THE COLLECTIVE

FOUNDING MEMBERS & FORMER MEMBERS

James Cerche  |  assistant Artistic Director

James is a graduate of the Howard Fine Acting Studio Full Time program.

He previously attended Monash University, where he achieved his Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English, Theatre and Film Studies. He performed regularly with the Monash University Student Theatre company in a number of roles that included lead performances in 'Spring Awakening' directed by Yvonne Virsik (co-production with the Monash Performing Arts Academy), 'Romeo & Juliet' directed by Mark Wilson (with the Monash Shakespeare Company) and Martin McDonagh's 'The Lieutenant Of Inishmore'.

James is an active member of the Melbourne independent theatre scene, engaging on and offstage in productions with several companies including performances at The Arts Centre.  He appeared on stage in the acclaimed 2015 production of 'Psychopomp' at LaMama and premiered new work 'Rainbow Man' at Forty-five Downstairs with collaborative company Goodnight Darlings in 2017.

James joined a collective of other Howard Fine alumni in North of Eight for their second year, staging new Australian work 'Philtrum', to great acclaim in July 2018. He is also pleased to announce SPINNING PLATES, a company formed with Jessica Stanley. Their debut production 'Ross & Rachel' had its Australian Premier in September at Theatreworks for the 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival. 

Screen credits include the upcoming Stan Original series 'Bloom', independent feature 'Angel Of Light', shorts 'Utropia', 'Skateboys', 'Rest In Piss', 'Break & Enter' and 48 Hour Film Festival finalist 'Apocabricks’.

Sarah Clarke  |  Assistant Company Manager  |  Co-marketing & publicity manager (2016 - 18)

Sarah Clarke is an actor, writer and theatre maker based in Melbourne. She graduated from the Full-Time Program at the Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia in 2014, and co-founded theatre company Second Breakfast.

In 2012, Sarah graduated from Southbank Institute of Technology’s Full-Time Acting Program with an Advanced Diploma Arts (Acting). She holds her ATCL Performer’s with the Trinity College of London and teaches children’s drama classes with Kids Up Front.

Sarah has devised and performed works around the country, including Private Moments: A Double Bill, Anywhere Festival; Fairy Tale News, WIT Inc.; A Lady Shot, La Mama; Semi Charmed, Melbourne Fringe; My Struggle, Anywhere Festival; and Rough Trade, Adelaide Fringe. She also took on the role of movement director of WIT Incorporated’s Macbeth.

Film Credits include Eternalism, Festival De Cannes 2013; Pretty Little Things, Iced Dreams and Angel of Light. 

Official Website: www.sareclarke.com

Siobhan Connors  |  Ensemble Member

Siobhan works in the arts as an actor, producer and event organiser. Since moving to Melbourne in 2011, Siobhan has co-founded two theatre companies: Key Conspirators and North of Eight, and been cast in multiple theatre, film, and television productions and has invested time creating and managing live music events and performance based charity fundraisers. Siobhan is an independent theatre producer, the Festival Producer of Poppy Seed Theatre Festival and works in the Programming Department at Regional Arts Victoria. This year, Siobhan was selected to be one of 12 women taking part in Melourne Theatre Company’s Women in Theatre program.

Siobhan’s recent acting highlights include tv series; Romer Stomper and Neighbours, feature films; A Long Night in Pexington, Bugs and The Neon Spectrum and theatre credits; Navy Pier by John Corwin, The Proposal by Anton Checkhov and Loose Teeth by Cassandra Elli. Her producing highlights include Terminus by Mark O’Rowe and Her Father’s Daughter by Keziah Warner.

Siobhan is on the Board of Trustees at Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia, the Art and Soul Advisory Panel for City of Port Phillip and is proud to be working with Gasworks Arts Park in a partnership with Key Conspirators to present Script Nights- a monthly initiative that supports local writers in the presentational aspect of developing new work.

Official website: www.siobhanconnors.com

IMDb: www.imdb.me/siobhanconnors

Showcast: www.showcast.com.au/showcast/profile/smconnors19

Anthea Greco  |  Secretary& Assistant executive producer

Anthea is a Los Angeles based Actor and Voice Artist and founding member of North of Eight.

She began working in theatre as a teen playing lead roles in various stage classics, before training professionally at the Victorian College of the Arts and Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia. Since then she has lent her voice to audiobooks, animations, TV/radio commercials and films, a highlight of which was playing three characters in the English dubbing of the Anima Istanbul’s Badcat.

