Board members

Anne Henshall (CHAIR)

Anne has worked in 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 Varietythe 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 and her husband Paul have two daughters Ellen and Georgey who are both heavily involved in community and professional performance and as a family they have performed together in numerous dramas and musicals with local Bendigo community theatre groups. 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.

Jon Anstey

Jon has had an extensive career in law, finance and strategy both overseas and in Australia. He has previously worked for the United Nations in Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Pakistan. Most recently Jon was the Executive General Manager of Insight and Innovation at Coliban Water. Jon is passionate about the community and is currently serving on the boards of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Castlemaine District Community Health and Lot 19 Galley Art Collective to name just a few.

Janice Muller

Janice is a theatre director based in Newstead, Victoria. In 2016 she was Director in Residence at the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne. Her most recent credits include the world premiere of Ned, composer Luke Styles/ libretto Peter Goldsworthy (Perth Festival), co-adaptor with Osamah Sami and director Good Muslim Boy, (Malthouse Theatre, Queensland Theatre) and the Australian premiere of Revolt She Said. Revolt Again by Alice Birch (Malthouse Theatre).

She has directed works for a range of independent and mainstream companies including ATYP, UTP, Sydney Festival, Belvoir, Carriageworks, Sydney Chamber Opera and the Castlemaine State Festival. Her work has been nominated for Sydney Theatre and Greenroom awards and The Tribe won the 2016 FBI SMAC award for Best on Stage.

Janice has received various scholarships and awards including the inaugural Playwriting Australia Dramaturgy Fellowship in 2006, the VCA’s Keith & Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Scholarship in 2003 and in a scholarship to attend the Royal Court Thaetre’s international residency program in 2001. She is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, the University of New South Wales and AFTRS. She has previously worked as a radio journalist, news reader, media advisor and publicist.

Liahn Nortje

Liahn is currently the Chief Finance Officer at VicScreen, supporting the film, television and digital games sectors of Victoria and has oversight of all financial, operational, risk management and governance requirements as the Head of Corporate Services. Previously, he has held various senior finance and leadership roles within the screen, higher education and hospitality industries. Liahn is a member of CPA Australia and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK).

Sandra Willis

Sandra is a leading arts sector executive with extensive experience of the strategic leadership of arts organisations. She is currently General Manager of The Lyceum Club Melbourne, the world’s busiest Lyceum Club providing artistic, intellectual, social and professional enrichment. 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

Tom is currently a lawyer with O’Farrell Robertson McMahon, which he joined after moving to Bendigo in 2013. He practices in all aspects of family law. Since moving to Bendigo, Tom has been an active and engaged member of local professional and cultural communities, having spent time as Chairperson and committee member of the Star Cinema Bendigo and as President of the Bendigo Law Association.

Tom is also a musician and composer having performed and composed music for productions programmed in the Adelaide and Melbourne Fringe Festivals, Castlemaine Writers Festival among others. An alum of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Monash University Student Theatre, he is proud to continue an involvement in the performing arts as a Director of Arena Theatre Company.

Directors

Christian leavesley // Artistic Director and co-CEO

Christian Leavesley is the Artistic Director of Arena Theatre Company. He studied theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts, Monash University and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Before joining Arena Christian co-founded multi-award winning company Uncle Semolina (& friends), whose works such as Gilgamesh, Ticky Tacky and OT were known for their innovative use of playing space and theatrical form. Leavesley’s work has appeared in festivals and venues across Australia, and internationally in Asia, North America and Europe. Leavesley’s works for Arena include Starchaser, Marlin, Marlin Expedition, Point of View, The Sleepover, Sunny Ray and the Magnificent Moon, Trapper and Air Race.

Sharon Custers // Executive Director and co-CEO

Sharon has more than 20 years’ experience in the performing arts industry, including roles with Sydney Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and Cirque du Soleil.

She recently headed up Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre (BREC) as their Executive Director, leading them to success in receiving the Drover award for Australian Performing Arts Centre of the Year 2017. At BREC, Sharon developed and implemented a new strategic vision for the organisation with a focus on youth and education and capacity building for local artists. This included the development of a Youth Performance Company in partnership with Artistic Director, Kathryn Osbourne of The Last Great Hunt.

Staff

Jolyon James // Artistic Associate

Gemma Robertson // Producer

Eliza Hull // Artistic Associate, Access and Inclusion

David Gagliardi // Development Manager

Gayle McClure // Administration Coordinator

Wendy Buchan // Accountant

Acknowledgements

We’d like to acknowledge our significant donors and supporters. With your support, we’ve not only made it through one of the most challenging years the company has faced, but we’ve created some amazing works too.

The support of Creative Partnerships Australia with $50,000 in matched funding inspired philanthropic support from hundreds of old and new donors, so we thank them for investing in Arena. We thank the Besen Foundation and the Ulumbarra Foundation who supported the company generously once again.

Government funding came in many shapes and forms in 2021; Arena’s key projects attracted support from the Federal Government’s RISE Fund, the Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Victoria, The City of Greater Bendigo and the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Thank you to all our funding partners.

Special thanks to these significant supporters for their donations:

Carol Holsworth

Cynthia Holsworth

Gary & Lyndal McClure

Kangaroo Flat Community Enterprise

Eliza Hull

Jacinta Jackson

Ashley Thomson

Tom & Felicity Wolff

Sandra Willis

Anne Henshall

Liahn Nortje

Marylou Verberne

Penelope Bartlau

Dawn Colbourne

Rod Fyffe

Liz Grainger

Ben Grant

Herbert & Margaret Hermans

Brian Higazi

Catherine Jones

Carolyn Stanford

Richard Stuart

Creating extraordinary experiences for young people