Arena Annual Report 2022

Arena Theatre Company respectfully acknowledges the Dja Dja Wurrung people, and the Taungurung Peoples of the Kulin Nation, the first peoples of country on which Arena Theatre stands. We pay our respects to all of Bendigo’s First Peoples, and to their ancestors and elders. Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded and we acknowledge that we continue to make art on what always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.

Established in 1966, Arena is one of Australia’s longest-running producers of theatre for young people.

For over 55 years, Arena’s work has represented and reflected the changing lives and imaginations of young people. We create art that encourages children and young people to imagine new futures beyond the world defined by previous generations.

From our home in Bendigo, Arena conducts its artistic research by collaborating with young people from all over the Central Goldfields region.

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

At Arena, we believe all children and young people have the right to experience art on equal terms, as an essential part of their relationship to the world, and not as preparation for adulthood.

Arena strives to create an inspiring, well-resourced environment for professional artists to apply their skills and experience in the pursuit of the most extraordinary theatre for young people possible.

We believe children and young people need art that empowers them to imagine what their world is becoming rather than reinforce the world defined by previous generations.

OUR VISION

Every young person is empowered through creativity.

OUR PURPOSE

We harness the skills of artists to the imaginations of young people to produce original and transformative creative experiences.

We are committed to young people recognising themselves in our work through our values of:

• Collaboration

• Inclusion

• Respect

• Diversity

• Curiosity

• Innovation

OUR PRINCIPLES

• First Nations first

• Radical Inclusion

• Conscious Sustainability

JOURNEY | Bendigo Easter Torchlight Procession 2022

Image: Kerry Brown

Amongst the challenges of the past few years

Arena has emerged having delivered an extraordinary catalogue of work in 2022 at a time when creativity has never been more important, especially for our young people. Special thanks must go to Christian Leavesley, Artistic Director and co-CEO for leading such an amazing program.

At Arena we know that creativity, seeing themselves in stories, and questioning the world provides young people with the tools they need to express themselves, think critically, understand others, and navigate the complexities of an ever-changing world.

The experience of recent years of disruption has prepared us for the unexpected. We know that the world is irreversibly changed, and we are excited by what that shift might represent.

Our strategy during 2022 responded to the immediate needs of the young people in our community whilst also setting our company up for future opportunities in that new world.

An example is Arena’s investment in the development of our bold, large scale immersive stages project, Journey, made possible through funding provided by the Commonwealth Government’s RISE fund. Journey is providing Arena with a real-world laboratory to create, test and launch new multi-artform immersive stories that can grow and evolve over time, whilst ultimately providing a thrilling experience for children and families in the future.

Our focus is now clearly on -

• Reconnecting with our community in Central Victoria

• Deepening our engagement with First Peoples, disabled and culturally and linguistically diverse young people and artists

• Securing our financial position for the future, and

• Exploring new technologies and new artforms for a

new world

The Board farewelled Janice Muller who was so generous in contributing her wealth of industry knowledge and experience, always bringing a fresh perspective with warmth and good humour. We also welcomed Aneke McCulloch, Abe Watson and Emily Fiori to the Board, all of whom are generous in their contribution and sharing their varied and vast experience.

Executive Director and co-CEO, Debra Allanson was welcomed to this role in August and quickly embraced the Arena and its work. I would like to thank Debra for her measured and enthusiastic response to this role and am excited to see what she, Christian and the team will deliver in the years ahead.

Movement of staff is inevitable and for many reasons, and we acknowledge the hard work of our past CEO, Sharon Custers, who moved interstate in 2022 and whose contribution to establishing Arena in Bendigo was so valuable. We would also like to sincerely thank Gemma Robertson for picking up the role in the interim.

We were delighted to host a visit from The Hon. Steve Dimopoulos MP, Minister for Creative Industries, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events and Ms Claire Febey, Creative Victoria’s Chief Executive Officer. Their visit gave us the opportunity to highlight Arena’s work not only in regional and rural Victoria, but across the country and beyond.

Our vision to empower young people through creativity has never been more important. Our art reflects their life experiences, imaginations and preoccupations. It is provocative. It is validating. It is fun.

