Daniel Potter, Chairperson

Daniel is an arts management professional based in Sydney, Australia and holds a post-graduate degree in Arts and Entertainment Management (Deakin University), graduating with distinction.  He commenced work in the creative industries at age 15 as a lighting technician at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, transitioning into event logistics and management upon leaving school. This culminated in forming and leading a collective of young creative and event professionals to manage productions and events across the Sydney and Wollongong regions.In late 2007, Daniel commenced work with Merrigong Theatre Company as Production Coordinator, and in 2008 took on the role of Production Services Manager with the same company, working as part of the executive team that won a Drovers Award for Excellence as a Theatre Presenter in 2010.  Daniel took up the position of Venue and Production Manager at Belvoir in 2011 and soon after accepted the role of Director of Production. In this capacity, Daniel worked extensively with some of Australia’s most renowned theatre makers and administrators, leading production and creative teams to countless opening nights across the country and internationally.  Since 2015, Daniel has held the position of Executive Director / CEO of Shopfront Arts Co-op., a youth arts organisation based in Sydney, Australia. Daniel also serves on the boards of Beyond Empathy, and as chair of the board for Theatre Network NSW, NSW’s peak body for Theatre. He is a 2021 member of CreateNSW’s Artform Advisory board for Theatre & Musical Theatre.  Daniel believes creative expression is crucial to building strong and engaged communities and is passionate about utilising the arts as a tool of empowerment for adults and Young People alike.

Suzanne Pereira, Deputy Chairperson

Suzanne Pereira is a Sri-Lankan Australian actor, director, educator and arts leader, whose work has spanned the classic to the contemporary, across Independent and Mainstage Theatre. Suzanne is passionate about supporting and creating work that speaks to the diversity of our communities, with particular focus on culture and gender. She is currently General Manager for Contemporary Asian Australian Performance - Australia’s only professional arts company dedicated to making exceptional contemporary Asian Australian work for all audiences. Suzanne also served as Artistic Associate and Cultural Liaison on Belvoir & Co-Curious’ 2019 award-winning Australian-Sri Lankan theatrical epic, Counting & Cracking, and proudly served as the first Chair of WITS (Women in Theatre & Screen), an organisation that passionately advocates, encourages and provides support for Gender Parity on Australian stages and screens. In addition, Suzanne spent many years supporting the next generation of Sydney theatre artists, teaching privately, and in both the full-time and part-time programs at Actors Centre Australia. As an actor, Suzanne has appeared on Neighbours and performed in premieres of new Australian works, including Joanna Erskine’s Air, and Melita Rowston’s Between the Streetlight and The Moon. Most recently Suzanne appeared for Sport For Jove, reprising her role as Tituba in the remount of their award winning production of The Crucible. Suzanne also played the titular role in their 2016/17 production of Julius Caesar. In 2019 Suzanne appeared as Antonio, in Bell Shakespeare’s national tour of Much Ado About Nothing and also spent numerous years directing for their renowned education program – The Players’. Suzanne’s directing credits feature predominantly Australian works, including the Sydney premiere of Mary-Anne Butler’s The Sound of Waiting for Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Neighbourhood Watch (Illuminate Educate/Monkey Baa), Sweet Phoebe (Jack Rabbit/Redline), and Crazy Brave (Cross Pollinate). Suzanne’s role as an advocate for the theatre sector continues through her service as Non-Executive Director on the boards of Darlinghurst Theatre Company and Theatre Network NSW. She has also been a proud member of MEAA since 2010.

Dr Jane Kreis, Treasurer and Public Officer

Dr Jane Kreis has over 20 years experience in the Australian arts & cultural industry and academia. She lives in Grafton on NSW's North Coast and travels extensively in her role as Director, Theatre Network NSW which focuses on research & advocacy, networked support, resourcing & development of NSW's theatre sector. Jane has considerable knowledge of and has worked across all arts sectors in both regional and metropolitan Australia. She consults for other organisations including Regional Arts NSW, Grafton Regional Gallery, & Arts Mid North Coast and thrives on being part of a dynamic, supportive community. Jane specialises in sustainable, creative practice in Australian arts. Her 2010 research entitled "Together Alone: Conditions for Sustainability in Australian Independent Theatre"​ was carried out with the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong.

Pippa Bailey, Secretary

Pippa Bailey grew up on Gadigal Land in Sydney, starting her career as a performer and reporter/producer with SBSTV. Pippa spent many years in the UK where she was Artistic Director for The Museum Of on London’s South Bank and for oh!art @Oxford House, a community arts centre in East London. As Associate Director with The World Famous – innovate company of pyrotechnicians 2001-13, Pippa created and toured large-scale outdoor shows including signature events for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Pippa produced the Total Theatre Awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2007-12 and from 2007 has developed BiDiNG TiME, an international participatory theatre project highlighting the vital need to empower women and imagine new systems that respond to environmental crisis. Pippa returned to Australia in 2013 and joined Performing Lines as Senior Producer working with extraordinary independent artists including Ghenoa Gela, Nakkiah Lui, Amrita Hepi, Martin del Amo, Branch Nebula, The Climate Guardians and Sandra Thibodeaux. Pippa was senior producer at Sydney Festival 2019. She is on the Advisory Board of IETM – International Performing Arts Network (Brussels) and a board member of Theatre Network NSW. Pippa is passionate about culture leading on climate action to create a fair and sustainable future.

