Teresa Izzard Artistic CV 2025 by teresa izzard

Teresa Izzard (Artistic CV)

Artistic Director and Creative Producer Feet First Collective and Lead Coach of Feet First Collective Training Freelance Theatre Director and Movement Coach / Director Mobile: +61416530079

Email: teresaizzard@gmail.com

Website: teresaizzard.com

Socials: https://www.facebook.com/FeetFirstCollective & https://www.instagram.com/feetfirstcollective/

Overview

Teresa has a wealth of experience as a director, movement coach, producer, dramaturg and theatre educator She was Head of Movement at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2014 and a Theatre Arts lecturer at Curtin University, where she specialised in movement for actors and was a resident director, until 2020. Founded in 2015, she is the Artistic Director and Creative Producer of Feet First Collective (FFC), an awardwinning independent theatre company, making critically acclaimed work in Perth, Western Australia. The training wing offers professional development for creatives, one to one coaching and workshops in schools. Teresa combines running FFC with teaching into the Music Theatre course at WAAPA and is a teaching artist for WAAPA and Black Swan State Theatre Company. Her recent production of This Is Where We Live by Vivienne Walshe was described as “complex and tense … compelling viewing” by Vicki Renner for Arts Hub. Teresa brings her background in Somatics to her directorial practice and specialises in creating clear visual and physical dramaturgy for challenging, provocative texts and devised work. Teresa is a proud member of the inaugural Australian Directors Lab and an international convenor of The Labanarium. She was recently awarded funding to attend the Directors’ Symposium at La Mama Umbria International, where she studied with Anne Bogart. She is passionate about ethical professional practice and making necessary work.

Key Artistic Skills

• Directing productions with strong themes and high stakes (consent, intimacy and fight frameworks and protocols, ensemble building, ethical directing processes that are trauma informed, inclusive and empathetic)

• Creating a safe, common vocabulary using a unique blend of movement training to generate evocative, powerful and meaningful movement imagery for theatre (using the Laban/Bartenieff and Viewpoints languages as unbiased, inclusive ways of identifying habits and providing options for functional and expressive movement choices)

• Producing independent theatre (feminist leadership, fundraising, budgeting, team building, grant writing and project management)

• Mentoring emerging artists (directors, designers, actors, dramaturgs, stage managers, writers and producers)

• Dramaturgy and running feedback forums (artistic coaching to elicit and sharpen artistic ideas, asking effective questions and how to give and receive effective critique / feedback)

Key Qualifications

PhD* in Theatre Directing, Curtin University / WAAPA, WA. (*Winner of the Phillip Parsons Prize for Excellence in Practice-Led Research for The Yellow Wallpaper)

Dynamic Embodiment Practitioner, Centre for Kinaesthetic Education, NYC. Certified Movement Analyst, Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, NYC. Graduate Diploma in Education (Drama and English), Edith Cowan University, WA. MA in Theatre Directing, University of East Anglia, UK.

Significant Professional Training Theatre/Movement

Viewpoints and Composition Masterclass with Zen Zen Zo, Perth, WA.

La MaMa International Directors Symposium, Spoleto, Italy. Tutors included Anne Bogart and Stacey Klein.

Producing coaching with Chris Grady.

Private directing training with Elen Bowman (Science of Acting), UK (ongoing).

Private directing training with Di Trevis, UK.

Artistic coaching with David J Diamond and Kath Burlinson.

Directing Masterclasses with Colin Elwood and Simon Usher at Rose Bruford College, UK.

Viewpoints Masterclass with Mary Overlie at Rose Bruford College, UK.

Dramaturgy Training with Peter Matheson - Playwriting Australia and The Blue Room Theatre, WA (2016-2017).

Producing coaching with Laura Milke Garner

Summer Training Intensive (Viewpoints, Suzuki, Speaking and Dramaturgy) and Symposium Transformation through Training with SITI Company, Saratoga Springs, New York (2015 and 2017).

Masterclasses in Action Theatre with Sten Runstrom and Danielle Cresp in London and Melbourne. Lecoq Training with Simon Wood and Marian Masoliver at the Actors’ Space, Barcelona.

