About the session

This session took place Monday 7 December 2020, 5-6.30pm AEDT.

Hosted by Sonya Suares, this session includes panellists Laura Tipoki, Miss Cairo, Lisa Campbell and Richard Carroll. To begin a conversation around how we start to challenge casting norms in ways that are productive, the discussion will first take a step back, by considering casting within the context of programming and the broader culture, discussing the deep cultural significance of casting practices and the subsequent value statements that can emerge in casting. These concepts will enable a discussion around successful and problematic examples of challenging casting norms. Other areas that will be explored include: conscious casting, mistakes and learnings in casting, and resources and tools for more inclusive casting.

About the speakers

Host

• Sonya Suares

  Sonya has worked in film, television and theatre since making her screen debut in Ocean Girl in the 90s. An alumni of both the University of Melbourne and the prestigious WA Academy of Performing Arts, her feature films include Wil, Knowing, My Year Without Sexand The Last Ride and television highlights are Rush, Very Small Business, East West 101, Lowdown, It's A Date, Legally Brown, Romper Stomper, Next Generation and Five Bedrooms. From 2008-12, she served as General Manager at Red Stitch Actors Theatre, before taking up the role of Artistic Director at Monash University's Academy of Performing Arts. Concurrently, she founded Australia's first and only Sondheim repertory company Watch This, producing and/ or performing Assassins(2013/14), Pacific Overtures(2014), Company (2015/16), Merrily We Roll Along (2017), A Little Night Music (2018) and Sunday in the Park with George(2019) to critical acclaim and a total of 18 Green Room Award nominations and 2 wins. Sonya was also a founding director of Melbourne's Poppy Seed Festival 2014-16) and in 2015-16 co-created and performed Elbow Room’s smash hit We Get It at Melbourne Theatre Company's Neon Festival and Brisbane Powerhouse. In 2017, she performed Polyglot/ Papermoon Puppet Theatre's Helpmann and GRA-nominated Cerita Anak and MTC’s premiere of Melbourne Talam (GRA nomination, Best Ensemble). In 2018, in addition to reprising Cerita Anak in Perth and Indonesia and debuting Emilie Collyer's highly anticipated 'netball fantasia' Contest to rave reviews, she undertook dramaturgy secondments on Good Cook, Friendly Clean at Griffin Theatre Company and Enemy of the People at Belvoir. Last year, she toured Cerita Anak to the US, China and Singapore, starred in the Max Afford award-winning new work Whale by Fleur Kilpatrick; and co-directed an acclaimed season of Sunday in the Park with George with Dean Drieberg for Watch This, receiving a Green Room Award nomination for Best Director.

   

  Sonya is frequently involved in the development of new Australian writing in a variety of contexts, working with peak organisations including Playwriting Australia, Belvoir St Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, Arena Theatre, Lonely Company and New Working Group. This year, she oversaw the realisation of Watch This’ online documentary series, The Art of Making Art (Spotlight Selection, Melbourne WebFest) and is currently engaged as a dramaturg on Vidya Makan’s new Australian musical project, My Home Too. Alongside her performance, producing and dramaturgy credits, Sonya has served for three years on both MEAA's Equity Diversity Committee and the Theatre Companies panel for the Green Room Award Association. The driving force of the 2019 #justnotthatmanycampaign, she is regularly invited to speak at forums and panel events about inclusivity and representation in the arts, most recently as a keynote speaker at the 2019 national Converge symposium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0m5hM9o5lk  

  
  In 2020, Sonya was due to tour Cerita Anak to the Lincoln Center in New York, co-direct Into the Woods for Watch This with Dean Drieberg, and take David Finnigan's satirical black comedy, Kill Climate Deniers to Canberra at the invitation of presenters.

Panel

• Laura Tipoki

  Laura Tipoki is a proud Maori and a highly sought after musician and conductor. Laura is thrilled to be the Musical Director of the Australian production of Hamilton the American Musical opening in Sydney in 2021.

  Laura was the Music Director and Australian Music Supervisor for Andrew Lloyd Weber’s School Of Rock for the Australian Tour and throughout China, and Musical Director on GFO and Suzanne Jones’ Australian Tour of Wizard Of Oz. For Julie Andrews’ and Opera Australia’s 60th Anniversary Production of My Fair Lady, Laura took over as Musical Director for the 2017 Sydney season and was Associate Musical Director for the Brisbane and Melbourne seasons. She was Musical Director for Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Miserables International Tour (Manila and Singapore) in 2016 and Associate for the Dubai season and throughout the Australian tour.

  Music theatre credits include Wicked (Melbourne, Singapore, Seoul, Auckland, Manila) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide) as Associate Musical Director, Musical Director for the Waitress Audition Tour, and Love Never Dies (Melbourne), Dr Zhivago, Mary Poppins and Hairspray as keyboardist. For the Australasian tour of Chicago Laura played pianos/piano accordion, and was the Assistant Conductor (Melbourne, Perth, Singapore and Hong Kong).

  Laura was Musical Director and co-arranger for her sister Patrice Tipoki’s debut album A Musical Heart. Laura was keyboardist on the Love Never Dies DVD recorded and filmed during the Melbourne season in 2012.

• Richard Carroll

  Richard Carroll is a director, writer and producer based in Sydney. He directed an acclaimed production of CALAMITY JANE at Hayes Theatre Co, starring Virginia Gay, which toured to five cities in 2018-19, including sold-out mainstage seasons at Arts Centre Melbourne (twice) and Belvoir, followed by a commercial season at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre. Richard’s other directing work includes ONCE and AN ACT OF GOD (co-director) at Darlinghurst Theatre Co; SPAMALOT, GYPSY and SIDE SHOW at Hayes Theatre Co; THE BOY, GEORGE, a one-man show starring comedian Joel Creasey; THE SHOW GOES ON starring Bernadette Robinson, at Sydney Opera House and Arts Centre Melbourne; A NIGHT AT THE SPEAKEASY for Sydney Symphony Orchestra; and opening gala concerts for Adelaide Cabaret Festival and The Art House. He received a Sydney Theatre Award for CALAMITY JANE. He is also the producer and host of the popular podcast EVERY MUSICAL EVER.

• Lisa Campbell

  Lisa Campbell is a producer and casting director.

  She founded Luckiest Productions in 2007.  Since then Luckiest Productions has produced national tours, international documentaries and live recordings for DVD and cinema release.  They have won numerous Helpmann, ARIA and Sydney Theatre awards.  She was a producer of Adelaide Cabaret Festival from 2009-2011, with her husband, entertainer David Campbell as Artistic Director. 

  Lisa is a founding member of Hayes Theatre Co, and Chair of the Board.  At Hayes Theatre Co. Luckiest Productions has produced five musicals at the Hayes: Sweet Charity (with Neil Gooding Productions), Miracle City, Little Shop of Horrors  (with Tinderbox Productions) Gypsy and Only Heaven Knows.  

  She also has a casting company. She has cast productions including Heathers, RENT, Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert and most recently the forthcoming Broadway smash, Moulin Rouge The Musical.

  Lisa is a member of the Executive Council of Live Performance Australia and is head of the Musicals Panel for the Helpmann Awards.

  Lisa is also mother to ten year old Leo and five year old twins, Billy and Betty.

• Miss Cairo

  Miss Cairo is The Director of The People of Cabaret. She has been an advocate in the performing arts industry for her queer, trans and POC communities. She has a strong focus on mental health and well-being and is committed to ensuring that artists find their self worth and value in the work they produce. Miss Cairo has travelled extensively around the world, and has trained in many different art forms: Cabaret, Burlesque, Singing, Drag, Physical Theatre, Mask and Mime, Dance, Writing, Wig making, Costume design/making to name but a few skills! Her varying skills has helped her develop a thoughtful approach to live performance in regard to responding to, and being sensitive to, audiences' reactions. Miss Cairo developed a strong sense of improvisational techniques in her early years. Miss Cairo has fine tuned her leadership skills in being the founder of The People of Cabaret, an organisation designed to uplift, nurture and amplify artists of color in the live performance sector. She is committed to ensuring that the performing arts landscape is a safe, and regulated environment, with a focus on community and assessing the needs of individuals. Her understanding of the intersections of her identities (trans, queer, of colour and an immigrant) have provided the tools to understand deeply the needs of marginalised communities both in a micro and macro perspective. Her experience in the industry definitely is unique, and has essential perspectives which can help redefine how our industry operates. She’s pretty modest too…!

Please note: there is no recording available for this session.

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