Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta (NTofP) and National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) welcome their 2024/25 Page to Stage participants. The Page to Stage program is aimed at developing committed playwrights who live and/or work in Western Sydney to develop as writers and embed their stories into the Australian theatre culture.
‘It is fantastic to be able to welcome 13 participants for the third iteration of Page to Stage. NTofP are committed to nurturing playwrights and ensuring Western Sydney artists have genuine pathways to audiences. I look forward to the incredible potential this new cohort unleashes.’ – Joanne Kee (Creative and Executive Producer, NTofP).
The successful Page to Stage writers for 2024/25 are Airlie Benson, Chanika Desilva, Jollee Hacadurian-Sacco, Mayu Iwasaki, Monica Kumar, Benjamin La, Daniel Mehareb, Fiona Murphy, Kim Pham, Gavin Roach, Kobra Sayyadi, Geneva Valek and Olivia Xegas.
These successful writers will undertake an intensive playwriting course that includes mentorship and script development opportunities over a twelve-month period with award winning playwright Donna Abela.
‘Western Sydney is incubating tomorrow’s astonishing artists. The Page to Stage course is an important part of this vigour because it is tailored to the talent and enthusiasm of its participants, and connects them to real world professional support. This course is a joy to teach, and I look forward to the adventures ahead.’ – Donna Abela (Page to Stage tutor).
Since its inception in 2016, the Page to Stage program has been supporting Western Sydney playwrights and in 2024/25, NTofP is excited to be joining forces with NIDA for our next iteration.
‘NIDA is really excited to be partner with National Theatre of Paramatta on the wonderful Page to Stage initiative. The quality of the applicants reinforced that Western Sydney is home to some of the strongest writing talent that Australia has to offer, and we’re delighted to be developing our relationship with those communities.’ – Joe Hepworth (Course Leader & Head of Dramatic Writing, NIDA).
Page to Stage Participants
Airlie Benson is an actor and writer passionate about exploring intersectional stories & representing her communities authentically on the stage & screen.
Chanika Desilva is an Australian actor and writer. Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, she immigrated to Western Sydney during Sri Lanka’s civil war. It is her time spent abroad living in four continents in fewer decades and travelling to over forty countries, that make her the artist she is today; a person deeply interested in people of all persuasions, their stories and making people laugh out loud.
Jollee Hacadurian-Sacco is a young, SWANA and Italian multidisciplinary artist from the western suburbs of Sydney (Dharug land). They are very passionate about telling comedic and optimistic stories about their communities and intersectional identities through theatre and film.
Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, Mayu Iwasaki is an award-winning actor, puppeteer, and theatre creator, fluent in both Japanese and English, and currently based in Sydney. In 2019, she made her Sydney Theatre Company debut in Anchuli Felicia King’s White Pearl and toured nationally with the production in 2021. A graduate of David Mamet’s Atlantic Theatre Conservatory, she has also trained extensively with the SITI Company in New York. Since 2020, she has served as an inaugural creative associate at Monkey Baa Theatre Company, where she wrote the original puppet show Little Bozu and Kon Kon. In 2023, she founded Omusubi Productions, with its inaugural production The Face of Jizo earning four nominations at the Sydney Theatre Awards, including Best Production. “Omusubi” refers to a Japanese soul food symbolising unity, a theme she aims to weave through her artistic works.
Monica Kumar is an actor and writer. Currently playing Padma, in the Apple TV+ series Shantaram, as well as Renuka in the ABC series Wakefield. Her co-created the ABC iView series Carpark Clubbing, was selected by The Digital First Initiative by Create NSW. Won Best Ensemble Cast at die seriale Festival and Best Writing award at the Stareable Festival in New York City, where she was also nominated for Best Actor. Besides screen, Monica is also a writer for animation. Writing for an upcoming children’s animation with Flying Bark. Monica’s theatrical achievements include Belvoir St Theatre’s Counting and Cracking. Winner of Best Main-stage Production, at the 2019 Sydney Theatre Awards; and Winner of 2019 Helpmann Awards, including Best Play and Best New Australian Work. Flight Paths, directed by Anthea Williams. Intersection, directed by Katrina Douglas, and Gravity Guts, directed by Erica Lovell. Nominated three times at the 2019 Sydney Fringe Awards. Including Best in Theatre.
Benjamin La is an emerging writer and interdisciplinary artist from Western Sydney. He is passionate about character-driven stories that explore the complexities of family and romance. Benjamin has been published in “BAD Western Sydney: The Second Case,” a crime anthology series organised by WestWords and BAD Sydney, as well as in Story Factory’s “Platform 1,” an anthology for emerging writers. Currently, he is a resident artist at PYT Fairfield, co-writing a fun young adult musical about second-generation kids achieving their dreams, titled Little Big Dreams. He is also part of the PYT Company as a writer-in-residence, producing an upcoming children’s work. Aside from writing, Benjamin has been involved in various other projects, from directing a theatre show for the Short and Sweet Theatre Festival to working as a photographer and videographer for his production company, My Tiger Productions.
