GASWORKS SCRIPT LAB 2024

Melbourne Writers’ Theatre and Gasworks Arts Park are excited to welcome the following writers.

EMERGING
Anastasia Warmuth
Caroline Schelle
Jasmeet Kaur Sahi
Toni San Diego
Lella Cariddi
Hayden Dun
Ryan Klein
Alex Lance

EXPERIENCED
Oscar Bray
Georgina Luck
Sabina Gerardi
Gary Helmore
Tuia Suter
Tamzen Hayes

* To see what these writers will be doing in Gasworks Script Lab 2024, click HERE.

LELLA CARIDDI

I arrived from Italy, in 1955. I now research multidisciplinary Social Histories; produce short-form documentaries; write fiction & non- fiction; read; and follow performance art. 2015-2019, I Co-published 67 short histories. 2023 -2024, my stories were published online by: The Human Writers. And in print by: MPU; SWWV; dSCRIBE; Ascolta Women Write: La Notte, and La Terra; and Wellsprings for Women; and in Every Family has a Story (2023). Writing connects me with the real and the imaginary.

ALEX LANCE

Alex loves theatre. He performed and directed with an assortment of theatre
companies throughout his twenties. Then he changed gears, working with internet infrastructure for the decade after that. Alex never stopped writing though – anecdotes, poetry, bad rap, short plays, long plays and screenplays. However, Alex does not really know what he’s doing and welcomes with gratitude the collaboration with the Gasworks Script Lab for 2024.

TONI SAN DIEGO

A driven new playwright with a rich and diverse background in acting, performance art and holistic psychotherapy. Currently pursuing a degree in Cinema Studies, storytelling is exciting for Toni. At 52 her transgender life experience infuses her work with authenticity, providing a compelling perspective on the human condition. Toni’s writing draws inspiration from her life’s multi-faceted tapestry, adding depth and nuance to her narratives. She is looking forward to contributing her unique voice to Gasworks Script Lab 2024.

JASMEET KAUR SAHI

Jasmeet Kaur Sahi (she/her) is a writer, editor and an arts programmer-producer based on the unceded lands of the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin Nation. Her writing has appeared in The Big Issue, Portside Review, Cordite Poetry Review, Peril Magazine, and ArtsHub among others. She is part of the editorial team at SAARI Collective, a South Asian Australian media startup platforming South Asian voices. Theatre has been a long-held love, and she is keen to broaden the scope of her work and explore writing for the stage.      Image Credit: Zoe Jones

RYAN KLEIN

I began studying English in 2015, exploring journalism and short fiction. Inspired by various directors and writers, my proudest early work was a film review of ‘You Were Never Really Here’. Recently, I submitted a play to the Canberra Youth Theatre titled ‘Nothing Out of the Ordinary’, continuing to diversify my writing portfolio. I also self-published my novel Bounty Day, and am currently adapting a script into a storyboard titled ‘The Ouroboros’, whilst completing further study.

OSCAR BRAY

Oscar (he/him) is a writer and theatre maker. He was born and raised in Hong Kong, did a bachelor’s degree at New York University Abu Dhabi and a masters in Theatre (Writing) at the University of Melbourne last year. He’s particularly interested in work grappling with queer experiences, stylized dialogue, disturbing themes and character studies of questionable people, and hopes to write about all of these things and more at the Gasworks Script Lab.

GEORGINA LUCK

I am passionate about writing in all forms. What I love the most about writing is that it continues to introduce me to wonderfully creative, diverse and colourful people – many of whom I now consider lifelong collaborators and friends. My writing outputs have included publication in numerous literary journals, performances of my plays by several theatre companies and screenings of my first short film in various national and international festivals. I look forward to meeting the other Script Lab participants.

SABINA GERARDI

Sabina Gerardi is a writer, actor and dramaturg. She writes mostly comedy and satire, occasionally dabbling in horror, and loves exploring themes of everyday immorality, history and existential dread. For the Script Lab, she is trying her hand at drama, working with high emotion. Sabina has worked on stages around Melbourne/Naarm, and you can also find two of her audio plays on the Theatre of Others podcast (Tales from the Arcadia and Sob Story).

GARY HELMORE

Gary Helmore is a local writer, a former ESL teacher, and an avid arts-goer and theatre-goer.  He is a volunteer at the Queer Archives and a dabbler in creative non-fiction and playwriting.  Re: playwriting, Gary’s work explores the reshaping of history through a queer lens. Gary’s work has been produced at the Lake Macquarie One Act Play Festival and will also be performed at the Dionysus Theatre’s Areté Eta Festival later this year. 

TUIA SUTER

Tuia is a theatre and filmmaker from Naarm/Melbourne, with a BFA in Screenwriting from The Victorian College of The Arts (2022). Her 2023 debut, “Powder Room”, achieved critical acclaim and sold-out performances. She was a writer and dramaturg for “The Waiting Room”, which premiered at Melbourne’s 2023 Monologue Festival. In 2024, she directed and co-wrote its web series adaptation, now in post-production. Tuia is passionate about queer stories and contributing to the LGBTQIA+ space in Australian film and theatre. 

TAMZEN HAYES

Tamzen is a trained actress and untrained writer working around Naarm. For the last few years, she has been exploring working with the words she has been too afraid to speak, through her solo show Never Said Motel. Never Said Motel premiered at Melbourne Writers festival in 2019 and went on to be performed at Melbourne Fringe Festival, Bondi Festival and to tour regional Victoria with Ok Motels Festival. She is currently writing a new play (and her 17^th diary).

MICHAEL OLSEN

Facilitator

Emerging Stream

Michael wrote, produced and directed his first play, Cannibals of the Heart, in 1993.  His work has been performed across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe and the US.  Two Women & A Chair has been performed at the Edinburgh and Prague Fringe Festivals.  Such plays as The Last Dance of the Plum Sisters, Cleanskin, Double Tap, Dig, Footsteps in the River and The Butterflies are Sleeping have all won awards on the Victorian one-act festival circuit.  Michael’s work is published by Maverick Musicals and Plays.  In 2022 Michael’s play The Magnolia Suite was developed through MWT’s Page to Stage intensive dramaturgical program, and in 2023 it was presented by The Knack. In July Michael will attend the Noosa One Act Play Competition as a shortlisted writer. Michael facilitated the Emerging Stream of Gasworks Script Lab in 2023, and is looking forward to doing it all again in 2024.

LAURA LETHLEAN

Facilitator

Emerging Stream

Laura Lethlean is a published playwright and theatre maker. She trained at NIDA, receiving a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Performance in 2015.  A co-founder of The Anchor theatre company, many of Laura’s award-winning works have been produced for theatre and festival audiences in Australia and New Zealand. Laura has been commissioned by Canberra Youth Theatre, the Victorian Seniors Festival, The National Drama School, and Sydney Chamber Opera. Her play, The Space Between the Fuel and the Fire, was selected for production at NIDA in 2016 and subsequently published by NoPassport Press. Laura’s play, Two Hearts, was published by Australian Plays Transform after being produced in both Sydney (2018) and Melbourne (2019). Laura’s other plays include The Three Graces (Theatre Works 2019) and Pillow Fight (2022). Pillow Fight was shortlisted for the Max Afford Playwrights Award and the Patrick White Award, and it won the Touring Award at the Melbourne International Fringe Festival 2022. This award took the production to Wellington, NZ and Castlemaine VIC. Laura wrote and directed her first play, Plastic Pacific, for The Substation’s Fringe Festival season in 2013, receiving a ‘Get it On’ grant to fund the production.