Cast & creatives

Paul Whiteley

Producer

Paul’s skills and experiences run the gamut of the entertainment and arts industries. He is a music theatre graduate of the internationally renowned West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), an Event Manager/Technician in the corporate audio-visual industry, a drummer, guitarist, and holds an Associate Diploma in Accounting.

He has toured Australia and Asia in the musicals Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys, Jekyll & Hyde, and is currently performing in the 25th Anniversary Asia Tour of Phantom of the Opera understudying the role of the Phantom.

In 2012 Paul founded independent theatre company TurnAround Productions with a goal to bring authentic Australian stories and challenging theatre pieces to the masses. He has critically and financially succeeded in mounting two seasons of the one man play, Here Lies Henry, in Sydney and Melbourne and is about to mount another season on the West End in London.

He is incredibly proud to be producing Through These Lines as his first Australian story.

Maria Lawrie

Assistant Producer

Business owner, arts lover, philanthropist.

Maria is a Licensed Conveyancer and has been practising for more than 30 years. Mainly working for solicitors during this time, her responsibilities also extended to Office and Trust Account Manager, where she has been praised by the Law Society auditors for her meticulous work. She branched out on her own four years ago and with an expanding client base, has recently employed an assistant.

Her love of music and the theatre came from her father who was an entertainer in the Greek social scene. She has supported many an artist in their careers and, although she may humbly deny it, is somewhat the mother figure in the Sydney music theatre circles.

Tom Bannerman

Set

Tom Bannerman is a Sydney-based freelance set designer with an extensive body of work — well over 200 productions. He has represented Australia at the Prague Quadrennial – the supreme exposition of international scenography – received a Chief Glug’s Award for Excellence Behind the Scenes and was nominated twice (Penelope and Jerusalem) for the most recent Sydney Theatre Critics Awards for independent theatre set design. He designed the set for the premiere production of Through These Lines, performed in the defence tunnels, Mosman.

Recent designs are Dying for It, Jerusalem and Don Juan in Soho (New), Anaconda, The Interview and Bondi Dreaming (Bondi Pavilion), Trapped in Mykanos, Bondi Dreaming (an entirely different design) and The Crucible (Downstairs Seymour), The Dreamer Examines His Pillow, Penelope, The Credeaux Canvas and Blood Moon (TAP Gallery), Once under a Sky, Vincent River, The Carnivores and Mile High (Old Fitzroy), The New Electric Ballroom (Stables), Graceland/Asleep on the Wind (Sidetrack), Bent (Belvoir Downstairs), Influenced (La Mama) and PushUp and This Way Up (Newtown Theatre).

Additional to his set design work, Tom is a set builder. He holds a MA in Theatre Studies (UNSW).

Bronte Axam

Stage manager / Props mistress / Dresser

Bronte is a graduate of AIM – Dramatic Arts (formerly known as Australian Academy of Dramatic Arts). Bronte’s degree allowed her to explore her passion in both performance and production under the unique structure of the Bachelor of Performance.

Her Production and Stage Management credits include Play House Creatures, Embers, Hell Hath No Fury- Medea, Elektra, Phaedra, Her Naked Skin, Emerge Festival and Beyond Therapy.

Bronte has gained invaluable stage management experience working on After Dinner (STC) and looks forward to returning to her stomping ground to Production and Stage Manage the upcoming performances at AIM – Dramatic Arts.

Ali Whiteford

Costume designer

Ali Whiteford studied costume design at Ultimo TAFE and had the pleasure of learning millinery under the guidance of Jean Carroll OAM and mentored by Rick McGill. After working steadily in film and television it was love at first curtain call – live theatre has become her passion.

With a focus on wardrobe attendance and maintenance, Ali has been fortunate to work steadily in Sydney and interstate for the past 13 years. In 2012 she travelled to Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea as deputy on the critically acclaimed dance show Burn the Floor.

Through These Lines is an opportunity to flex both research and design muscles in order to respectfully pay tribute to the courageous men and women who fought in World War 1. She would like to dedicate this to her father who spent many hours researching military badges and medallions.

Alistair Wallace

Sound designer

Alistair is an actor, producer, comedian and sound designer. He graduated from Actors Centre Australia in 2010 and is a founding member of pantsguys Productions.

Alistair’s design credits include Jerusalem (New Theatre, nominated Best Independent Sound Design, Sydney Theatre Awards 2013), Punk Rock (pantsguys/ATYP, winner, Best Independent Production, Sydney Theatre Awards 2012), The Memory of Us (Ashfield Council), Small Poppies, Lord of the Flies (New Theatre), The Shape of Things (pantsguys/ATYP) and autobahn (pantsguys/Adelaide Fringe).

Most recently, Alistair produced and acted in the sell-out On the Shore of the Wide World (pantsguys/Griffin Independent) and completed a sell out tour of his stand-up double-act Double Booked (pantsguys/Adelaide Fringe/ Sydney Fringe) but he only mentions that to seem busy.

Elliot Glass

Lighting designer

Elliot Glass has been working backstage for several years as both a lighting designer and operator.

His show credits as designer include Jane Eyre (Drama Queen Productions), Dance with the Deville (SITCO), Richard III (Emu Productions) and Light the Night (Sydney Street Choir).

As operator and stage manager his credits include Pool; No Water and In The Raw (Darlinghurst Theatre), Redemption (Old Fitzroy), Educating Rita (TAP Gallery) as well as the national tours of Hit Productions’ Driving Miss Daisy and Menopause the Musical.

Tim Dashwood

Fight choreography

Tim has been a professional actor and movement artist throughout Australia since graduating from the University of Southern Queensland in 2005. He received the Brisbane City Council Lord Mayors’ Fellowship to travel to the USA and Canada to train in stage combat, fight direction and physical movement with his long term mentor Nigel Poulton and has since taught, assisted and directed stage combat for many companies including: Opera Australia, Shake & Stir Theatre Company, NIDA Open Program, Stage Combat Perth, STC and QTC.

Also a performer, Tim has performed alongside Jerry Hall in The Graduate, many productions with the Queensland Theatre Company, Shake & Stir Theatre Company and Gordon Frost Organisation to name a few. Committees include: the Actors’ and Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund of Queensland Industry Ambassador (2013—current), Committee Member (2008-2012) and The Society of Australian Fight Directors Inc. (2006—current). He is a proud member of the Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance.