THE LADY
IN THE
BARRACKS
Cast and Crew
The Lady in the Barracks, cast September 2017. Image credit: Sharlene Zeederberg.
Margaret Fitzgerald
Playwright/Producer
Margaret has written short stories and plays for many years. She studied writing for performance and film making at UTS. She has written and directed several short films. Recently she has been busy with Crash Test Drama, and directed two Top 80 plays in Short and Sweet Sydney 2017. It is Margaret’s first longer play to be brought to the stage.
Bron Lim
Director
Bron is a director, teacher and performer. She's originally from Perth and a Nepean graduate from way back. Bron developed and directed A Girl Named Shining Brightly for Polka Theatre,Yellow Gentlemen for Sirius/Yellow Earth/Oval House, and Journeys at the Wimbledon Ambassadors' Theatre. She has taught drama and speech in Australian and UK schools, Chinatown Arts Space and for Arts Council England. Performance credits include White Rabbit Red Rabbit for Freefall, Two Chairs for bAKEHOUSE. Black Eyes and Dead City for Sydney Asian Theatre Festivals - Company B, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Bell Shakespeare). UK credits include Juliet in Mu-Lan/Haymarket's Romeo and Juliet, National tours of Lear's Daughters and 58 (Yellow Earth), International tours of Medea and Nothing Left To Lose (Company:Collisions/International Mime Festival Southbank), The Lady of the Drowned (Stone Crabs). Radio work highlights are work with the BBC for Norman Beaton Fellowship, Street and Lane, and narration including Maurice Gleitzman's Teacher's Pet.
Genevieve Helson
Mary Putland
Genevieve trained at Rose Bruford graduating with a BA Actor Musicianship, First Class. She has worked mainly in the U.K. for the past few years before travelling down under where ‘Lady In The Barracks’ will be her Australian debut. Theatre credits include: Clare in Big Fat Cowpat Wedding, Kali Theatre UK Tour; Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre; Venelia in The Old Wives’ Tale - Rehearsed Reading for Read Not Dead, The Globe; Jive and Garden Spirit in Dig And Delve, Half Moon Theatre; Storyteller in Taha and Talulah, Polka Theatre; Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Workshop, Artstrust Productions; Miranda in The Tempest, Individual Arts; Dance Captain in The Winter’s Tale - The Musical, Youth Music Theatre UK. Credits whilst in training include: Liza Elliott in Lady In The Dark, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Wife in Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, Nurse in Machinal, Phoebe in As You Like It. Film/Music Video Credits: Dancer in McBusted’s Air Guitar Video, Good Egg; Pre-Raphaelite Woman Of The Medusa, Bloodsugar Films/BBC Radio 4, Dancing Fire Elf in Elves of Avenverden, Dancing Elf Productions
Leof Kingsford-Smith
Governor Bligh
Leof Kingsford-Smith’s CV extends from London’s West End to the Sydney Opera House and a host of Australian theatres. In almost four decades he has played everything from Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams and Willy Russell, in roles ranging from the tragic King Lear and Big Daddy to featured roles in many of Australia’s hottest TV series; Bond Mini Series, Underbelly11 and Home & Away, Crownies, Deadly Women, Behind Mansion Walls, and Channel Sevens Sunday Night. Leof recently completed tours of London West End, Tokyo, the Edinburgh Festival, , Rome, Avignon, Seoul and Adelaide with his plays; Bewitching Macbeth and “The Madness of King Lear” In Sydney, Leof recently performed in The Tempest, playing Prospero, ‘Rosencrantz and Guidenstern are Dead, The Bird Cage, Ghosts of the Future and Convict Footprints. That he travels so smoothly in his acting career should not come as a surprise. Leof is the grand-nephew of one of Australia’s most celebrated travellers, the pioneer aviator Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith.
Claudette Clark
Mrs Palmer
Claudette is a Sydney-based actor of African-Caribbean heritage. Her theatre experience includes classic adaptations such as The Crucible (Zenith Theatre), To Kill a Mockingbird (New Theatre), Doubt (Zenith Theatre), The Clink (New Theatre), The History Boys (NIDA Parade Theatre) and The Marginal Farm (The Ensemble Theatre). Her stage work also extends to multi-ethnic development pieces such as My Name is Sud (Blacktown Arts Centre & The Dreaming Festival) and most recently, Jatinga (Kings Cross Theatre).
Claudette originally trained at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in London. This was followed by plays at The National Theatre, Sheffield Theatre and Colchester Theatre. In addition her UK TV experience includes television plays (BBC Play for Today & ITV Playhouse), Documentaries (BBC Omnibus) and parts in several independent TV series prior to coming to Australia in the 1980’s.
Cormac James
Finucane
Cormac graduated with Honours in English and Theatre Studies from the University of Wales, Bangor, before completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in English and Drama. While at university he was president of the drama society in his final year. He subsequently moved to London where he divided his time between teaching and acting. He spent a year touring with theatre in education companies in both the UK and Germany before being struck by a wanderlust that saw him moving to New Zealand for several years where he continued performing. He has previously played John Proctor in The Crucible, Brindsley Millar in Black Comedy, Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Hamm in Endgame, B in Crave amongst many others. More recently he has appeared as Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Captain Edmund Blackadder in Blackadder Goes Forth, Shawn Keogh in Playboy of the Western World, Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice and Renfield in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Jess Turner
Anabel
Jess Turner has been acting ever since she can remember, participating in all school plays as a child and then going on to study an Advanced Diploma in Stage and Screen at The Actors College of Theatre and Television after graduating high school. For her graduating show, Jess had the opportunity to perform at The Belvoir Street Theatre, in “Slut: The Play”, directed by Irish actor/director, Maeolisa Stafford. The play’s success drove Jess and some of the cast members to adapt the play and take it on tour to the Adelaide Fringe Festival. The show received wonderful reviews and Jess was noted as a “clear stand out”. Jess also has a dance background, training at Synergy Performance Studios for 5 years, and has a passion for yoga and movement based work. She has played the flute from a young age and enjoys singing and music as a creative outlet. Jess grew up between the Northern Beaches and her family farm in Wootton, so has a love for both the country and the sea.