ANNE HENSHALL Chair

L-R: Anne Henshall - Chair, Christian Leavesley - Artistic Director, Steve Dimopoulos - Victorian Minister for Creative Industries, Gemma Robertson - Executive Director, Eliza Hull - Artistic Associate, Access & Inclusion. July 2022. Image: Kerry Brown

With the knowledge of Arena’s long history of achievement and success, I was honored and delighted to join the company in August 2022 and start my role in building on its amazing 55-year legacy. Under the remarkable creative leadership of our Artistic Director, Christian Leavesley, it was clear to me that Arena was well primed to build on the artistic success and innovation for which it is renowned. The company’s investment during 2022 in Journey is testament to that creativity and forward thinking. This multi-artform immersive work presents a bold and exciting vision for positioning Arena at the centre of Bendigo’s burgeoning reputation as a culturally-rich visitor destination.

From my perspective, I could see that the task at hand was to rebuild and expand on our pipeline of work, to reshape and grow our education program as a regional and ultimately a statewide service to schools and communities, to develop partnerships that broaden our offering and our reach into community and the industry, and to strengthen our capacity to build Arena into a more sustainable business.

As the sole professional theatre company in Bendigo, we understand the importance of contributing to the development of a thriving creative community outside of the Melbourne metro area, and the value this brings to the wider community. With that guiding principle, we are committed to advocating for and supporting the

establishment of a regional creative and maker hub, based in Bendigo. It’s a big, bold and exciting undertaking that we see as necessary for Arena, for our community and for the wider industry.

Our vision is for an inspiring and practical workspace and creative laboratory that supports multidisciplinary approaches to developing live performance works, multi-artform content, and the people who create the work. It will be a space where emerging and established artists and technicians connect, collaborate and learn from each other and their industry peers, and to incubate and present new works.

Already, Arena’s focus on Immersive Stages work provides unique opportunities that stretch the possibilities for creativity, innovation and audience engagement. We aim to build on this specialisation.

Over its long life, Arena has enjoyed generous support from private donors, industry peers, governments, and the business community. An important task now is to build on these relationships to secure the partnerships and funding needed to achieve our goals.

I am grateful to the Board for their support in shaping this vision, and to Christian whose creativity, vast experience and good nature make our work the perfect mix of interesting, rewarding and fun!

DEBRA ALLANSON Executive Director and Co-CEO

I could not be prouder of Arena’s work through 2022. There have been challenges in recent years, but they have served to bring into focus the things that matter most. For Arena, the things that matter most are the contributions we make to the different communities that we are part of, both locally and further afield.

We developed and executed some beautiful and important work for communities in Bendigo, around Victoria, and interstate. Covid related issues continued to play their part in the first half of the year. Flexibility and collegiality have been the approach around the industry that has got us all through.

The year’s work delivered a diversity of projects, contexts, and audiences. We worked with Yorta Yorta artist Annie Brigdale to create Country and Belonging at California Gully Primary School. Hermione Merry and Tahli Corin were Resident Artists on the project. This First Nations led project has been transformative for the participants and all of Arena’s artists.

Our second residency for the year took place at Belvoir Special Education School in Wodonga. Eliza Hull, Jolyon James and I were at the school for a week, working with the students to create a beautiful multi-artform gallery in a project we called Bloom.

Hidden Creature Gallery continued to tour to venues in Victoria and New South Wales. It is a project that has been in the Company in different forms since 2015, which is testament to how enjoyable it is for children and artists alike. True to the Arena DNA, it continues to evolve. Towards the end of the year, we embarked on a semi-permanent version in collaboration with The Starlight Foundation which will open at Monash Children’s Hospital in 2023.

Robot Song toured to six venues in Victoria and New South Wales, including making its Sydney premiere. Creator Jolyon James took specialist accessibility advice prior to the season opening in Bendigo, leading to changes to increase the show’s accessibility. These changes have been made on a permanent basis, so that every show is as accessible as possible.

The Bendigo season delivered one of my most memorable moments of the year. One of the shows was attended by two schools that Arena has done residencies with in recent years. Literally hundreds of children filed past us at the theatre, screaming ‘Hi Arena!!’ and giving us high fives on their way in. It was a tremendous feeling. Our ambition is to have that recognition with every school that comes to the theatre.

We had developments of two new works during the year, Journey and War of the Worlds.

