Key Artists and Collaborators
BOX OF BIRDS BIOGRAPHIES: 2026
Margie Breen: Margie is a director, dramaturge and producer who has worked on projects in Australia, Singapore, Korea, Europe, and the United States. She has taught, produced and directed and performed for Stalker/Box of Birds in Australia and internationally.
She was the Creative Producer for a national performing arts development program, Local Stages, in Bathurst. She was the Director of Milk Crate Theatre, in Sydney, working with people who have experienced homelessness. She was a core member of Erth Visual & Physical Inc. She was co-director of a Perth Festival project in the Pilbara, WA, and has co-directed two outdoor spectacle performances in Tennant Creek, N.T, a joint project between Nyinkka Nyunyu Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre and Australian Theatre for Young People. She has been teaching artist and director for NIDA and Sydney Theatre Company, a devised theatre specialist for Belvoir Theatre, Associate Artist at PYT, Fairfield and former Director of Theatre Network NSW.
Shakira Clanton: Shakira was born in Perth to Aboriginal Australian and African American parents. At an early age she wanted to become a singer, but after her drama teacher encouraged her imaginative self, she pursued her passion for acting. In 2007, she moved to Port Hedland where she worked with young people from remote communities using her drama training to build their confidence and capabilities. To connect with her father’s roots, Shakira travelled to the US and then continued her journey to Europe where she gained a world of experience. Shakira is a 2015 graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, prior to which she trained in the Aboriginal Theatre Program at WAAPA in Perth and the Aboriginal Centre of the Performing Arts in Brisbane. Theatre credits include the one woman show The Weekend (Sydney Festival / Mooghalin Performing Arts Inc), Simone Tucker in The Long-Forgotten Dream (STC), The Narrator in Creature (Stalker Theatre Company) and the Blacktown Angel in Home Country (Sydney Festival / Urban Theatre Projects). Film and TV credits include Alex in Diary of an Uber Driver (ABC TV), Jo in Doctor Doctor), Debs in Hyde and Seek, Jodie in Scout and herself in the SBS documentary series Brain.
David Clarkson: David is a theatre director, producer, mentor, leader and innovator in his field. He co-founded physical theatre company, Stalker in 1985 which has enjoyed national and international success since that time. His poetic, conceptual, image based, and highly physical performance work has been at the high end of physical theatre practice and influenced many artists working in this field. He was co-founder of intercultural company Marrugeku, and co-founded Box of Birds in 2018 to allow Stalker to re-brand and fully embrace its work with technology.
He has been awarded the NSW Rex Cramphorn Scholarship for Theatre and has undertaken numerous intercultural exchanges including artistic exchanges in Bogotá, Boulder and Seoul. He was awarded the inaugural Create NSW Art and Technology Fellowship in 2015, for his research into the use of interactive and digital technology in theatre. In 2023 was awarded a Createch placement as part of Remix / Creative Australia initiative to assist in developing Box of Birds immersive experiences.
Ella Ferris is a Taribelang actor and writer from far north Queensland, now living and working in Naarm. Her training is in ballet and theatre with the Australian Ballet School, and the Victorian College of the Arts. . From her time at VCA she appeared on stage in productions of Twelfth Night, Machinal, Gaban and The Spook. In 2022, she played Evonne Goolagong in the Sunshine Supergirl national tour. In 2024, Ella was the inaugural recipient of the Meanjin inPlace Autumn Residency, where she wrote her first memoir, Crocodile. In 2025, she was the inaugural recipient of Western Edge's SEED: First Nations Writing Program and she also undertook a six week tour to Mexico as lead performer in Box of Birds immersive work Creature.
Lee-Anne Litton: Lee-Anne is a performing artist specializing in aerial techniques. She has been a member of Stalker Theatre since 2009 and has performed both nationally and internationally. As an independent artist Lee-Anne has also worked nationally and internationally with other Australian physical theatre companies, including her own, Strings Attached.
Harlisha Newie-Joe: Harlisha is a dancer and is a proud Zenadth Kes woman from Mabuyag and Badu Island. She is currently completing her Advanced Diploma of Professional Dance Performance at NAISDA Dance College. Harlisha has trained with various professional artists and performed with renowned First Nations dance groups including Vicki Van Hout, Jasmin Sheppard and Lee Serle. A passionate and dedicated performer, enriched by the privilege of dancing with renowned First Nations dance groups including Jannawi Dance Clan, Wagana Dancers and Magun Zenadth Kes Dance Group.
Katja Handt: Katja is a set and costume designer with experience in film, performing and visual arts, and events. She has worked on projects like The Chronicles of Narnia and Mad Max: Fury Road. Australian credits include collaborations with companies and venues such as Belvoir, Tamarama Rock Surfers, Darlinghurst Theatre, Legs on the Wall, Stalker Theatre/ Box of Birds, Shopfront Theatre, De Quincey Co, Merrigong Theatre Company, Sydney Festival, the Australian Maritime Museum and Old Parliament House. Overseas credits include production designs for Studiobuehne Berlin and Artisti Senza Frontiere in Italy.
Boris Bagattini: Boris is a media artist working in Theater, interactive art, and film. His personal films have been shown at Sundance, Toronto Film Festival, and Sydney Film Festival. His work has been exhibited at The Beijing Biennale, ZKM Karlsruhe, and Sydney Modern, and he has received commisions from Sydney Festival, Vivid, Nike, Telstra, and Apple. He has worked on films including Ridley Scott's Alien Covenant, Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim Uprising, Aquaman, and Godzilla vs. Kong. His recent film engagements include "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," "Thor: Love and Thunder," and "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes".
