Meet The Cast
Desmond Edwards
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Lana Filies
Matthias Nudl
Desmond was brought up in a creative house in New Zealand. In the early 1970's Desmond studied jazz drumming with Frank Gibson Jr, and went on to form part of seminal punk rock band Suburban Reptiles. Coming to Australia he studied Australian Mime Theatre, which had a profound effect on his life and art. He toured Australia as a juggler and was part of a cabaret community all living together on Liverpool Street.
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Through his career in the arts, Desmond has worked in Australian Film, Television and Theatre, and started a business for the Sydney 2000 Olympics called Goodness Gracious Entertainment, which is still rolling today. As a sought-after character performer for corporate and council events, Desmond delights in bringing joy as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, Chinese astrology animals and Commedia Dell'Arte characters.
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Desmond is currently also working with Midnight Feast Theatre. Outside of performance his interests are varied and eclectic, from dragon boat racing to sewing.
Lana is an Australian/South African, Western Sydney actor, singer, theatre-maker and choreographer who grew up on Dharawal Country. She graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2018 with a Bachelor of Performance (Acting). Her most recent work includes Playpen in collaboration with Dollhouse Collective (KXT), Tiny Universe by Natalie Rose and Margot Politis (Shopfront Arts Co-op x Milk Crate Theatre), To My Younger Self by Mallory Sedger (Shopfront Arts Co-Op), Stalls by Lana Filies and Lily Hensby (Shopfront Arts Co-op 2020).
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Lana is proudly a member of the award-winning Harness Ensemble and is currently in development for Where Shall We Meet? which will premiere later in 2022. In May 2022, Lana had a development showing of her debut play Expiration Date in which she collaborated with dear friend Flynn Mapplebeck, produced by Purple Tape Productions. Lana is also very excited to be collaborating with Milk Crate Theatre to debut a new devised work DUST which will premiere at Sydney Theatre Company in September 2022.
Matthias is a graduate from the University of Western Sydney Macarthur with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Theatre Studies. He has been a Collaborative Artist with Milk Crate Theatre since 2013 when he joined a workshop program at Parramatta Mission. He participated because he has a love for acting in improvisational theatre. Since then, he has been involved in numerous workshops and has contributed to the creation of and performed in The Things That Are Left Behind, The Last Laugh, This House Is Mine, Feast, Natural Order and Tiny Universe. His other interests include reading fantasy novels.
Darlene Proberts is a performer, singer, band manager, visual artist, globe-trotter and linguist, born and bred in Dubbo, of proud Ngiyampaa and Wiradjuri heritage.
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Darlene backpacked around Europe, taught English in Japan, and lived in California, Morocco, France and Russia before settling back into life in Australia, completing a Bachelor of Arts in Aboriginal Studies and Linguistics and a Diploma of French Language at Macquarie University.
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A passionate musician, Darlene is a lead singer, band manager and founding member of Darlene Sings the Divas, a celebration of soul, blues and jazz, as well as Marrambang Aboriginal Band, featuring Aboriginal themed covers and original songs.
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With her visual art, Darlene explores a wide range of mediums, including sculpting, printmaking, painting and ceramics, to explore themes of identity and to celebrate her cultural heritage. Most recently, she has been a contributing artist of the outdoor group installation Waterfront Whale Tales at Darling Harbour.
With Milk Crate Theatre, Darlene performed in Raise the Roof (2018), Natural Order (2019) and A Retrospective (2022). Darlene's newest creative pursuit is embarking on a radio career as a DJ at Koori Radio.
Kamini Singh is a performer, visual artist, singer-songwriter and major line-dancing enthusiast. Kamini's first show with Milk Crate Theatre was 2016 forum show the Link Housing Project, and she was then devisor/performer for That's the Spirit in 2017.
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She has a background in painting and photography, has exhibited artworks at Deutsche Bank and Australia Square, and received a scholarship at Point Light Gallery for photography. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from UWS, majoring in mass media and creative writing, with a minor in Australian history.