Journey is our large-scale narrative immersive adventure that uses Augmented Reality to combine digital content with a physical environment. Our artists are truly reaching into the future with some of the extraordinary experiences we are working on. The response to the showings was very strong. We look forward to bringing the completed experience to the public in 2023.

War of the Worlds is a ground breaking collaboration between Arena Theatre Company, Riverland Youth Theatre in Renmark, and D’Faces Youth Arts in Whyalla. Three ensembles from three regional towns will perform the play simultaneously, streaming scenes into each other’s plays, as the three groups of young people work together to survive.

Every year we look back and marvel at all the things we were able to achieve in the previous year. I want to thank Sharon, Gemma and the many artists and production staff we have worked with across the year. I also want to welcome Debra Allanson into the amazing Arena family. What strikes me most about 2022 is how much we learned about how best to serve the children and young people in our community through performance. It is a focus that will influence Arena’s work for many years to come.

CHRISTIAN LEAVESLEY Artistic Director and Co-CEO

JOURNEY WORKSHOP Image: Kerry Brown

2022 in numbers

LIVE PERFORMANCE

13,660 Attendees

167 Performances

71% in Regional Victoria

29% Interstate CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

4 Works in development

94 Artists employed SCHOOLS ENGAGEMENT

20 Workshop Sessions

600 Participants

ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

5300 Social media followers

Image: Kerry Brown

Country and Belonging

Dates

Term 1 2022, 1 day per week

Venue

California Gully Primary School

Artists

Annie Brigdale

Christian Leavesley

Tahli Corin

Hermione Merry

Technical support

James Bodin

Images: Kerry Brown, Tahli Corin, Christian Leavesley

Oppostie page: A selection of artworks created by students at California Gully Primary School during Arena’s Country and Belonging residency.

Country and Belonging was led by Yorta Yorta artist Annie Brigdale, working with Arena’s Artistic Director Christian Leavesley, Tahli Corin and Hermione Merry.

It was a multi-artform school residency that explored the children’s relationship to country. California Gully Primary School has a relatively large cohort of First Nations students in Bendigo, which was an important part of the discussion between Arena and the school in the planning stages of the project.

The heart of Country and Belonging was in facilitating every child in the school to write their own personal acknowledgment of country, describing what the country they live on means to them. The children worked with Arena’s artists to workshop ideas of belonging in relation to the spaces, people, and everyday activities in their lives.

Annie Brigdale worked with the children using traditional art forms, including storytelling, painting, and weaving. The creative team conducted workshops with new technologies including augmented reality, 3D scanning, film, audio, and drone photography.

The Country and Belonging residency ended with a wonderful community celebration of the work the children and Arena’s artists created together. The successes of the project were so profound, we have decided to roll this residency out to other schools in the area. This is the first time Arena has repeated the themes and content of a residency in this way.

Bloom

Bloom was a school residency at Belvoir Special Development School in Wodonga, which took place in the winter of 2022. The theme derived from the season we were originally planning for the residency – the spring of 2021 – and as a positive expansive theme for the students and artists to explore together.

Eliza Hull, Jolyon James and Christian Leavesley worked with students to create songs, soundscapes, audio stories, installations, animations, collages from garden objects, sand art and more, to build a multi-artform gallery.

The students and school community were welcomed into the gallery on the final day of the residency to share and celebrate the work. The students and artists delighted in showing what the incredible work they had collaborated to create.

Dates

20 to 24 June 2022

Venue

Belvoir Specialist School, Wodonga

Artists

Eliza Hull

Christian Leavesley

Jolyon James

Hidden Creature Gallery

Hidden Creature Gallery combines a digital tech workshop with a multi-layered public space activation. The project draws on children’s memories and experiences of a public space or school, to tell their stories through the medium of animated creatures. Arena Artists guide maker participants to photograph an interesting feature of the location before transforming the photo into an amazing, animated creature.

Using motion capture technology, the children animate the character with their own voice and movement. Then, using smart devices, children and their families hunt for the creatures hidden throughout the venue or outside location.

Hidden Creature Gallery enjoyed an extensive regional tour in 2022.

Arena is working with Nic Clark Management to secure further touring venues throughout 2023.

