TNA Staff

Theatre Network Australia (TNA) has a small but mighty core team of staff, who are supported by short-term staff and contractors for specific projects.

Headshot of Nicole Beyer

Erica McCalman

Co-CEO

Erica McCalman (she/her) is an independent creative producer with more than 15 years of contemporary and experimental performing arts practice working across Australia and internationally. She has produced for Melbourne Fringe, Sydney WorldPride, the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM), Next Wave, Sydney Festival, Performance Space, Darwin Festival and others. She is dedicated to facilitating arts outcomes which are rigorous, relevant, and reflective of the communities they serve. She is a recipient of the Green Room Award for Innovation in Curation and Programming and the George Fairfax Memorial Award for Excellence.

As a consultant and facilitator, she is an active advocate for a strong creative sector. Erica initiates online spaces for discourse around class, power dynamics between artists and institutions, and interrogating what a healthy, inclusive arts practice can be. Since 2022 she has been a member of the Arts Wellbeing Collective’s Lived Experience Advisory Group. Born and raised on Wurundjeri country in Naarm (Melbourne) Erica is a proud Ballardong Noongar woman with Irish Convict, Scottish and Cornish heritage. She is a Graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Bachelor of Production) and a 2024 candidate of Small Giants Academy’s Mastery of Business and Empathy program.

Headshot of Joshua Lowe

JOSHUA LOWE

Co-CEO

Joshua Lowe (he/him) is an artist and creative business leader with sixteen years of experience as an executive leader of arts organisations and a passion for supporting and connecting people. Born and raised in Lutruwita/Tasmania, from 2007 to 2020 Joshua was the founding CEO/Artistic Director of DRILL, a national leader in youth dance, dedicated to fostering the growth of contemporary dance in Tasmania. He is a Graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Bachelor of Dance), and current MBA candidate at Melbourne Business School.

Joshua was the General Manager of TNA from 2021-23 before moving into the role of Co-CEO. In that time he led the design and implementation of TNA’s Equity Action Plan, created the LeaderShift program, drove national political advocacy, and provided increased support for the youth arts sector. Joshua is guided by strong principles of justice and equity, informed by his queer identity and regional, working-class background.

Headshot of Steph Speirs

STEPH SPEIRS

Program Director

Steph Speirs is an accomplished creative producer who has worked over the past decade with artists and festivals across Australia and the UK. Steph is also a composer and performance-maker, creating works in experimental theatre and live art spaces and composing music for stage & media.

Steph is passionate about advocating for the value of arts workers to society, and about innovating to build sustainable arts careers and equitable pathways from education to industry. Recently Steph worked with Circus Oz as Producer of Artform & Industry Development, where she was dedicated to facilitating opportunities for artists and cultivating a thriving Australian circus sector.

Steph holds a Bachelor of Performing Arts and a Master of Arts & Cultural Management.

Headshot of Yuhui Ng-Rodriguez

YUHUI NG-RODRIGUEZ

Manager, Sector Development & Membership

Yuhui Ng-Rodriguez is a Geelong-based, Singaporean performance-maker. Fuelled by a preoccupation with how transient places and people are, her work attempts to find a connection between home and inhabitant, country and citizen, body and culture. Projects include Baby Cake (Next Wave & Darebin Speakeasy 2018), Museum of Me (Darebin Arts 2016), Neighbours (Big West Festival 2015), Uncommon Places (Melbourne Fringe Keynote 2015) and Geelong Sweats (Geelong Arts Centre development 2020). She has worked across various arts administration roles for organisations such as Back to Back Theatre and the National Arts Council in Singapore.
Headshot of Wen-Juenn Lee

Wen-Juenn Lee

Communications Manager

Wen-Juenn writes and edits poetry on unceded Wurundjeri land, and her writing has been published or is forthcoming in Meanjin, Antithesis, Landfall, Southerly, Scum Mag, and Going Down Swinging. She previously served as poetry editor at Voiceworks.

Headshot of Christy Flaws

Christy Flaws

Program Producer, CaPT Strategy

Christy has been working for over 15 years as an artist, facilitator, director and manager of community arts projects ranging from circus, physical theatre, visual arts, storytelling, community publishing, flash mob dances and film.

Christy co-founded circus and physical theatre company Asking for Trouble with Luke O’Connor in 2008 and has since created, performed and produced various award-winning works, which have toured regionally, nationally and internationally.

She loves connecting people with opportunities and helping make inspiring things happen, she is passionate about the kinds of transformational processes that artists can deliver in communities and the many different ways they approach this work.

Headshot of Lauren Swain

Lauren Swain

Program Producer, Australian First Nations Circle

Lauren Swain is a proud Dabee Wiradjuri person with English, Irish and Norwegian heritage, based in Naarm (Melbourne). She grew up in a rural town in the Mountains of Ngarigo Country (Cooma, NSW), an upbringing that underpins an artistic practice grounded in: community consciousness, care, inclusion and working with what you’ve got.

Lauren is an emerging multidisciplinary theatre maker and weaves between performer, collaborator, facilitator and producer, holding the process and interpersonal connection at the centre of her practice. Lauren is a 2022 VCA graduate (BFA Theatre) and is interested in theatre that is led by physical play and movement.

Headshot of Charice Rust

Charice Rust

Program Producer, CIPI

Charice is Co-Artistic Director and performer for contemporary circus company One Fell Swoop Circus, through which she cultivates her passion for combining innovative physical expression with considered ideas. Charice also works as co-producer for One Fell Sweep Circus developing her creative producer practice alongside her acrobatic practice. Recent performance highlights include the Xintiandi Festival in Shanghai, Hawkes Bay Arts Festival in New Zealand, the CIRCa Festival in Auch, France, and extensive regional touring throughout Australia.

She is passionate about growing her producing practice to support the careers of circus artists and companies.

Headshot of Christian Schooneveldt-Reid

Christian Schooneveldt-Reid

Program Producer, Safe & Sustainable Circus Rigging

Christian is a circus professional. After 20 years in the industry, he has a degree in circus arts, has run a small circus company touring across the world, and worked for many Australian circus organisations and a variety of international companies.

He loves collaborating on unique and exciting projects, supporting the sector, touring to bizarre out of the way places and watching things grow in the garden.

Thank you

TNA acknowledges the vital contribution of our previous staff: Nicole Beyer, Steph Cox, Kath Fyffe, Melinda Hetzel, Anna Kelsey-Sugg, Carmen Lai, Tessa Leong, Jamie Lewis, Angela Pamic, Rani Pramesti, Simone Schinkel, Bethany Simons, Kieran Swann, and Kim Webster.

TNA also employs many project contractors who we are truly grateful to for their dedication, including Sam Ryan (Bookkeeper), and teams who work on the Australian Performing Arts Forum