I think he thinks I am a little bit soft around the edges, that I’m a little bit sentimental. He has a confidence that I didn’t have at his age. He’s 19 years old and has a lot to learn but he seems to be tracking really well. I have a real admiration for how Yvan carries himself. He’s very single-minded and he does do things his own way. But everything Yvan does has always been his own choice.

It was really beautiful to work with them both. I remember Yvan was still at John Curtin and I wanted him to have a chance to work with Stefan, so I wrote Rites for them. While I was in Sydney, I met my partner, the dancer and performer Stefan Karlsson, and we had two children together, Yvan and Niklas (17). A lot of my work is around women and women’s stories and it’s amazing to see that translate through the bodies of performers and artists to an audience. I love making work, whether it’s theatre, circus, dance or puppetry.

It was a really pivotal point for me.įrom then on I trained under and worked with people and organisations as diverse as Philip Mitchell, Alan Becher, David Milroy, Michael Gow, Peter Wilson, Yirra Yaakin, Sydney Theatre Company, Perth Theatre Company, Black Swan Theatre Company and Company Skylark in 2001 I also started my own organisation, Steamworks Arts. There I was, in my early 20s, acting, writing and directing a show for the festival. I was one of the Artrage babies, getting grants and putting on weird little shows, one of which was picked up by what is now PIAF. It was at UWA that I studied with David Williams, who introduced modern physical theatre to us young uni students.īut professionally, I learned by doing. I started a BA at UWA, where I joined the drama society but withdrew and started again only after I had my oldest son, Thomas, who’s now a successful make-up artist. I played everything from a pink galah to the owl in Winnie the Pooh I also got to do things such as write and direct. Words are in everything I do.įrom about five years old I went to Penrhos College and engaged with drama there quite intensely. So while the works I create are very physical, I always start with a narrative which I then translate into other forms. But my mum was a librarian and I was really into books more than anything else. And seeing Stravinsky’s The Firebird for the first time. My early memories of the arts include seeing The Magic Pudding at the Sunken Gardens. I have one brother, who’s a teacher in rural Victoria. I was born in Melbourne and moved over here with my parents when I was five. That influences me and my two brothers quite a lot: we are always thinking of the future and where we want to be in the next five years. She is also very forward-thinking, looking further and further along and setting up the next big chapter in her life. She’s just turned 50 but she still keeps up with the latest technology.

It was very full-on, with all of us having different opinions and everything.īut those moments can also be very lovely and there’s so much I admire about my mother. She directed Dad and me in a Fringe show called Rites a few years ago and I’m not sure I’d want to do that again. I disagree with a lot of the things she says and she disagrees with me. Maybe it’s my age - and that could change in the future. With the work I make, it’s all about the audience and about entertainment. For example, Mum’s work always has something to say. Growing up and watching Mum and Dad’s work, I can now see flaws, things that are missing and part of what I do is what she doesn’t do.

It’s very physical theatre, so it’s also perfect for someone like me with a dance background.įor the past half year I haven’t been performing much but I’ve been creating a lot of work. It’s the perfect kids’ show, with no dialogue and lots of colour and movement. It’s funny but Splat! was created a few years ago and Dad was in the first production. From that, the company hired me for two shows, which is why I’m working on Splat!, written by Mum and directed by Philip. After that, I applied for the emerging artists’ program and spent last year training in puppetry and creative development. So instead of doing Year 12 exams I came to the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and did a secondment with the artistic director Philip Mitchell. Towards the end of high school, I realised I was more interested in creating my own work and the stuff I wanted to create wasn’t dance.

Sally richardson