Artist of the Month

What inspired you to get involved in theatre?

I grew up between two very story-oriented cultures. My Dad would entertain me on long drives to visit my Grandma who lives two hours out of Sydney, and each story was more vivid than the last. My Lola (my Mum’s Mum) would tell me stories of the Japanese invasion of her small village in the Philippines in 1945. Many of these stories stayed with me, in particular Dad’s delivery, pacing, the voices and characterisation.

But a show that made me want to do theatre was PAN at the Capitol Theatre. Dad took me out of school on a Thursday in the year 2000. I remember seeing a story I was so familiar with now in front of me reacting, breathing, living and flying (!) out to a live audience. I was hooked, I thought it was incredible. From then on, my parents used their union discounts to see a bunch of major musicals in the early 2000s. I loved it all, and that’s probably where it started.

Do you remember the moment you wanted to do this as a career?

Career is a funny word. My earliest acting teacher, Malcolm Frawley, told me that word is not really best to describe what we do, and used the term ‘working life’ instead- which I love.

I can pinpoint that I wanted to do something creative for a long time when I wrote Kasama Kita, which was performed in Belvoir’s 25a program. It followed the stories of three early Filipino healthcare workers in Balmain in 1974. It got a good rap, was seen by a lot of the Filipino community, and I got a lot of messages from people afterwards who saw the show with their parents or friends. But importantly, I remembered that I closed that show thinking that it could have been written better. I realised that the ‘career’ would always be this lifelong lesson. Not perfection, but persistence.

After that, I got the Philip Parsons Co-Fellowship through Belvoir, and realised I could keep going, and treat it as a craft.

What have been the highs of your career so far? What have been the lows?

I’ve got two recent highs. Winning the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award in 2024/5 for my play Malacanang Made Us. That changed a lot for me, and is allowing me to bring a large scale, culturally resonant story to the main stage and be supported by a state theatre company. These opportunities are rare, and it was a great high for me, and has felt like a big watershed moment for my practice.

Being cast in Mel Brooks‘ The Producers is another one. I found out on Christmas Eve last year that I got the role of Franz Liebkind. Julia Robertson (Director) and Joshua Robson (Producer) took a risk on me. I hadn’t performed in anything for almost eleven years, and they reinstated a lot of my lost confidence of performing in public, and got rid of a pigeon-feed bagful of self-doubt. That was a massive high. Because it made me realise that you shouldn’t give a skill up (performing) to work your arse off for another (writing).

Lows? Of course there’s a few of them. But they do make you stronger, wiser and more wary.

Where do you see yourself going/want to go next?

I’ll keep writing and do more musicals. I have no idea what I’m going to do next. I didn’t think I’d have a year where I’d be in a Brooks musical at the Hayes and write a play about Filipino-Australian history for a mainstage company. I’m also a school teacher by day, and work with an incredible team of educators and young people. So I’ll probably do some playground duty, banter with some kids, and wreak havoc in the staffroom.