Brad Flynn - Benedick

Grant Foulkes - Claudio

Madeleine Harding - Hero/Verges

Amanda LaBonte - Beatrice

Sophie Lampel - Leonata/Dogberry

Jamie McDonald - Don John

Tim Paige - Borachio

Sonya Suares - Messenger/Margaret/Watch/Sexton/Friar

Drew Tingwell - Don Pedro

- Frair Laurence/Montague

Don has been a proud member of Actor’s Equity since 1973. His extensive work in the theatre includes performances with Playbox, Nimrod, La Mama, Australian Shakespeare Co, Round Earth Company, Essential Theatre, Unicorn (London), Columbia University (New York), Fiddler on the Roof with Topol, and he has appeared in over twenty-five productions for Melbourne Theatre Company. Don recently toured the nation with HIT Production’s COSI.

His film work includes roles in The Ballad of Des and Mo, The Tender Hook, Romper Stomper, Evil Angels, Quigley Down Under, Sensitive New Age Killer, Malcolm, Rikki & Pete, Road to Nhill, The Hard Word, The Oyster Farmer, Charlotte’s Web and Gettin’ Square. He has also appeared on television in regular roles in Blue Heelers, Man from Snowy River, Neighbours, Stingers, Something in the Air. Don has performed with Essential Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and Twelth Night. He is thrilled to be back for their new production of Romeo and Juliet.

- Fight Coordinator

Brad Flynn graduated from the University of Ballarat Performing Arts program in 1996. His career has spanned over many areas of the arts including television, theatre and film as an actor and in the last decade bringing action based performance to audiences as a fight choreographer working for some of Melbourne’s most esteemed companies; Essential Theatre, Red Stitch Actors Theatre and The Dog Theatre. Brad has trained in many Martial Art styles from the age of 14 and currently works a Personal Trainer in Melbourne.

Essential Theatre’s 2011 season of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ snatches audiences from their seats and propels them directly into the exciting world of Mixed Martial Arts in the street fights of Verona. The techniques used in the fight scenes are mainly derived from the Israeli Military defense system know as ‘Krav Maga” (translating as contact combat), an efficient form of street defense that has been proven effective in real life combat situations. For the enthusiast other styles can be witnessed as well, including Wing Chun, Kung Fu and KFM (Keysi Fighting Method) systems used in close quarter combat.

- Mercutio/Prince

Grant studied a Bachelor of Dramatic Art at the Victorian College of the arts and graduated in 2007. Since then he has focused his energy on the theatre, performing in A Midsummer Nights Dream and Our Country´s Good with the preferred play company, touring to the Adelaide fringe festival.

He then worked with Arena Theatre Company, touring Australian Marriage Act to high schools throughout Victoria. He worked as an understudy in the Broadway hit Boeing Boeing at the comedy theatre. Other work includes Macbeth Re-arisen (nominated for Best Production in the 2008 greenroom awards) and the international premier of Melburnalia No. 2 both for White Whale Theatre Company.

His latest work was with Essential Theatre´s Shakespeare in the Vines tour of The Comedy of Errors.

- Nurse/Gregory/Apothecary

Jennifer moved to Melbourne 5 years ago from Adelaide, and has worked on a number of challenging roles since then. With PMD Productions she has appeared in Arcadia, Closer, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Three Sisters, The Merchant of Venice, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Generous. Prior to that she spent two years in London studying Classical Theatre at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

There she appeared in Much Ado about Nothing, Hamlet, The Philistines, The White Devil and The Provok’d Wife. Other productions have included Coriolanus, A Passage to India, Chinchilla, Stolen Moments and Low Level Panic, which Jennifer also produced for her Adelaide-born theatre company Scylla Productions. She recently directed and produced Liz Lochhead’s Blood and Ice at Chapel off Chapel in Melbourne. Film/TV credits include Neighbours where she appeared as Shannon Eagles, and a number of short films for the New York Film Academy and Urtext Film Productions.

- Costume Design & Construction

This year’s season of Romeo and Juliet sees Chole designing for her third production with Essential Theatre. With a background in Fashion the creative draw of costume design and construction is a welcomed relief from the structured world of commercial design. Chole graduated from fashion studies at RMIT in 2006 and started working as a designer for a cult Australian label.

