CAST AND CREATIVES
Featuring
We would like to acknowledge all the artists who have worked with Zen Zen Zo over the last thirty years. We would not be here without you.
Director - Gina Tay Limpus
Producer - Nicole Reilly Writer and Dramaturg - Betty Sweetlove
Maisie Crosdale
Amy Chien-Yu Wang
Eli Free Hailey Graham Wayne Jennings
Teeka Latif Liam Linane Maxine Mossman
Stuart Nix Indiah Morris Jackson O’Sullivan Michelle Roberts Betty Sweetlove Amelia Zadro Chalise Van Wyngaardt
Photography by Amelia Zadro.
Special thanks goes to Lynne Bradley, Ben Adams, Annie Adams, Clive Adams, Warwick Gow, Maddy Williams-Ritchie, Lauren Story and Steven May Productions.
GINA TAY LIMPUS (she/her) is a Matilda Awardwinning physical performer, director and theatremaker. As Associate Director for Zen Zen Zo, Gina’s credits include REBIRTH, Be All//End All, Queendom Animalia, Leonardo’s Last Supper (AD) and Zen Zen Zo’s The Tempest (AD), along with numerous In-School-Residency productions.
Gina's practice is founded in an extensive exploration of the Suzuki Method of Actor Training, Butoh Dance-Theatre, Viewpoints, Lecoq, the Andante Method, Feldenkrais, aerial performance, contact improvisation and a bodyfirst approach to performance and devising. Deeply interested in ritual and ceremony, Gina’s independent practice investigates the role of ritual in our everyday lives, how we build community and establish self through repeated conscious and unconscious behaviour.
Nicole Reilly, proudly a queer, Wiradyuri woman, is the Artistic Director of Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre She is a creative producer, director, performer, teaching artist, current recipient of the Enoch Scholarship with Queensland University of Technology, and the inaugural Wandima Fellow with the Brisbane Powerhouse After graduating from an innovative practice based Performing Arts Master’s Program at University of the Sunshine Coast (where she studied advanced producing, event management, marketing, grant writing, and arts administration, as well as traveling to Japan to dance butoh with Dairakudakan), she has produced over 55 works across metro, regional and remote Queensland Nicole has produced sold out seasons for Zen Zen Zo, including their 4 part award winning docu series TheatreMakers, as well as a touring multicultural music conversation SONGS OF GAIA directed by Linsey Pollak, a theatrical EP release for celebrated Quandamookan musician Sachém, Dawn Awakening for the Horizon Festival a site specific contemporary First Nations ceremony, and has presented at Drama Queensland, Drama Territory, Drama Australia and Newcastle's StageCon Currently she is on her journey home, remembering language and culture with her mob out on Country through Charles Sturt University
Gina Tay Limpus - Director
Nicole Reilly - Producer
Betty Sweetlove - Writer and Dramaturg
Betty Sweetlove is a performer, writer and dramaturg based in/between Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and Meanjin (Brisbane). Betty has recently written and produced her first full length play, The Nestmakers, which premiered at the Desert Festival 2022. Betty is interested in theatre that intervenes in the historical record and generates moments of collective joy. Betty has trained and worked with Zen Zen Zo since 2020, developing her physical theatre practice, teaching skills and dramaturgical methodology. Recent credits include Zen Zen Zo’s Romeo and Juliet (2022), COLLIDE with Browns Mart Theatre (2021), and The Maids at Totem Theatre (2021). As a writer, Betty was awarded the Arts NT 2021 Varuna Fellowship and was a Fresh Ink writer with ATYP. She is currently writing for Marian St Youth Theatre and working on her next play.