Movement Masterclass with Wendy Houston (DV8) at International Workshop Festival, VCA, Melbourne. Directing and Movement (Lecoq) with Lorna Marshall at the City Literary Institute, London and WAAPA Movement/Somatics

Co-organising a 2025 visit by Martha Eddy to Australia.

Online Bartenieff Fundamentals classes with Martha Eddy and Mandy Chan.

Co-created and organised an online Somatic conference with international colleagues in 2020.

Participated and co-organised symposia with Laban colleagues in Australia (2019, 2020)

Assisted Martha Eddy CMA PhD teaching Embodied Anatomy in New Jersey for an MA in Dance.

Advanced training group in Laban / Bartenieff Studies at Agape Institute in Belgium with master teachers Karen Bradley and Karen Studd (2012).

Anatomy with Amy Matthews and Irene Dowd, Anatomy and Biochemistry with Irene Dowd and Rebecca Dietzel

Dynamic Embodiment with Martha Eddy, Linda Tumberello and Trisha Baumen.

Body Mind Centring and Yoga with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Amy Matthews.

Body Mind Centring and dance with Alice Cummins.

Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals with Sandra Kay Laufenneberger and Peggy Hackney.

Recent Professional Theatre Credits

Year Production

2025 In pre-production Shadow Boxing by James Gaddas

2024 Shadow Boxing*** by James Gaddas

2023 Shadow Boxing by James Gaddas

2023 Medusa Original Immersive work (World Premiere)

2022 The Flower that Fell from the Sky by Heloise Wilson (World Premiere)

2022 This Is Where We Live by Vivienne Walshe (Melbourne Premiere)

2022 This Is Where We Live by Vivienne Walshe (WA Premiere)

Role

Producer / Director / Movement Coach

Producer / Director / Writer / Dramaturg / Movement Coach

Producer / Director / Movement Coach

20202022 The Dirty Mother by Michelle Hall Movement Coach

2021 Next Stop: Reality by Madelaine Page

2020-

2022 (Creative development) Medusa Original work inspired by the Medusa myth

Dramaturg

Producer / Director / Collaborator / Movement Coach

Company Venue

Feet First Collective Flight Path Theatre, Sydney.

Feet First Collective and Theatre Works Theatre Works, Melbourne

Feet First Collective Jonesway Theatre FRINGEWORLD 2024

Feet First Collective Erskineville Town Hall Sydney Fringe 2023

Feet First Collective The Rechabite Hall

Feet First Collective and Little y The Blue Room Theatre

Feet First Collective Theatre Works Melbourne Fringe 2022

Feet First Collective Girls School FRINGEWORLD 2022

Michelle Hall and the Dirty Others State of Play FRINGEWORLD 2022 / Summer Nights 2020

Madelaine Page Girls School for FRINGEWORLD

Feet First Collective (2021 Artists in residence at FAC)

Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) and Feet First Collective Studio

2020 S-27 by Sarah Grochala (SA premiere)

2019 S-27 by Sarah Grochala (WA premiere)

2016 Frankenstein: Some Assembly Required* Original work inspired by the novel by Mary Shelley (World Premiere)

2011 The Yellow Wallpaper** Adapted by Silvia Lehmann and Teresa Izzard from the story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (World Premiere)

Producer, Director and Movement Coach

Producer / Director / Lead Writer / Movement Coach

Feet First Collective The Breakout, The Mill Adelaide Adelaide Fringe 2020

Feet First Collective and Fremantle Festival Fremantle Arts Centre

Feet First Collective and Fremantle Festival Moores Building, Fremantle

Producer / Director / Co-adaptor Movementworks The Blue Room Theatre and Denmark Civic Centre

(* Original work commissioned for the Fremantle Festival 2016 / **Nominated for ‘Best New Play’ by WA Equity Guild Awards) 2013 and winner of the Phillip Parsons Prize 2014 /*** Winner of a Weekly Prize for Theatre and Performance FRINGE WORLD 2024)

Selected Reviews

★★★★1/2 "Addison is a phenomenal performer and he acts what is essentially a 50 minute monologue with emotion and heart. It’s a compelling performance by an actor at the top of his game."