Dates and Venues

1-5 March

Wodonga Library

4-8 April

Dandenong

18-22 April

Cowra

10-14 June

Wangaratta

28 June - 2 July

Shoalhaven Artists

Gemma Notara

Jessica Murtagh

Mark Egan

Paris Balla

Phillip McInnes

Tim Sneddon

Image: Kelly Carpenter

Image: Jolyon James

Robot Song

Dates and Venues

5-6 May Bendigo

10-11 May Paramatta

13-14 May The Bowery

18-19 May Bathurst

30-31 May Dubbo

2-4 June Darling Quarter

9-11 June Queanbeyan

Writer/Director/Designer

Jolyon James

When eleven-year-old Juniper May receives a petition signed by her entire class stating that she is ‘the most hated person in the school’ her life is thrown into complete meltdown. After exhausting all other avenues her parents’ resort to the only thing they have left, a giant singing robot.

Based on a true story, Robot Song illustrates the profound, transformative nature of creativity that when combined with unconditional love, becomes an unstoppable force.

Assistant Director

Sarah Branton

Composer

Nathan Gilkes

Additional Sound Design

Ania Reynolds

Dramaturg

Christian Leavesley

Production Manager

James Bodin

Costume Designer

Beth Sayer

Set Builder

Thomas Eeles

Lighting Designer

Paul Lim and ADDITIVE

Stage Manager

Kyrilee Bodin

Cast

Sophie Smyth

Phil McInnes

Jo Abbott

Journey

Head far beneath the surface of the Earth... explore fantastic realms, solve puzzles and carry out missions to conquer Journey. Collaborate with other brave explorers and experience the wonder, joy and pure excitement of unimaginable places and creatures along the way.

Journey is real-life computer game, meets escape room, meets theatre show, meets role playing, meets virtual reality experience. It combines cutting-edge technology, through the use of augmented reality, vivid artworks and high-end graphics, sound and lighting design, set design, universal design principles, and more to create a truly inclusive, multi-sensory immersive experience everyone can enjoy.

In 2022 Arena assembled a line up of top artists from the theatre and the digital content industries, to conceive and prototype a narrative that plays through a series of physical and digital worlds. This work culminated in extraordinary industry showings taking place at Arena’s studios in December.

Artists

Christian Leavesley

Christine Smith

Lachlan Sleight

Paul Lim

Ania Reynolds

Blair Burke

Rachel Lee

Image: Kelly Carpenter

Hidden Creature Gallery in the Starlight Express Room at the Monash Children’s Hospital

One of the many projects that moved back and forth between the front burner and the back burner during the Covid period, Arena’s collaboration with The Starlight Foundation is one that was especially sensitive to the changing public health landscape. However, through November and December, the opportunity finally presented itself where we were able to go the Monash Children’s Hospital and scope out a project that could be resident in their Starlight Express Room(SER).

It was pure joy to attend the SER, and watch the Captains Starlight work with children playing games, doing craft and quizzes and every wonderful thing you could imagine.

In response, we began developing a special version of Hidden Creature Gallery especially for the children visiting The Starlight Express Room to play with the Captains. It begins with all the beautiful things you would expect from Hidden Creature Gallery, but adds a magical space narrative, hypersonic speakers, hexaflexagons, and heaps of other cool things.

We will complete the development and delivery of our special version of Hidden Creature Gallery for the Starlight Foundation in the first half of 2023.

Artists: Mark Egan

Jolyon James

Christian Leavesley

Image this page: Starlight Children’s Foundation

Opposite page: Kelly Carpenter

War of the Worlds

Dates and Venues

November 2022

Renmark, SA

Artists

Fleur Kilpatrick

Christian Leavesley

Stasia Beasley

Rhenn Soggee

Tom Kitney

Riverlands Young People

War of the Worlds is a ground-breaking collaboration between Arena Theatre, Riverland Youth Theatre and D’Faces Whyalla. It is a text-based community theatre work that will be performed simultaneously in three Australian regional towns. The premise for this new version of War of the Worlds is that on the night of an alien invasion, three regional theatre companies are presenting parallel versions of scenes from the classics. As chaos begins to descend on Australia, these companies find the only communication they have with the outside world is with each other. Together they confront their situation and help each other to survive.