Dr Matthew Hughes: is an emerging Sydney based audio-visual artist, software designer and musician. During his composition study at the Australian Institute of Music, Matthew’s works included a series of audio-visual experiences for visualising music. After his degree he started working for ScoreAddiction, a software development company working on real-time manipulation of library music. He also helped to present graphics for numerous interactive physical theatre performances with Stalker Theatre. He has recently been working closely with Alon Ilsar, including in works such as The Hour, presented at Vivid Sydney, and Trigger Happy Visualised. He recently finished his PhD in interactive design at UTS.
James Brown: James is a Sydney-based composer who has created soundtracks for performance, film, animation, and games. He has collaborated with numerous artists and companies including Bethesda, Victoria Hunt, Jane Campion, Adult Swim, The Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, William Yang, George Khut, Matthew Day, Hans Van Den Broeck (SOIT), POST, and Urban Theatre Projects. He holds a Visual Arts degree from Sydney College of the Arts and a Master’s Degree in Acoustic Physics from Sydney University.
Sam James: Sam has collaborated on over 250 works with contemporary Australian performance companies. He regularly works with Indigenous dance companies in Australia and internationally such as Blakdance, Dance NT, Marrugeku, Miku Performing Arts and their collaborations in Taiwan. He has toured with Back-to-Back Theatre making the performance video The Democratic Set (Europe and Canada 2018-20) and has designed several 360VR projects in 2019-20 with Theatre Kantanka. He designed projections at the National Theatre of Korea, Seoul, a VR installation for Blik Blik Festival 2020 Czech Republic and has participated in international residencies in Norway, Czech Republic, Reykjavik, Finland, The Banff Centre, Calcutta and Berlin
Dr. Andrew Johnston: Andrew is a researcher and interaction/software designer based in Sydney, Australia. His work focuses on the design of systems that support experimental, exploratory approaches to interaction, and the experiences and practices of the people who use them. He has qualifications in music (B. Arts) and computing (Master of IT) and a PhD combining the two. Andrew is a Professor of Research at UTS and has had a long and productive collaboration with Stalker Theatre and of Box of Birds.
Alejandro Rolandi: Alejandro is a Sydney based performance artist, originally from Buenos Aries, Argentina. He has extensive experience working as an aerial systems designer, instructor, creative and technician for many well-known Australian companies: Legs on the Wall, Shaun Parker, Force Majeure, NIDA, ACPE, UNSW, PACT Theatre, SDC, Opera Australia and Stalker Theatre. Alejandro is also a qualified rigger and an independent director who creates his own works through Strings Attached.
Mike Smith: Mike is a Production Manager and Lighting Designer with experience in theatre, events, music, and film. Mike has toured theatre productions and new developments across Australia, Europe, Mexico and Asia, and has been part of the planning and design for several major Arts Festivals. Mike is currently the production manager for Box of Birds and head of events for Adelaide Council.
Partners
Animal Logic Academy in conjunction with CREATIVITY & COGNITION STUDIOS (CCS)
CCS is an internationally recognised multi-disciplinary environment for the advancement and understanding of practice in digital media and the arts. It provides nationally and internationally recognised artists and technologists with a space in which to collaborate, experiment and create in practice-based research. CCS is committed to disseminating its results internationally through research publications, exhibitions, the co-ordination of an international conference series (C&C) and through the provision of high-quality postgraduate education. Our research is based upon a belief in the importance of working partnerships and collaborative effort nationally and internationally. The CCS Partners and Associates constitute an international team of experts who ensure that the research is at the cutting edge in all its areas of concern. Within the University, our work complements and adds to a strong range of existing research and development in Digital Media and Creative Cultures across three Faculties.
www.creativityandcognition.com
UTS Animal Logic Academy
Established in 2017, the Academy is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Australia’s top young university, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and world-leading digital production studio, Animal Logic. We’re passionate about producing the next generation of digital artists and technical professionals who are ready to shape the future of the animation and visualisation industries.
Located within the UTS city campus – right in the heart of Sydney’s thriving creative precinct – the Academy is a professionally equipped, custom-built digital production studio space offering a range of practice based postgraduate programs, including a one-year accelerated Master of Animation and Visualisation (MAV), a 14 week Graduate Certificate of Animation and Visualisation (GCAV), as well as research programs and undergraduates elective subjects.
NAISDA
NAISDA Dance College is Australia’s premier Indigenous training college with a proud tradition of producing the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers since 1976. NAISDA Dance College offers professional expertise and word class training facilities to deliver accredited training programs that are rich in cultural learning and practice. Located on Darkinjung land just north of Sydney, we provide a creative learning space designed to inspire and equip Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander young people for the future. Their dance performance program is delivered by qualified trainers comprised of former principal dancers, respected choreographers, and cultural tutors from diverse Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities.
Carriageworks
Carriageworks is Australia's largest contemporary multi-arts centre. It has been supported by the New South Wales Government, receiving funding through Create NSW, and also federal government through the Australia Council.
Its vision is "to be recognised as a multi-arts urban cultural precinct that engages and inspires Sydney's culturally diverse communities", and to that end has presented a varied, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural program for many years which has attracted to up to 1.32 million visitors. Carriageworks has commissioned Australian and international artists "to make monumental new work that intersects with contemporary ideas" and it has striven to reflect the diversity of the community in its exhibits and performances. The centre plays host to up to 100 projects a year, including contemporary theatre, dance, visual arts, music, film and fashion and corporate events.
https://carriageworks.com.au/about/