Graduating from QUT with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) with Distinction, Maisie Crosdale is an independent theatre- maker, actor and producer. With an extensive background in contemporary dance and ballet paired with her skills in visual arts, physical theatre and puppetry, Maisie has an intricate and diverse approach to visual theatre making. She recently produced a work for Anywhere Theatre Festival, titled A Matter of Material – a Puppetry show about sustainability and environmental conservation, which received the 2022 Queensland Communify Award. Most recently, Maisie was the movement director and performer in Dead Puppet Society's Lab academy, in BLAT production's: Ta Da
Maisie Crosdale - Performer
Amy Chien-Yu Wang - Performer
Amy Chien-Yu Wang is a Taiwan-born storyteller, performer, playwright, director and theatre-maker. She is fascinated by the power of theatre to connect and impact its audience. As a former SBS multicultural journalist, Amy is passionate about bringing different cultures together through her storytelling of migrant stories. The creative entrepreneurship internship with Zen Zen Zo has added layers of physical movement and mindfulness to her naturalistic acting style which she is immensely grateful to have been apart of.
Eli Free is a queer multidisciplinary artist living and creating in Brisbane/Ipswich. Having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary and Applied Theatre, Eli has grown very fond of collaborative theatre making and has continued down this path by joining various collectives to expand her experience including the Backbone Youth Ensemble (2018) Squirt Productions (2020), and most recently Zen Zen Zo as a 2022 Intern. Eli's femlin vibe is drawn from her sex working background and clowning interests. A novice puppeteer, intermediate mover and fulltime silly goose.
Eli Free - Performer
Hailey Graham - Performer
Hailey Graham (she/her) is a Brisbane-based emerging video game developer, director, deviser, and performer dedicated to investigating the intersection between her creative practices. She is particularly interested in using non-traditional mediums to tell new stories in a theatre context. She has trained as a physical theatre and composition (method of devising) with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Company and as a choral singer under the instruction of Kathryn Morton. Notably, she has worked on and performed in devised works with Jason Klarwein, Gina Tay Limpus and Nicholas Trethan and has travelled internationally with St Peter's Chorale.
Wayne Jennings (He/Him) is a Meanjin-based Musician, Actor, Dancer, Director, and Educator. First trained as a classical cellist, he soon found himself drawn to multi-disciplinary arts performances. Wayne works as a musician with a variety of projects, including the dark cabaret ensemble Silver Sircus, and as a musician and movement coach for DeepBlue Orchestra. Wayne first collaborated with Zen Zen Zo as Co-Music Director for 2013’s Here There Be Dragons Since then he’s been a constant presence in The Actors’ Dojo - finding that the rigours of Suzuki Physical Theatre Training complements the technical precision required in Classical Music very nicely. He has also collaborated as Music Director and performer in 2016’s In The Company Of Shadows, and in 2016 traveled with the company to Japan to train with Butoh company Dairakudakan. Wayne joined Zen Zen Zo as a Company Member and Teaching Artist in 2019, making his debut performance as Prospero in Zen Zen Zo’s The Tempest; and later that year performing as Federico Garcia Lorca in The Unspeakable Dreams of Salvador Dali.
Wayne Jennings - Performer
Teeka Latif - Performer
Teeka Latif is an emerging performing artist and frontline activist. Currently residing on the stolen lands of the Kabi Kabi and Gubbi Gubbi nations, Teeka is a multidisciplinary artist expressing herself through music, poetry, story telling and physical theatre. She also studies Indigenous Knowledge at Southern Cross University.
Liam Linane is a dynamic artist with a diverse skill set in physical performance, singing, contemporary dance and acrobatics. He has trained extensively with renowned Brisbane-based Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre since 2018, become a Company Member shortly after. He has worked with Movie World, Aussie World, Folly Games, Lightning Bolt Creative, Broad Encounters, For the Record, and Curtain World, to name a few. Liam has worked extensively as a professional silly boy, and you’d be lucky to have him. Please, take him.
Liam Linane - Performer
Maxine Mossman - Performer
Maxine Mossman is a Brisbane-based emerging theatre maker with a focus in holistic theatre design and contemporary performance curation. While completing her Bachelor of Creative Industries (Drama), Maxi is also heavily involved with physical theatre company, Zen Zen Zo discovering a deeper dedication for intrinsic, elemental and multifaceted storytelling, engaging with a high energy impulse towards creating art. Maxi's diverse skill set and passions in stage management, visual art, stage design and costume design cultivates theatrical worlds which leaves audiences in awe and wanting more.