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Kamini is a qualified English teacher currently teaching at TAFE and studying Law. Born in Canada, Kamini is a proud dual national. She is a proud mother and auntie, and an ecstatic grandmother and friend. She sees life as precious and each day of life as a gift.
Darlene Proberts
Kamini Singh
Meet The Creative Team
Margot Politis
Director
Set and Costume Design
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Lily Hayman
Assistant Director
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Lucy Watson
Key Support Artist
Lily is a writer, director and producer from Southern Sydney who grew up on the land of the Dharawal people and now resides on unceded Gadigal Land.
Having trained at the University of Wollongong, where she graduated from the Bachelor of Performance (Dean's Scholar) with distinction and received her First-Class Honours in Creative Arts (Theatre), Lily enjoys creating her own work. She has written and directed Fledgling (MerrigongX, KXT) and The Infinity Mirror (Shopfront ArtsLab, BrandX) with Palava Co in which she also acts as the sole performer.
Other recent performance credits include: Tiny Universe (Milk Crate Theatre x Shopfront Arts), To My Younger Self (Shopfront Arts), Pretty Fly for a Dead Guy (Shopfront Arts) and she is in rehearsal for Where Shall We Meet which will premiere at Shopfront in October. Currently Lily works as the Young Leader and Associate Producer at Shopfront Arts Co-Op as well as being one half of the all female team behind Purple Tape Productions.
Margot Politis is an impassioned artist and leader in the space of Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) best practice, whose focus is to advocate and make space for the expression of people who do not have neurotypical access to public performance platforms. For nearly 20 years, Margot has worked in inclusive arts practice as a performer, director, choreographer, film director and devisor of interdisciplinary and immersive performance works comprising theatre, movement, light, sound and set design. She proudly identifies as living in recovery from addiction and mental health issues.
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Margot began her career performing with Adelaide's Restless Dance Theatre in 2004, after graduating from the Flinders University Drama centre, performing in Sustenance (2005), Vocabulary (2005), and The Continual Unfolding of Now (2006). In 2009, she moved to Sydney and worked until 2015 as the Accessibility Director at Shopfront Arts Co-op; directing the Bodylines and Harness Ensembles of young people with disability in various works, including the film Reaching Out Over & Over - an official selection of the 2016 NYC Indie Film Festival.
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Independently Margot has worked with Ausdance NSW, Accessible Arts NSW, Murmuration, Dirty Feet, The Song Room, Rozelle Neighbourhood Centre and Autism Spectrum Australia, and has studied with various companies and artists in the USA and the UK. In May 2015 she was artist in residence at Tasdance, Launceston to facilitate skills development in inclusive practice, and in 2016 premiered her independent work, The Forest Unyielding, building an activated immersive forest space representing the living brain of a person experiencing addiction.
In 2017 Margot choreographed the Shopfront Arts Co-op and ATYP co-pro, Dignity of Risk alongside Natalie Rose, which one the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Production for Young People.
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Margot was appointed Artistic Director of Milk Crate Theatre in 2018, after two years serving as Associate Director, and since then has designed and directed the company's major productions Natural Order (2019), Tiny Universe (2021) with Natalie Rose (Shopfront Arts Co-op), MCT: A Retrospective (2022) and DUST (2022). Margot is currently deeply engaging with set design, aesthetics, space, DIY and ASMR, to keep redefining the boundaries of performance and what they mean to people with varied lived experiences and neurodiversity. Her work can be viewed on Instagram @margotmovingtheatre.
Lucy has been facilitating and supporting art classes and processes for a range of groups, styles and settings since 2012. She has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (Drama and English) from ANU, and a Master of Fine Art from UNSW Art and Design.
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In her work, Lucy combines writing, visual art and performance informed by acting, clowning, dance and storytelling. With clown collective Choo Choo Troupe she performed monthly in The Lost Lost Cabaret in 2019. In 2020 she presented a solo visual art show at AIRSPACE gallery, Marrickville. Having worked at Milk Crate Theatre since 2016, Lucy performed and supported in major shows Natural Order (2019), Tiny Universe (2021) and most recently MCT: A Retrospective (2022).