Anthea was proud to have her first authored play Philtrum produced by North of Eight in 2018, before she relocated to USA. From abroad, she enjoyed being able to contribute with marketing for North of Eight’s most recent production Strata Inc.

Faran Martin  |  Co-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & Company Manager

Faran Martin is a Melbourne based actress, theatre maker and a founding member of North of Eight, having graduated from the Full-Time Program at the Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia in 2015, and completed a Bachelor of Arts (Acting) at CSU in 2009.

She has performed as part of Sydney’s Short+Sweet Festival, and Griffin Theatre Company’s Festival of New Writing. With the support of the Marrickville Council, Faran co-developed, produced and performed a successful production of T. S. Eliot’s seminal poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock for the Sydney Fringe Festival. Other credits include Seminar, An Ideal Husband and Pinball, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. For film, Faran appeared in The Night Sky and Ad Nauseum. Faran’s involvement in independent theatre also saw her assistant direct Twisted Tree Theatre’s production of Ruby Moon.

Faran’s commitment to the Australian arts industry has led her to work with some of the country’s most valued organisations in administration and support roles, including Sydney Theatre Company, The Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Theatre Company. 

Her passion for fostering a love of art in young people led to a role as child chaperone support for Belvoir Street Theatre’s production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as well as running drama workshops for children in rural NSW. Faran has also volunteered as an artist liaison for Bondi Feast and is regularly engaged in developments with some of Melbourne’s most exciting new playwrights.

Faran also stars in the web series Solid, created by Database Productions, and appeared as a guest artist in episode one of Shakespeare Republic, season two. She is currently in production for the short film Speaking Daggers, also by Shakespeare Republic.

Faran has been a proud member of Equity since 2009.

Jessica Martin  |  Co-artistic director

Since completing a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Drama and Dance) at Deakin University, Jessica Martin went on to study at the Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia, graduating from the Full-Time Program.

Screen credits include Sugar Plum, Island Echo, Streetwalker and Young Lies. 

Recent stage credits include the Australian premiere of The Truth Is Longer Than A Lie, Dir. Kieran Carroll; Kindred, Dir. Lisa Treloar; The Super Normal Life of Aiden Allcock, Melbourne Fringe; and Skitheads and Funny Bone, Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Jessica also starred in and co-wrote the original work, Let Them Eat Cake.

Showcast: www.showcast.com.au/showcast/profile/jessicamartin

Mark Salvestro  |  Ensemble Member  |  Marketing & Publicity Manager (2016 - 18)

Mark Salvestro is a Melbourne-based actor, singer, writer, producer and founding member of independent theatre companies, Second Breakfast and North of Eight. Hailing from the Snowy Mountains in NSW, he began his creative career at Cooma Little Theatre while completing a 12-month journalism cadetship at The Monaro Post newspaper.

Mark’s most recent accomplishment is his critically acclaimed one-man show, Buried at Sea, which he wrote, produced and performed. Buried at Sea has toured the country over the past 12 months, including successful seasons at Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, Brisbane Anywhere Festival, and a sold-out Snowy Mountains tour. Mark has trained extensively as a performer in Sydney and Melbourne, and in 2014, graduated from the Full-Time Program at the Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia, where he continues to hone his craft. While training, Mark has worked on Death of a Salesman, This Is Our Youth, Angels in America, Broadway Bound, Seminar, and Sunday in the Park with George.

Other theatre credits include Couch Potato and Fairy Tale News, WIT Inc.; Private Moments: A Double Bill, Anywhere Festival; The Popular Mechanicals, and Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. Mark has been a provocateur at the Malthouse Theatre, an intern at Red Stitch Actors Theatre, and a writer for online arts journal, Maggie Journal.

He is a proud member of Equity.

Official website: www.marksalvestro.com

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/marksalvestroactor

Shane Savage  |  Ensemble Member  |  Co-Artistic Director (2016 - 2018)

After completing a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Drama/Film) at Deakin University, Shane Savage went on to study the Full-Time Program at the world-renowned Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia. His love of storytelling has led to not only working as an actor, but also as a Producer, Writer, Director and Coach.