Indiah Morris - Performer
Indiah is a Meanjin-based multi-disciplinary artist, producer and founder of promising independent theatre company The Drawer Productions. Indiah (she/her) has been working in and around Brisbane theatre and the arts for the last five years. Passionate about the arts community, she immerses herself in exciting, colourful and transdisciplinary works as performer, producer and regular patron. In recent years, she has made an impact on the independent theatre scene directing the multi-award winning production SHELTER: The Immersive Experience. Her performance and producing work continued to bring in acclaim with Hello Stranger, an immersive production in partnership with Alzheimer’s Queensland that won the Queensland Theatre Emerging Theatre award and People’s Choice at the Anywhere Theatre Festival.
Stuart Nix - Performer
Always described as theatrical ‘See also: “Weird”’, Brisbane boy Stuart has had a passion for performing arts that goes back all the way to the iconic nativity scene However a fair bit of time has passed since being a Shepard and his tastes are slightly more out there these days With a passion for physical theatre, He has trained with various physical theatre companies in Brisbane including Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre. His performance styles range from small, homespun street theatre to full scale productions and he has been working as a Teaching Artist for the past few years Working with Anne Bogarts Viewpoints Method, The Suzuki Method of Actor Training and Butoh Dance Theatre, Stuart enjoys teaching students that there is a lot more to physical theatre than Theatre Sports
Jackson O'Sullivan - Performer
Jackson is an actor working across film, TV and theatre. He is a cofounder of Firelight Theatre, an independent company with a focus on intimate story-telling, and is passionate about the craft of acting and creation of new work. Jackson graduated in 2013 from QUT’s Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting), and also works as an acting coach.
Michelle Roberts - Performer
Michelle Roberts (they/them) is a queer and disabled physical theatre performance artist, vocalist, and theatre maker. Following some recent time off, they are beginning their return to industry with Zen Zen Zo's Creative Entrepreneur Company Internship 2022, the end of which will mark a decade of physical actor training under Lynne Bradley, Simon Woods, Nicole Reilly, and various guest artists. In addition to their extensive history with Zen Zen Zo, Michelle has an undergraduate degree in Contemporary Performance and Applied Theatre, through which they worked under established artists such as Michael Futcher, Margi Brown Ash, Shaun Charles, and Linda Hassall.
Amelia Zadro - Performer
Amelia Zadro has had a successful, decade-long career in Arts and Entertainment industry, modelling and acting in commercials. She has worked with leading companies in Australia, UK and USA, like Diesel, Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Amelia studied psychology, yoga and meditation and has advocated for improving mental health and body image norms in the modelling industry. She is now training with renowned performing arts schools NIDA and Zen Zen Zo and transitioning her career to focus on acting.
Chalise van Wyngaardt is a South-AfricanAustralian spoken word artist and theatre maker whose work centres around telling real, raw, and original queer stories. As a theatre-maker, Chalise debuted their first play Death Training in 2017 at Melbourne Fringe with rave reviews and standing ovations, shortly followed by their 2018 oneperson-show Objectophilia. As a spoken word artist Chalise has won numerous awards including the 2022 Nimbin Poetry World Cup, and the 2018 Bellingen Reader Writer's Festival Slam. Their poetry short film Like Odysseus was the official selection for Word Travels' 2022 Storyweek. Chalise is currently training with Zen Zen Zo Theatre Company in Brisbane and working on their latest play.
Chalise van Wyngaardt - Performer
ZEN ZEN ZO is a Brisbane-based physical theatre company at the forefront of contemporary performance and training in Australia. Founded by Lynne Bradley & Simon Woods in 1992, the company has continually produced innovative theatre experiences that have challenged and delighted the audiences. Zen Zen Zo has created over 50 new productions ranging from radical reinterpretations of the classics to innovative self-devised works, many of which have been showcased at national and international festivals.
Zen Zen Zo’s aesthetic was forged between the ancient Asian dance-theatre traditions, the European avant-garde theatre movement, and contemporary pop culture. This fusion of old and new gives Zen Zen Zo its unique appeal, and an audience base that spans several generations. Zen Zen Zo believes in a theatre of contact, in which the relationship between the actors and the audience is at once intimate and shocking, compelling and confrontational, ritualistic and profane.
