ASSITEJ Advisory Committee

ASSITEJ is the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (the acronym comes from the original French: Association Internationale de Theatre pour les Enfants et le Jeunesse). It is an international alliance of professionals involved in performance with/for/by young people, and there are 83 national centres globally; TNA is the ASSITEJ centre for Australia.

Established in 2020, the ASSITEJ Advisory Committee is made up of representatives from the performance with/for/by young people sector from across the country. Together with ASSITEJ International President and Australia Representative Sue Giles, the committee provides advocacy leadership and sector consultation and advice.

2023 Committee

 

Sue Giles AM
President of ASSITEJ International and ASSITEJ Australian Representative (VIC)
With over 40 years of experience in the arts industry, Sue was also the Artistic Director of Polyglot Theatre from 2000 - 2022. She is also currently both the Australian representative and President of ASSITEJ International – the global association of Theatre and Performance for Children and Young People – of which TNA is the Australian host and secretariat. In 2019 she was honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

Kevin du Preez
Monkey Baa Theatre Company (NSW)
Kevin is an arts executive, strategist and facilitator, currently working as the Executive Director of Monkey Baa Theatre Company. With a career spanning over 22 years, Kevin has pioneered and led internationally recognised programs that are an integral part of transforming creative leadership, knowledge and skills in the Australian arts and cultural industry. Kevin previously worked at the Australia Council for the Arts where he was the Director of Capacity Building. 

Belinda Kelly
Terrapin (TAS)
Belinda has worked in the performing arts as a theatre and events producer, manager and administrator for over 15 years, with a speciality in supporting the development and presentation of new Australian work. Currently the Executive Producer at Terrapin, Belinda has held producer and artistic associate positions at Arts Centre Melbourne, Sydney’s Griffin Theatre Company, and Melbourne’s Theatre Works and curated and produced the Melbourne Festival’s 2016 and 2017 Directors Lab. 

Romi Kupfer
Independent (VIC)
Romi is a contemporary theatre maker, director and producer. Romi holds a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Honours) from Monash University and a Masters of Directing for Performance from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Romi facilitates and creates performance with and for young people in different settings and strives to empower young artists through performative spaces.

Fleur Kilpatrick
Riverland Youth Theatre (SA)
Fleur is a playwright, educator, dramaturge and director and the artistic director of Riverland Youth Theatre. Fleur’s plays have won the Max Afford, Helen Nonan and Jill Blewett playwrights awards, among others and, in 2020, she was awarded the Monash Student Association’s Arts Faculty award for Teaching Excellence for her innovative lecturing and pastoral care during Covid-19. Fleur lives and works on the lands of the People of the Murray and Mallee country, where she empowers her community through art, creativity and play and works to create safe spaces for young people. Fleur is a person with a disability and a brain that cannot always do as it is told.  

Zoe Scrogings
Corrugated Iron (NT)
Zoe Scrogings is an arts manager and creative producer with over two decades’ of working in cross cultural collaborations, major events, and business development. Her previous roles include Business Development Manager with the Yothu Yindi Foundation, Garma Festival, Development Manager at Darwin Festival, Executive Director of Backbone, and Artistic Director and CEO of Contact Inc. Zoe has produced and developed social circus projects for young people with Rock n Roll Circus, Circa, Vulcana, and Women’s Circus.

Joshua Maxwell
Jopuka Productions (NSW)
Joshua is a playwright, producer, and theatre-maker from Darkinjung Country on the Central Coast, NSW who has worked in the sector for over a decade. They’re currently Artistic Director for Jopuka Productions, which is now one of regional Australia’s largest youth theatre bodies.  In 2019 they founded #ausartsforclimateaction, heading two industry-wide open letters in support of The Schools Strike Movement, which inspired their youth play Very Happy Children with Bright and Wonderful Futures, which was nominated for 2022 AWGIE Award.

Fiona MacDonald
Imaginary Theatre (QLD)
Fi is a founding member and the General Manager/Executive Producer of Imaginary Theatre, a Brisbane based arts org committed to creating theatre and arts experiences with and for 0-12 year olds and their communities. Her focus is on socially engaged projects and supporting artists to use their unique craft to build and better communities. She has worked as a Producer for QLD Music Festival, Brisbane City Council, Contact Inc, Motherboard Productions, State Library of QLD and  many others. Fi has worked extensively in South Korea since 2004, and in 2018 completed an Australia Council for the Arts placement with the Arts Space for Kids, Shanghai. Fi is also currently a Creative Producer at Brisbane Festival, a mother of two beautiful children, and was a fellow with the International Society for the Performing Arts from 2017 – 2020.

Previous Committees

2021-2022
Sue Giles AM (VIC), Kevin du Preez (NSW), Helen Hristofski (WA), Aleshia Johnson (ACT), Belinda Kelly (TAS), Zac James (WA), Christian Leavesley (VIC), Penny Harpham/Tariro Mavondo (VIC), Sarah Parsons (NSW), Romi Kupfer (VIC), and Rhen Soggee (SA)

2020-2021
Sue Giles AM (VIC), Helen Hristofski (WA), Christian Leavesley (VIC), Tariro Mavondo (VIC), Sarah Parsons (NSW), Romi Kupfer (VIC), Rhen Soggee (SA), Luke Rogers (ACT), Amanda Wright (NSW), Robert Kronk (QLD), Susannah Sweeney (SA), Jay Emmanuel (WA), and Kyle Walmsley (NT).