Simone Neviani
Soldier
Since his 2015 arrival in Sydney, Simone has managed to nab a score of featured roles on beloved national TV
shows such as legal dramas “Rake” and “Janet King” as well as more lighter fare like beachside “Home and
Away” and love-seeking “First Dates”. Getting a taste of the Australian entertainment industry, he is also
treating his experience in film and short films as invaluable, attentive lessons to his overall portfolio.
Simone’s studies with renowned Suzi Dougherty at Harry Jensen Centre in the first half of 2016 have seen leaps
and bounds across his styles, including Grotowsky, Shakespeare, Stanislavski and Alexander Technique to name
a few. He also has been developing mindfulness of his body and meditative breathing, which can only
strengthen his portrayal – on screen and off screen.
Luke Thornley
Dr Wentworth
Fresh from Perth, Luke Thornley comes back to the theatre. He's trained with Loren Johnson, Chum Ehelepola, AIPA in Los Angeles and just recently Jeff Seymour. Film work includes; The Fridge, Split, Catch-up, Everyone pays, Misanthrope, My mates and Kate, Reunion, The perfect present, Afterthoughts, The cowboy, Arkana, Lake of Fire, Palingenesis The thought of you, Wild justice, Hard Vacuum, Broken, Broken contract, Wrong night stand. TV credits include; Australia the story of us, Today tonight for re-enactments and True Crime (Doco). Theatre; Carnival Macabre, John West/Solitary confinement with Fremantle Prison's Torchlight tours, Frederick Fleet for the live Titanic Exhibition and Jack Delaney/John O'Dortley for Walking Sydney. Other work includes, The Mystery Manor for Luna Park, various music videos, role playing gigs, corporate videos and TVC's. Luke is looking forward to digging up Australia's rich history once more and unearthing the character of Dr. D'Arcy Wentworth in The Lady in the Barracks..
Peter Brown
Lighting Designer
Peter was born and raised in Western Sydney, first discovering a love for theatre with Blacktown City Community Theatre, now Blackout Theatre Company, when he was 15. Since then he has been on stage as well as crew consistently working on their production of Into the Woods (2015) and Rent (2016) as Deputy Stage Manager and a regular in their short play festival Four Short Plays Plus (2015-2014). He is now studying a Bachelor of Performance with the Australian Institute of Music: Dramatic Arts Department, where he has performed in shows such as Stories In The Dark and Midsummer Nights Dream, as well as working as Lighting Tech, Stage Manager and Production Manager for a variety of shows.
Mark Power
Lt. Col. Johnstone
Mark has been performing in Sydney and Queensland for several years. He recently played Max Bialystock in Ashfield Musical Society’s production of “The Producers” and Edna Turnblad in Campbeltown Theatre Group’s sell out season of “Hairspray”. After playing this role he was invited to be understudy for Australian Entertainment Legend Jon English in Packemin Production's "Hairspray". He will be playing Burt Healy in Packemin's 2014 production of "Annie". Among his credits are King Arthur in Holroyd Musical and Dramatic society’s production of “Monty Python’s Spamalot”. Mark has also played The Sargent of Police in Toowoomba Choral Society’s “Pirates of Penzance”, the mad inmate Roy in RLE’s “Cosi”, Herman in “Sweet Charity”, the villainous Bamatabois in “Les Miserables”, and has twice played Mr Bumble in “Oliver!” Mark recently made his short film début with the featured speaking role of Grunt, in the 3rd year student film "Switch".
Bronte Schuftan
Set Design
Bronte is an unusually multi-skilled individual, and values a versatile approach to working in the arts.
Already a published playwright, she has always had a passion for the dramatic arts. In addition to
Bronte’s pursuits as a designer, she also works as an actor and a dramaturg. In another life, Bronte
was a junior figure skating champion, volunteered at the Cancer Research Institute, and won a
statewide woodworking championship. Having graduated from the Australian Academy of Dramatic
Arts (AIM), she has worked on productions across Sydney including a touring season of Twelfth Night
& The Tempest, Anna Karenina, The Crucible, Blackrock, Blurred, and Hendricks Gin – Awakening.
Last year, Bronte wrote, designed and produced an interactive theatrical experience titled
Holeheartedly that was met with critical acclaim. She hopes to develop this work into a full-length
immersive piece in the future. Bronte has a voracious appetite for learning, and hopes to spend her
career passionately pursuing all the joys and multi-faceted areas that the arts industry has to offer.
Colleen Henry
Assistant Producer
Colleen decided late in life to develop her creativity through acting. She attended a drop-in class at The Actors Centre Australia and had so much fun she signed up for the one year Power of Performance course. She then went on to complete another six month course to learn Acting for the Camera.
Following her training, Colleen became involved with community theatre, and was cast as Dawn in the hilarious Australian play It’s my party and I’ll die if I want to at the Chester Street Theatre at Epping. Then followed other roles in other community theatre (Pymble Players, Genesians etc). Colleen has also been involved in the Short and Sweet Festival for many years as an actor, writer and director.