Ensembles of young people from Bendigo, Renmark and Whyalla each perform for their own local audience, while streaming scenes and dialogue into the other two towns. Part of the artistic rationale for War of the Worlds is that the collaboration will echo the fictional plot. Regional perspectives will be shared and contrasted, as we build this ambitious performance. Our hope and expectation is that our young people will be empowered and validated by the connections they make, and the scale of this cross-borders project.

In November, creatives from the three companies met in Renmark, South Australia for a week-long initial creative development. We worked with first draft scripts written by Riverland Youth Theatre Artistic Director, Fleur Kilpatrick, and discussed them with the young performers they are being written for. We talked about the technical complexities of the project, and outlined a plan for how we would continue to develop the project.

James Bodin Brown Admin and Operations Coordinator

Kerry Brown Marketing Manager

Caitlin Williams Producer, Journey (June to December 2022)

Debra Allanson Executive Director (Incoming August 2022)

Wendy Buchan Accountant (Outgoing December 2022)

Christian Leavesley Artistic Director

Sharon Custers Executive Director (Outgoing May 2022)

Gemma Robertson Producer Interim Executive Director (May to July 2022)

Arena is very grateful to the following organisations for their support, partnership, and invaluable assistance.

State Partner

Presenting Partners

BATHURST MEMORIAL ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE

Project Partners

Anne Henshall (she/her) (Chair) has workedin Performing Arts Marketing and Event Management with Bendigo Venues & Events, the Bendigo Easter Festival and Bendigo Writers Festival for over 11 years. Previously a Board Member of Variety - the Children’s Charity Victorian Tent and the Bendigo Trust, Anne was also the creator of the Bendigo Kids Character Carnival, one of the Executive Production team on NED - A New Australian Musical that premiered at the opening of Ulumbarra Theatre and also produced a musical as part of a health promotion project for Bendigo Community Health. Anne has a passion for performing arts and the very real benefits to young people’s health and wellbeing whether through participation, performance or as part of an audience.

Debra Allanson (she/her) brings with her a wealth of experience in the creative industries through her work in television, film and innovative digital platforms, and deep strategic and operational management roles. She has worked extensively with start-up teams across a range of digital media businesses including an online platform for children’s creative development and expression. Debra is a long-standing member of the Vicscreen (formerly Film Victoria) investment and incentive committee having previously been a Board member for nine years, and is a former board member of Barking Gecko, Western Australia’s theatre company for children and their families.

Emily Fiori (she/her) is an experienced marketing and communications professional who is passionate about growing audiences and communicating the value of the creative industries. With more than a decade of experience leading high impact strategic media and marketing campaigns, Emily is the Senior Manager Marketing & Communications at VicScreen. She has previously held positions including Theatre Marketing Project Manager at Visit Victoria, Marketing and Communications Manager at Chunky Move, and Marketing Campaign Manager at Melbourne Theatre Company. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts, Arts Management from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts

Christian Leavesley (he/him) is Arena Theatre Company’s Artistic Director and Co- CEO. Before joining Arena, Christian was the co-Artistic Director of indie trailblazers Uncle Semolina(& friends), whose

multi-award winning works were programmed around Australia, including Melbourne International Festival, Malthouse Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, Sydney Opera House, Arts Centre Melbourne and internationally in Europe and Asia, including The Barbican Centre London, The Shanghai Centre for Dramatic Arts and The Chao Yung Centre, Beijing. Christian’s directing work for Arena Theatre includes Starchaser (AWGIE Award for Best Children’s Play), Marlin (3 Helpmann nominations, including Best New Australian Work, 1 Green Room nomination, Drama Victoria Best Play for Primary Aged Children), Trapper (2 Green Room nominations), Sunny Ray and the Magnificent Moon (Official Selection for China Children’s International Theatre Festival and ASSITEJ International Gathering) and Air Race (Darwin Festival).Christian is a recipient of The Malcolm Robertson Prize for new writing, and in 2020 was nominated for the Regional Development Victoria Leadership and Innovation Award. Aneke McCulloch (she/her) has worked locally and internationally as an administrator, producer and project manager in government and cultural organisations for over 18 years. With postgraduate qualifications in Arts Administration from RMIT, and a Diploma of Business Governance, Aneke has broad practical experience gained from working with organisations such as the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Heritage Council of Victoria, Creative Partnerships Australia, Lucy Guerin Inc, National Institute of Circus Arts, Auspicious Arts Projects, City of Melbourne, City of Darebin, and City of Port Phillip. Aneke has also been a freelance producer with Seesault Projects. She is currently the Executive Office Coordinator for the Energy Demand Efficiency and Safety Division at the Victorian Government Department of Environment Land Water and Planning.

