Sky, The Glass Menagerie, Three Sisters, Jessikah (State Theatre Company SA), Big Bad Wolf, Fugitive (Windmill Theatre), Home Invasion (An Assorted Few). Kate is a collaborator with The Bait Fridge, a multi-disciplinary artist collective working in experimental and socially engaged performance – with projects spanning live music events, gallery installations and community collaborations. Recent projects with The Bait Fridge include co-directing Alien(N)ation: an immersive performance devised as an examination of accessibility in collaborative practice with a collective of Deaf, Disabled and multicultural artists, and as movement director/dramaturg on exhibition performances of Rockamora: a large-scale, interactive puppet installed at ACE gallery. Kate currently works as a creative facilitator at Tutti Arts, delivering performing arts programs and devising works with learning disabled and neuro-divergent artists. She has been engaged as a freelance dramaturg, movement director, teaching artist, workshop leader and performance mentor.
Brink Productions Limited
PO Box 3262 Rundle Mall
South Australia 5000
T +61 8 8211 6565