Recent theatre credits include Big Al, Chapel Off Chapel and Playing Rock Hudson, Malthouse Theatre. Recent screen credits include Anatomy, Artemis, Nevyr Love a Vampyr, and the webseries Chris & Josh. Shane’s latest big screen venture, Ravenswood, is set for a US/Canadian release later this year. He also recently appeared in Season 6 of Offspring (Endemol Shine) and Season 3 of The Leftovers (HBO/Warner Bros).

Recent achievements include winning Best Writing at NYC WebFest, Best Online Video at the London Film Awards, Best Comedy Series at the Online Video Awards Australia, and being nominated for Best Male Performance in a Comedy by the International Academy of Web Television. Shane’s latest project in which he acts, wrote and produced is a short film titled SH!T, which is currently touring the world, already being screened at five international film festivals.

He is a faculty member of the Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia and is the proud Owner/Director of Studio Sonder.

Official Website: www.studiosonder.com.au

IMDB: www.imdb.me/shanesavage

Jessica Stanley | Chair

Jessica Stanley is an actor and playwright from Melbourne. After topping the state of Victoria with a perfect score in drama at high school, she went on to receive a Victorian Premier’s Award, the Jennifer Francis Drama Prize, and a scholarship to study at Monash University. While completing her Bachelor of Performing Arts at Monash, Jessica performed in various productions, including August: Osage County and The Pillowman. She was awarded the Outstanding Year Level Achiever and a Dean’s Recognition Award following her work in August: Osage County, and in her final year worked with director Leticia Caceres on the world premiere of Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?

In 2015, she concurrently completed the Full-Time Program at the Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia and a Bachelor of Psychology at Swinburne University. She has also trained at 16th Street, TAFTA, Melbourne Acting Academy and the Rehearsal Room, as well as working with renowned Australian director Kim Farrant and US teachers Howard Fine, David Coury, Marilyn McIntyre, Laura Gardner, Frank Collison, Jean Louis-Rodrigues, Carol Rosenfeld and Margie Haber. 

On-screen credits include roles on The Doctor Blake Mysteries and Glitch, and the French-language independent feature, La Souffrance. In 2018, Jessica received critical acclaim for her solo performance in the Australian premiere of Ross & Rachel (Theatre Works, MIFF) written by James Fritz. In 2016, Jessica was nominated for Best Performance Award for her solo performance in Ménage at Melbourne Fringe Festival. Other stage credits include Navy Pier, directed by Phoebe Anne Taylor, and her own play It's Alright, Sid it's Alright (La Mama), directed by Robert Reid. In 2018, Jessica was the only playwright from Australia invited to attend the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska, for her new play Sisters, Inferno.

Jessica continues to write new plays and study at HFAS, where she also sits on the Board of Trustees and hosts Scratch Nights. She hopes to one day, in a quiet moment, continue her post-graduate studies in psychology, and complete a research PhD on the psychology of acting.

Aside from Chairing North of Eight, Jessica is also the Co-Founder of new artistic collective Spinning Plates Co.

Website: www.jessicastanleyactor.com

IMDB: www.imdb.com/name/nm6329460/

Showcast: www.showcast.com.au/showcast/profile/jessicastanley

Phoebe Anne Taylor  |  ENSEMBLE MEMBER | co-artistic Director (2016 - 2018)

Phoebe Anne Taylor is an independent artist, primarily involved in acting, writing, directing and photography. She was a member of the Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia’s Full-Time Program in 2012, the Monash Graduate Ensemble 2009 and Victorian College of the Arts Acting Studio in 2008.

Phoebe is a published poet and performed playwright, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in Creative Writing and Photography from the University of Melbourne. She is passionate about creating and touring work that promotes access to the arts, and has fashioned much of her own work under the umbrella company Apples and Shoes to reflect this goal. 

Recent theatre credits include Apples and Shoes’ the art of fucking which she also wrote, La Mama and Adelaide Fringe;  Old Man Nanook, 3Mask; Titus Andronicus, Four Letter Word Theatre; Speak English or Die; and Apples and Shoes’ no blinding light, which again she wrote, Adelaide Fringe.

Film credits include Raylene and Charlie, Revelation and Firelight. Her directorial credits include Buried at Sea, Second Breakfast; Kiss me Kate, The Producers and Away, Trinity College; Hamlet and The Tempest, Hartwell Players and other independent works.

Phoebe is a regular narrator for the Vision Australia Information Library Service, and has also collaborated in music and multimedia work as a vocalist and writer. 

Official Website: www.phoebeataylor.wix.com/portfolio