Jessica Saras
Producer
Jessica is a professionally trained and working actress with over 15 years experience in this field, holding a BA in Acting for Screen and Stage from CSU, Wagga Wagga.
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Jess has been a part of the Milk Crate Community in a variety of roles since 2016, currently serving as Artistic Program Manager, providing key support for the staff and artistic team in production and getting programs off the ground. She has vast experience in producing independently, under her company name The Bird Cartel, and continues to expand her knowledge and experience with MCT, producing many projects and programs including 2019's major production Natural Order and the 2021/2022 collaborative project Waterloo - a series of six short films with the residents of the Waterloo Housing Estate.
Tyler Fitzpatrick
Production Manager
(The Paperjam Partners)
Tyler is a theatre technician, stage/production manager and theatre maker based on Dharawal land. She graduated with Distinction from the University of Wollongong, earning the Merrigong Theatre Company Production Prize. Tyler has been the Production and Operations Manager at Shopfront since 2020, and services arts organisations as a Production Associate with The Paperjam Partners.
Production Manager credits are Nothing (National Theatre of Parramatta, 2022), Mirage (Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2022), Fledgling (KXT 2022, Merrigong X 2021), Pioneers - Development (PYT Fairfield, 2021), Chop Chef (Blush Opera, 2021), The Complication of Lyrebirds (Sydney Festival/Camperdown Arts Centre, 2021).
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In 2021, Tyler was the acting Associate Producer of Merrigong Theatre Company as well as stage managing their shows As Luck Would Have It (2022) and Trash Talk (2022).
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Most recently, Tyler was the lighting designer for Moon Rabbit Rising, presented at Belvoir 25A by The Little Eggs Collective. Other lighting design credits are Teen Angst (2022), In the Event of Moon Disaster (2022), HIT Reset (2021), Never Ever (2020), To My Younger Self for Shopfront. Tyler is also one half of the all female team behind Purple Tape Productions with Lily Hayman. She is excited to be back making magic with Milk Crate Theatre after production managing this year's 23rd Birthday Retrospective and Tiny Universe (co-production with Shopfront) in 2021.
Liam O'Keefe
Lighting Designer
Prema Yin
Sound Designer
Liam is a freelance lighting designer and technician based in Sydney.
Recent design work includes Natural Order (Milk Crate Theatre); A Murder Story (Ninefold); Wyrd: The Season of the Witch (Ninefold); Tonsils + Tweezers (Jackrabbit); Brothers Karamazov (Arrive Devise Repeat); The Winter's Tale (Secret House); Dry Land (Outhouse Theatre Co./Mad March Hare); Best Before (The Bird Cartel); American Beauty Shop (Some Company); This Is Not Mills And Boon (Glorious Thing); Consensual (New Theatre); Under Milk Wood (Genesian Theatre), Tri-Beckett (Ninefold); Rats - Dirt/Moonshine (Fledgling Theatre Co.); After The End (The King's Collective); Transcience (leftofcentre Theatre Co.); Atlantis (Subtlenuance); METADATA (De Quincey Co.); DRIFT (Two Peas); GODFACE (Matriark Theatre Inc.); Smudge (The King's Fools); The Tragedy of Antigone (Ninefold); Contrite Spirit (Edgeware Forum); Shut up and Drive (Subtlenuance) and Year of the Family (Tooth and Sinew).
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As a technician, he has been a part of the lighting team for five national tours as well as The Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour's Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Aida, Turandot, La Boheme and West Side Story. Liam is also active in the realm of commercial musical theatre with Priscilla Queen of the Desert and The Book of Mormon.
Prema Yin is an award winning singer songwriter from Malaysia with a hidden passion for interactive media i.e. animation and games.
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A graduate at the Australian Institute of Music, Sydney for Music Production and Composition, she identifies key elements of a story which in return helps assist her in creating the sonic aspect of a project.
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Her recent published projects include The Lies We Were Told (2022), Yellow Face [Play] (2021), My Younger Self (2020), Noteworthy [Podcast] (2020), Projection First Light [Apple Arcade] (2019) and Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future [Documentary] (2020). She was nominated for the Sydney Theatre Awards for her sound design work in 2022.