Performer

Simon recently completed a Bachelor of Performance at the University of Wollongong .  He has performed in many university productions, including Steven Berkhoff's adaptation of Kafka's The Trial, directed by Chris Ryan, in which he played numerous characters.  Simon also appeared in the ensemble piece What Happens in Vegas, which was written by award-winning Australian playwright Patricia Cornelius for UoW's The Gap project.  For Phoenix Theatre he played Edgar in Wuthering Heights, part of the Equine in Equus, and numerous roles in the Theatre v Everything performance project.  Simon also appeared in the student-initiated performance of Daniel Keene's Duet, which toured to Singapore in 2015.  For Wollongong Theatre Company, Simon played Oswald in Lear.  He also enjoys performing stand up and improvisation and his greatest influences include Monty Python, James Stewart and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Performer

Oscar is a drama student at the Wollongong High School of Performing Arts and has performed in various plays and musicals at the school since his enrolment in 2011, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Pirates of Penzance and Blood Wedding.  He has also had roles at the Wollongong Workshop Theatre and is very enthusiastic to enhance his skills as an actor.  Oscar has always had a passion of Shakespeare and has found King Lear to easily be one of his favourites.  His role as Poor Tom for Wollongong Theatre Company, although challenging in portrayal, is an invaluable exercise in experimentation and control of a dramatic role.

Performer

The roots of Grant's love of theatre sprouted early, but apparently so poor was his singing voice as a child that his first role was as a silent plant in the school play.  This humble beginning was eclipsed by the role of Toad in The Toad of Toad Hall in year 6.  He says he was slowly emerging from the primordial soup in terms of characters, but the writing was on the wall; he would always need a serious day job.  After a 24 year hiatus, his love of theatre was rekindled after watching a friend perform in a production at the Phoenix Theatre.  Soon after that he read for, and played, the role of Jubal in Tim Allen's production of The Merchant of Venice.  Bringing life to this timeless meditation on the human condition was, for him, such a gratifying experience, that he returned with the majority of the cast from that play for Wollongong Theatre Company's inaugural production, Lear, where he played the Duke of Albany.  The opportunity to work with a diverse group of experienced, talented players under the direction of an inspiring director is, he believes, as rewarding as it is too good to miss.

Performer

Catherine has a Bachelor of Performance (Acting) from the University of Wollongong and a Communications and Media degree.  She began dance training at age three, practicing ballet, modern and jazz.  At age nine, she began drama training, which culminated in eight grades of Speech and Drama examinations with the Trinity College of London.  In 2014, she performed in Metamorphoses, directed by Linda Luke and Catherine McKinnon, and Teenage Wildlife, adapted from Spring Awakening by Alex Tutton and directed by Chris Ryan.  She co-wrote and performed in The Defence, which has enjoyed fringe seasons in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.  In 2013, she premiered the role of Mackenzie in Catherine McKinnon's Hurt Trilogy (#1 Kin), which was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Award.  She has trained for three years with mezzo-soprano Dr Lotte Latukefu, and in 2012 was selected for Karen O's Stop the Virgens: a psycho opera for Vivid Festival.  Catherine currently trains undere Linda Luke in the principles of BodyWeather, a discipline developed by Butoh dancer Min Tanaka.  She was thrilled to join Wollongong Theatre Company for the challenge of playing both Cordelia and The Fool in Lear in 2015.

Performer

Mark's professional career began at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in the UK, following two years at Guilford School of Acting.  A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has worked extensively in theatre, film, television and radio in a career spanning more than 40 years.  He embraces the Stanislavsky based disciplines of Sandy Meisner and Uta Hagen and has also been influenced by leading professional tutor Howard Fine in both Melbourne and Sydney.  Mark previously worked with director Tim Allen in Art and The Merchant of Venice (playing Shylock) at the Phoenix Theatre, and took on the challenge of the King in Lear for Wollongong Theatre Company in 2015.

Performer

Helen trained for two years with the Atlantic Theater Company, New York, studying under leading professionals including David Mamet, William H Macy, Frances McDormand, Felicity Huffman and F Murray Abraham.  Her credits include work in theatre, television and film both in the US and at home in Australia and she continues to train on a regular basis through actors' workshops and intensives.  Her notable theatre roles include Into the Mirror, Missing Pieces, Fracture Fairy Tales of an Urban Angel, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress and The Twelfth Night.  She recently played the lead in an episode of Deadly Women for the History Channel and includes directing and writing among her professional credits.  Helen joined Wollongong Theatre Company as Regan in Lear.