(Laura Money on ‘Shadow Boxing’ for Fourth Wall Media)

★★★★ “a raw, vivid and exciting piece of theatre.”

(Helen Hopcraft on Shadow Boxing for Arts Hub)

“Any solo, one-man show is an impressive feat. Add in boxing, skipping, push-ups, and 50 minutes of rigorous storytelling, and that’s a superhuman ability. I don’t think you’ll find another piece of theatre this polished yet gritty in this year’s Fringe program."

(Holly Ferguson on ‘Shadow Boxing’ for Magazine 6000)

★★★★1/2 " Feet First Collective has created an unforgettable experience of immersive theatre in 'Medusa', which is sure to inspire an array of innovative creative endeavours."

(Nanci Nott for Arts Hub)

“I’ve never seen the full three storeys of The Rechabite Hall so brilliantly used for a single performance.” (Jay Darroch on MEDUSA for Magazine 6000)

“The performers were all excellent, the story was unpredictable, and fun was had by all who entered 'The Temple!' ” (Melissa Kruger on MEDUSA for Xpress Magazine)

★★★★ “Surreal moments abound, increasing in absurdity as the play progresses … Places and objects become conduits for memory and extensions of mind.”

(Nanci Nott on The Flower that Fell from the Sky for Arts Hub)

★★★★★ " … a sharp script rendered intense by Beeton and Addison’s high-octane performances.”

(Laura Money for The Fourth Wall on This Is Where We Live)

★★★★★ " … the impact of the inevitable conclusion is a tragic gut-punch delivered by a powerful group of theatre makers." (Laura Money for The Fourth Wall on This Is Where We Live)

★★★★1/2 ” On a bare stage, two young actors play out a story that bleeds … [they] … are extraordinary The

direction ... has yielded exquisite and heartfelt performances.”

(Vicki Renner for Arts Hub on This Is Where We Live - Melbourne Fringe season)

★★★★1/2 “… this is a taut, relentless and powerful production from a very accomplished company.” (John Wells on 'S-27' for Adelaide Theatre Reviews)

★★★★★ " it is the authenticity of the acting on display... that truly transports you to the prison camp ." (James Murphy on ‘S-27’ for The Serenade Files)

“Atmosphere is present from the beginning this work is full of risks – both physical and metaphorical …” (Marion Slany on Frankenstein: SAR, Arts Hub)

“Its fragmented, immersive presentation … is ambitious and striking. Some of its tableaux deliver an almost physical shock.”

(David Zampatti on Frankenstein: SAR, From the Turnstiles)

“The production succeeds in adapting for the stage the perilous ‘inner worlds’ typical of Gothic texts The Yellow Wallpaper is the perfect haunting.”

(Sarah Dunstan, The Pelican)

“The Yellow Wallpaper is a truly stunning production ...” (Kaitlyn Plyley, Theatre People)

Recent Tertiary and Education Credits

Year Production Role Company Venue

2023 Jane Eyre by Christine Davey (WA premiere)

Director

2022 Hamlet by William Shakespeare Director

2022 Metamorphosis by Steven Berkoff

2021 Things I Know to be True by Andrew Bovell

2021 Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens by Bill Russell and music by Janet Hood

2020 Metamorphosis by Steven Berkoff (WA premiere)

2019 Machinal by Sophie Treadwell (WA premiere)

Director

Director / Movement Director

Feet First Collective Training for Santa Maria College PS Fremantle

Studio production as an Artist in Residence at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) WAAPA

Feet First Collective Training for John Curtin College of the Arts (JCCA)

Feet First Collective Training for JCCA

John Curtin Theatre

Studio production as an Artist in Residence at WAAPA WAAPA

Director and Movement Coach Hayman Theatre Company New Hayman Theatre

Director and Movement Coach

2018 Wendy and Peter Pan by Ella Hickson Movement Director (Dir. Amanda Huxtable)

2017 Afternoon by Jon Fosse (Australian premiere)

Hayman Theatre Company and Perth FRINGEWORLD New Hayman Theatre

Santa Maria College Santa Maria College

Director and Movement Coach Hayman Theatre Company New Hayman Theatre

2016 Body Farm by Michael Collins Movement Coach (Dir. Will O’Mahony) Hayman Theatre Company The Blue Room Studio

2016 Love and Information by Caryl Churchill (WA premiere)

2015 In a Bony Embrace by Gita Bezard

2015 Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind (Trans. Franzen)