Janice Muller (she/her) is a theatre and opera director based in Newstead, Victoria who has worked across Australia for companies and festivals including Belvoir, Carriageworks, Sydney Festival, Sydney Chamber Opera, Queensland Theatre, Perth Festival and internationally for the HAU, Berlin. She also collaborates as a writer, dramaturg and producer and creates site-specific work. In 2016 she was Director in Residence at Malthouse Theatre,

Melbourne. Janice is the recipient of several grants and scholarships including to the Royal Court Theatre in London. Her work has been nominated for several awards including for best director for Lake Disappointment which was nominated for five Sydney Theatre awards.

Liahn Nortje (he/him). Liahn is currently the COO at Film Victoria, supporting the film, television and digital games sectors of Victoria and has oversight of all strategic planning, financial, operational, risk management and governance requirements. Liahn is responsible for the delivery of high-impact and high-value operations, services, and initiatives to the organisation’s stakeholders through best practice organisational and grant governance and administration, leading strategic projects and efficiently allocating resources in line with corporate governance requirements. Liahn is also the CFO and provides strategic advice to the CEO and the Board on all finance, audit, risk, governance and compliance matters. Previously, he has held various senior finance and leadership roles within the screen, higher education and hospitality industries. Liahn is the chair of the Arena Theatre Company’s Finance Committee and is a member of CPA Australia and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK).

Abe Watson (he/him) Abe is an experienced arts manager and creative with specialist skills in theatrical production and operations, producing, and technical theatre. He is currently Artistic Operations Manager at Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne – home of two renowned cultural institutions: Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. Previously, Abe was Production Manager at Melbourne Theatre Company. Well-respected in the Central Victorian Creative Community, Abe is a Life Member of Bendigo Theatre Company (and former President), and worked in various operational roles across the Bendigo Venues and Events team for ten years. Abe’s producing and production management work includes Torch the Place, Berlin, Summer Series, Well That Happened, Cyrano and Touching the Void for MTC; Wicked, One Man Two Guvnors, Peter Pan for BTC; Assassins for 3’s A Crowd Inc.; First Date for Pipedream Productions; and, [title of show] as an

independent production. Abe holds a Bachelor of Arts (French/MediaComms), and a Master of Arts and Cultural Management from The University of Melbourne. Abe studied linguistics and history at Université Paris Didérot and has a working French proficiency.

Sandra Willis (she/her) is a leading arts sector executive with extensive experience of the strategic leadership of arts organisations. She is the CEO of Melbourne Recital Centre and is the former CEO of the Lyceum Club Melbourne providing artistic, cultural, intellectual, social and professional enrichment for women. Previously she was Executive Director of Opera Queensland, leading the company through a significant turn around and the renewal of one of Australia’s Major Performing Arts Companies. A graduate of NIDA she has held various senior roles including Executive Producer, Touring and Outreach at Opera Australia, General Manager Oz Opera, Company Manager of Bell Shakespeare and Company Manager of Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical. She has served as a partner of the Opera Conference, Branch Council member for the MEAA, Council Member for the Performing Arts Touring Alliance, Trustee of the Opera Australia Benevolent Fund and was a member of the Regional and Touring Arts Programs Expert Assessment Panel for the Office of the Arts, Prime Minister and Cabinet. Tom Wolff (he/him) is an experienced and enthusiastic family lawyer living and practising in Bendigo. Tom is an active member of the Bendigo Law Association, having previously served as President. Tom is a passionate about many facets of the Bendigo Community, having previously been involved in the Star Cinema Committee of Management (including as Chair) and Eaglehawk Town Hall Precinct Advisory Group, and regularly sits on local Cricket and Football tribunals. Tom also brings to the Arena Theatre Company board his background in the performing arts. Tom was trained in Music Composition at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance at Monash University and has been an creator and performer in student theatre, independent theatre and live music for many years.