Daniel Mehareb is a writer and performer of Egyptian heritage from South West Sydney. He uses poetry and comedy to tell stories of community for community. He has previously been a state finalist for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s RAW comedy competition and came second with his team in the 2024 Bankstown Poetry Grand Slam. He is currently a performer in residence at PYT Fairfield. Drawing inspiration from his cultural roots and faith he sees storytelling as a valuable way to address the dehumanisation of arabs in culture and media.
Fiona Murphy is an award-winning writer, editor and arts critic. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, ABC, The Saturday Paper, Griffith Review, The Big Issue. In 2021, her memoir about deafness (The Shape of Sound) was released in Australia, New Zealand, UK and North America. It was highly commended in the 2022 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. She is a MacDowell Fellow (2022) and Peter Blazey Fellow (2024).
Kim Pham is a Vietnamese-Australian playwright, filmmaker, novelist and poet based in Parramatta. In 2020, Kim was awarded the WestWords Western Sydney Emerging Writers’ Fellowship. She wrote and directed a short, animated film for Diversity Arts Australia and an experimental short film, PHỞ BÒ for Bankstown Arts Centre. Her poem, Menu was exhibited at the MÌNH Art Exhibition and her poem, Amadyla Hijack was awarded highly distinguished in the National Bruce Dawe Poetry Prize. She co-wrote the screen adaptation for Vivian Pham’s debut novel, The Coconut Children supported by Screen Australia. Her debut play, I Lychee You, for Q Theatre is set to stage in 2025. She was awarded a novel writing scholarship from both HarperCollins and Allen and Unwin to adapt her screenplay into a novel manuscript. In 2024, Kim won the Inner West Film Festival Pitching Competition, and was awarded a $10,000 mentorship with DAVE Enterprises.
Gavin Roach has a Bachelor of Arts (Acting for the Screen and Stage), Bachelor of Arts (Acting for the Screen and Stage, Honours) CSU, Masters in Arts Management UTS & Masters in Writing for Performance VCA. Gavin is the writer, performer & producer of Confessions of a Grindr Addict, Any Womb Will Do, I Can’t Say The F Word, The Measure of a Man, All The Songs I Can’t Sing and Your Silence Will Not Protect You. Gavin adapted the novel Beyond Priscilla for the stage, was the co-devisor & co-creative developer of We Were There, showcasing the stories of women during the HIV/AIDS crisis in Australia and has had their works My Wife Peggy, That’s One Damn Sexy Ape and The Anxiety Trilogy published by Currency Press.
Kobra Sayyadi is an emerging writer, dramaturg and arts worker who lives on Dharawal country in South West Sydney. She is interested in working across different mediums including poetry, theatre, film and audio to tell stories that probe, excite and elevate. She is currently undertaking an arts administration internship at Bell Shakespeare and CuriousWorks. She has a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in English literature and minor in anthropology. She was recently selected for ATYP’s Cultivate emerging dramaturg program. She is a member of PYT Company 2024 and was the co-writer and assistant director of Tuân’s Party (dir Neda Taha), a nominal Australian play devised by young Western Sydney artists as part of PYT Company 2023. Kobra’s latest project is co-writing and co-producing a new children’s work with PYT Company 2024, to premiere in November 2024. She is also co-writing and assistant directing a play adaptation of the novel Detention with celebrated dramaturg and actor Callan Purcell for a Monkey Baa Theatre production. In 2022 she completed a residency at the Bankstown Arts Centre and published her first feature essay ‘Unveiling through Art’ on Turkish-Australian contemporary artist Cigdem Aydemir for the Sydney Review of Books literary magazine. She is also co-producing a short film written by Western Sydney filmmaker Faraaz Rahman. Kobra is also a blog producer and executive member of the Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM) blog, a group dedicated to grassroots community activism concerning air pollution in Australia.
Geneva Valek is a queer playwright and prose writer who aims to illuminate the humour and magic of the everyday while exploring themes like class, plus-size politics and feminism. Her work has been performed at Queerstories and Sydney Writers Festival, and published in the Star Observer, Zinewest, Writing Parramatta and many more.
Olivia Xegas is a Greek-Australian Actor, Theatre-Maker, Creative Producer and Teaching Artist born and based on unceded Darug country, Western Sydney. In May 2021 they completed a Bachelor of Performance (Dramatic Arts) at the Australian Institute of Music – Dramatic Arts (AIMDA). Olivia is currently a Casual Creative Producer at PYT Fairfield. Between 2021-2023 she was a member of the PYT Fairfield Ensemble and Company, where they performed multiple acting, writing, production and stage management roles. In 2022 Olivia joined PP&VA’s Performing Arts Committee. Olivia also teaches Drama regularly across Intensive English Centres throughout Sydney. Olivia has recently toured Blue Whale Theatre’s productions Mary – A Story of Courage and A Bright Light in the Darkness across schools in Sydney, Melbourne, Regional NSW and VIC. Olivia has a deep interest in stories that reflect upon the intersectionality of people’s lives, particularly the relationship between ethnic culture and queer identity (which is basis of their debut play that they are currently writing). She has a passion for stories that celebrate and investigate the lives of women and non-binary folks, and dynamic storytelling that inspects the complexities of the human condition.