2014 Columbinus by Steven Karam and PJ Paparelli

2014 Punk Rock by Simon Stephens

Director, Movement Coach

Movement Coach (Dir. Adam Mitchell)

Director and Movement Coach

Movement Coach (Dir. Jeffrey Jay Fowler)

Movement Coach (Dir. Will O’Mahony)

2014 Realism by Anthony Nielsen Movement Coach (Dir. Anthony Skuse)

2014 Festen adapted by David Eldridge

2014 Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

2014 Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca

2014 Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht

2014 The Grapes of Wrath Adapted by Frank Galati from the novel by John Steinbeck

2014 Illyria for FRINGEWORLD By Bryony Lavery

2013 Illyria By Bryony Lavery (Australian Premiere)

Movement Coach (Dir. Andrea Moor)

Movement Coach (Dir. Matt Edgerton)

Dramaturg / Movement Coach (Dir. Ross MacGregor)

Movement Coach (Dir. Michael Jenn)

Movement Coach (Dir. Sandie Eldridge)

Theatre Company The Blue Room Studio

Theatre Company Phillips Theatre

The Enright Studio

The Roundhouse

The Enright Studio

The Roundhouse

The Enright Studio

Co-producer, Director and Movement Coach Hayman Theatre Company and FRINGEWORLD Phillips Theatre

Co-producer, Director and Movement Coach Hayman Theatre Company Phillips Theatre

Movement / Intimacy Coaching – selected credits

Year Production

2023 Medusa Original Immersive work (World Premiere)

Producer / Director / Writer / Dramaturg / Movement Coach Feet First Collective Rape sequence Coercive control

2023 Jane Eyre by Christine Davey (WA premiere) Director

2022 This Is Where We Live by Vivienne Walshe (Melbourne and WA Premieres)

2019/ 20 S-27 by Sarah Grochala (WA and SA premieres)

Producer / Director / Movement Coach

Producer, Director and Movement Coach

Feet First Collective Training for Santa Maria College

Murder sequence Stylised fights*

Contact training

Stylised violence

Simple fights*

Feet First Collective Scenes with sexual content Stylised fights* Domestic Violence

Feet First Collective Violent sequences including suffocation, burns, beating and audience engagement ** Sex scene

2019 Machinal by Sophie Treadwell (WA premiere)

2016 Frankenstein * Original work inspired by the novel by Mary Shelley (World Premiere)

2015 Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind (Trans. Franzen)

2014 Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca

2013/ 4 Illyria for FRINGEWORLD

By Bryony Lavery (Australian Premiere)

Director and Movement Coach

Producer / Director / Lead Writer / Movement Coach

Director and Movement Coach

Hayman Theatre Company and Perth FRINGEWORLD

Partial nudity

Love scene / Kissing Birth trauma Execution

Feet First Collective and Fremantle Festival Kissing Hanging

Hayman Theatre Company

Dramaturg / Movement Coach / Director (Dir. Ross MacGregor) WAAPA

Co-producer, Director and Movement Coach

Hayman Theatre Company and FRINGEWORLD

Sexual assault scene

Partial nudity

Suicide Abortion Fights**

Love scene

Gang rape Sex scene

NB: Stage Combat created by or in collaboration with someone with training in the area but often falls to me to run drills and give notes during performance seasons. * Samuel Addison **Andy Fraser

Referees

Crispin Taylor

Coordinator – Acting Program / Resident Director (Music Theatre)

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts

2 Bradford Street

Mount Lawley

WA 6050

Tel: +61 8 9370 6450 / 0438 295 950

Email: crispin.taylor@ecu.edu.au

Associate Professor Susan Bradley Smith

Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing

Curtin University

School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry

Faculty of Humanities

Tel: +61 8 9266 7217 / 0407 457 540

Email: Susan.Bradleysmith@curtin.edu.au