Fraser Corfield, Board Director

Fraser Corfield is the Artistic Director and CEO of Australian Theatre for Young People. He has been managing programs with funded theatre companies since 1997. Throughout his career Fraser has been actively involved in arts management and advocacy and has participated in advisory bodies at all levels of the industry including the Australia Council for the Arts, Arts NSW, Arts Queensland, the South Australian Youth Arts Board, Regional Arts NSW, Sydney Arts Management Advisory Group, Queensland Theatre Company, the Sidney Myer Foundation, Metro Arts and Young People in the Arts Australia. He has over 16 years’ experience as the Artistic Director/CEO of small-to-medium arts companies.Fraser is best known for his work taking 'Youth Theatre' onto the national stage. He has developed and staged new work involving young people in partnership with many of Australia's leading companies and his productions, commissions and programs have received many of Australia's leading industry Awards including AWGIES, Helpmann, Sidney Myer, Sydney Theatre, SA Great and Matilda Awards amongst others.

Abbie-Lee Lewis, Board Director

Abbie-lee Lewis is a Kalkadoon woman but born on Arrante country and grew up in Western Australia. In 2008 she graduated from the Aboriginal Theatre Course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. In 2009 she worked with Yirra Yarkkin Theatre Company touring the play called Talk It Up by David Milroy. In 2010 Abbie-lee was accepted into the 3 year Acting Course at WAAPA and graduated in 2012.

Since moving to Sydney, Abbie-lee has worked with the Bell Shakespeare Company, touring their educational program, The Players. she was then asked to come back in 2017 to perform in the educational main stage production of Macbeth where she  worked with James Evans. In early 2017 Abbie-lee worked on the original work by Seanna Van Helten, Fallen, directed by Penny Harpham and produced by Sport for Jove. In 2019 Abbie-lee starred as Emily in the black Swan production of our town that saw three First Nations performers at the heart of it, directed by Clare Watson.

In recent years Abbie-Lee has begun to develop a passion for directing and theatre making and has sought to further her development of the craft by assistant directing. Abbie-lee has assisted on main stage shows like Hamlet Produced by Bell shakespeare in 2020 and directed by Peter Evans As well as the production of Charlie PIigram in 2018 by The Australian Theatre for Young people directed by Jena prince.

Peta Downes, Board Director

Peta Downes is a theatre director, producer and arts educator of over twenty-five years experience. She is currently a PhD candidate with the University of Sydney and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Directing (QUT), a Bachelor of Arts – Honours -1A in Directing and Educational Drama (QUT) and a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management (UTS). She was an associate artist with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Company from 1996-99, where she trained in the Suzuki and Viewpoints methods and performed the role of Lady Macbeth in the 1998 inaugural production of "Macbeth: As Told by the Weird Sisters". In 1999 Peta was the only Australian invited to train in the Suzuki and Viewpoints Method and work with director Anne Bogart and the SITI Company at their Summer Intensive in Saratoga Springs, New York. Peta was the Course Manager - National Short Courses for NIDA's Open Program from 2010-11 and Executive Coordinator - Creative Industries for University of Western Sydney from 2011-14. She is currently Program Leader for AIM Dramatic Arts.

Virginia Jane Rose, Board Director

Virginia Jane Rose is Script Writing for live performance. Performance credits include: 2012 to 2020 - Writer - Treaty, Yeah! - Writer - Pay Day - Work in progress - a cycle of 4 plays about getting back the "stolen wages" in New South Wales, Australia - Part 1 Pauline's Promise, Part 2 The Art Of Love, Part 3 Portrait of Pauline, Part 4 Pay Day.

2008 - Writer / Production Manager Loaded Dice (1984 / 2007) Candelo Arts Society. 2007 / 2000 / 1995 - Writer / Performer - The Right Father - produced and broadcast by ABC SouthEast Radio; broadcast on ABC Regional Radio (national). 1985 – Writer Malache: Despatches From Another World – One woman play, Production Manager, Publicist, for Malache first production Productions: Malache, and Performers. 1985 – 1996 La Troupe Theatre Group.  1985 - Justine Saunders Deckchair Theatre,
1986 - Gwennola Kerbiriou Magpie, STCSA, 1987 - Annabel Giles Brolgas, QTC 1988 - Lydia Miller Darwin Theatre Company, NT, 1989 - Betchay Mondragon Contemporary Theatre of Syracuse, USA, 1990 - Annette Adams 1991 Arena Theatre, VIC, 1993 - Tara Rajkumar, Playbox, 1996. 1993 Writer Freedom Of The Heart – commission Terrapin Puppet Theatre, Hobart. Performed around Tasmania and at International Festivals 1993 – 1995 1986 Writer - If The Shoes Fit – NIDA Playwrights’ Studio - New Works NIDA
1986 1984 Writer-In- Residence - Sidetrack Community Theatre, Marrickville. 1982 Writer / Performer (linking narrations) / Co- Translator - Lorca: Illustrations From An Unmarked Grave - with Laberinto: The Flamenco Experience.

Kate Gaul, Board Director

Kate Gaul: Freelance Theatre Director/Designer. NIDA 1996 (Directing Course), Anne Bogart SITI Company NYC 2005. Associate Director Ensemble Theatre 2004/5. Festival Director World Interplay 2009/11. Festival Director Short Play Festival Canberra 2013 - 2015, Cabaret Sydney 2014, Mardi Gras Parade Creative Director 2015/16. Curator Playlist 2018 – 2020. Kate’s directing credits include plays, opera, physical theatre, devised works and classics for theatre companies and schools in Australia. Kate has won numerous awards across the fields of directing and design. She is Artistic Director of Siren Theatre Co where her passion is for text-based drama challenges artists and audiences to have bold imaginative experiences. Kate’s play – Fatboy has been produced twice and she has written and directed two short films – Embrace and Cake. www.kategaul.com