After two years as a designer in the industry the urge to develop a label of her own took over and saw the birth of Chole’s label Satu.

For the past two years she has been developing Satu in conjunction with a variety of freelance projects working across the design spectrum as a pattern maker, designer and seamstress.

Lady Capulet/Anthony/Production Manager

Amanda works as an actor, writer and producer. The core of her producing work has been with the creation, development and management of Essential Theatre.

Amanda studied at The School of Physical Theatre in London and holds a BA in Performing Arts from The University of Ballarat. She was awarded the Outstanding Performance Skills Fringe Award for Triple Acorn (Essential Theatre -Melbourne Fringe Festival 1999).

Her many Shakespeare credits include Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Maria in Twelfth Night. Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and Luciana in The Comedy of Errors. Amanda has numerous television credits including Australian dramas and commercials. She will next be seen in the Australian feature film, The Cup.

- Production Manager

Sophie graduated with a BA in Performing Arts and works as an actor/singer, writer and producer. Her main focus is with the development and management of Essential Theatre.

In 2009 she took part in the International Fellowship at the Globe Theatre, London. With Essential Theatre she has had the opportunity to play a variety of roles ranging from Hero & Verges in Much Ado About Nothing, Puck & Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Viola in Twelfth Night, the Nurse in Romeo & Juliet & her most rewarding roles to date, the twin Dromio’s in The Comedy of Errors. She has also been fortunate to work with a number of terrific independent theatre companies in Melbourne over the years and in 2008 toured a sell out production of An Air Balloon across Antarctica with Three to a Room to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Sophie has appeared in Blue Heelers, several short films and music video clips. 2011 is the first year that Sophie will not be performing in Shakespeare in the Vines as she is expecting her first child in April.

Director

Anna is a graduate of the VCA, Victorian Music Theatre, Universty of Qld, and is an Associate of AMEB, Australia and Trinity College, London. Directing credits include ‘A Trilogy of Revolution-3 Plays by Wallace Shawn’ (Melbourne Festival), ‘The Fever’, performed by Merfyn Owen in private homes (Aust & NZ 1999-04), ‘The Mohair Stockings’, ‘I Knew a Diva’, ‘Pills I Love ‘em to Death’, ‘Love Songs’, ‘The Water Project’.

Anna assisted Stuart Maunder and Hugh Halliday on Victorian State Opera’s ‘Iolanthe’ and Stonnington Opera in the Park 2002-08. In 2008-9 she was Director/Dramaturg of ‘Death in White Linen’ with writer/performer Michael Dalley (La Mama/ Full Tilt, Victorian Arts Centre), which was nominated for a Victorian Green Room Award (Best New Writing in the Australian Theatre). Anna is also Voice /Dialect Coach for MTC, films, TV, music theatre and animation. Anna directed Shakespeare’s ‘The Comedy of Errors’ for Essential Theatre 2009

- Tybalt/Friar John

Cameron graduated from VCA in 2007, where he performed in King Lear, The Perjured City, The Venetian Twins, A Midsummer Nights Dream and Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme.

Since graduating, he has toured Victoria in The Great Big Story Book puppet show, performed in Strangers In Between at the Storeroom, As You Like It at Theatrehusk, and the sold out season of Something Natural But Very Childish at Lamama.

- Benvolio/Paris

Tim is originally from The Huon Valley in Tasmania and performed locally until moving to Melbourne in 2006.

He has sinced performed in Taming of the Shrew, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, Dolly West’s Kitchen and Distant Lights from Dark Places at The Victorian College of The Arts.

Last year he worked with Echelon productions and has just recently completed a national tour of Wombat Stew the Musical, with Garry Ginivan Attractions. Shakespeare and wine are high up on the list of things Tim enjoys and he jumped at the opportunity to get on board.

This is Tim’s first performance with Essential Theatre.

- Juliet/Sampson

Imogen has recently returned from a Shakespeare intensive at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

Previously this year, she; was in Mathew Lambert’s new adapted play; Weekend, at La Mama Courthouse, played the Actress in The Blue Room at Melbourne Uni, and was the Mermaid in the children’s show The Blue Pearl with Renewal Arts Australia, who she works with regularly as a children’s storyteller.

Imogen trained at Newtown Performing Arts High School and with the NSW State Drama Ensemble.