RISING STAR

Lots of people are surprised when I tell them my age. I guess it’s true that I am more mature than most of my peers. It probably started around age seven, when I first picked up a broom and became the regular “help” at my parents’ South Sydney hairdressing salon. Amid the hair clippings and chatty clients, I absorbed their culture of hard work, decorum, and service. By ten, I was washing hair and greeting high-profile customers.

My responsibilities continued at home, where I was the primary caregiver for my sister Georgia, who has DiGeorge, CHARGE syndrome and severe intellectual and physical disabilities. I taught her essential skills, even to walk. Today, I still manage my time caring for her needs to support my parents alongside her disability support plan. Georgia and I share a strong bond, and she has exceeded doctors’ expectations. Her growth is something I cherish and is a touchstone for me when I am having a stressful week.

Leadership has always come naturally to me. When I was in Year 12, and coming out as a transgender male, I participated in a successful campaign to have trousers added to Glebe’s St Scholastica’s College uniform. I was also a real theatre kid. As Drama Captain, I was responsible for the backstage crew, and quickly learned the ins and outs of lighting rigs and other aspects of theatre production.

My dream was to become an actor, but the careers department urged me to find a backup plan, so I enrolled in a Psychology degree - the first person in my close family to be accepted into university. I quickly realised it wasn’t for me, though, and after a year, I decided to follow my first love – the creative arts. I began writing and directing my own plays, working with charities, and even launching my own production company with my best friend, Amy Nelson. But I still needed money, and that’s when I turned to my lighting skills.

I might have stretched the truth a bit to get my foot in the door of the industry, but my school experience and YouTube tutorials proved to be enough to get me started. I received work with groups such as the Sydney Fringe Festival and shadowed top lighting designers to learn the ropes. My journey eventually led me to the PACT Centre for Emerging Artists, which in turn led to an artist residency at Flightpath Theatre and a short internship at the Sydney Opera House (while I was working at Wenona).

It was through a job site called StarNow that I found the casual technician role at the Independent Theatre. My old Drama teacher, who performed on its stage early in her career, had urged me to apply.

The Theatre is a grand old dame with a storied past and dearly loved by many stalwarts of the industry. It meant a lot to me when I was offered the role of Manager in Term 3 of 2022. That said, at first, I felt like I had run up to the end of a cliff and dived off, mostly due to the challenges of balancing the competing interests of both the School and the wider theatrical community. Class requirements, school productions, and external bookings can often overlap and my days were filled with managing complex lighting, sound, and set transitions for productions like Annie Jr. and The Crucible, as well as dealing with a huge variety of stakeholders. But I soon found my footing and developed systems to make everything run smoothly.

I am passionate about overseeing upcoming, renovations, an improved website, and other marketing efforts to attract more professional production companies and larger audiences, especially of young people.

My dreams for the future include travelling to famous international theatres to learn about their operations and studying movement and clowning at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

When I am off work, I enjoy painting – both abstract and figurative works in oil, inspired by artists like Egon Schiele. My girlfriend and I also brew our own beer, and I love cooking traditional Greek food from my heritage for friends. Our apartment is often filled with guests, as we love having people constantly dropping in and hanging out. And, like so many children of salon owners, I cut my friends’ hair in my spare time.