CULTIVATE: Emerging Dramaturgs Program

Jane is Resident Dramaturg at ATYP, where she oversees the company’s writing programs and commissions, and mentors emerging writers through the Fresh Ink and National Studio programs.

Her recent work as Dramaturg for ATYP includes Saplings, Scab, Reboot and The Resistance. Previously Jane has been a Literary Manager at Ensemble Theatre (shared role). For STC she has been Literary Manager, Artistic Associate and administrator of the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award as well as a dramaturg on new writing (Blueprints writers’ program) and mainstage productions.

She has worked as a script reader for the Royal Court London, Playwriting Australia, ANPC and Playworks, and has worked extensively as a Mentor with Year 12 students on HSC creative writing projects.

Jenevieve Chang is a story developer, writer and educator who has worked in the UK, China and Australia. Jenevieve has served as Development Executive at ABC Drama & Comedy and Development Executive at Screen Australia where two of her projects were selected as the Australian entry for Best International Feature Film for the Academy Awards 2022 and 2023.

Jenevieve was a founding member and Co-Chair of Screen Australia’s Equity and Inclusion committee. Jenevieve has also worked as a Creative Executive for Arclight Films. Her multi-generational memoir The Good Girl of Chinatown was published by Penguin Random House in 2017 and Jenevieve’s playwriting debut, Yong, won a 2023 Sydney Theatre Award. 

Jenevieve is currently BA Discipline Lead for Screenwriting at AFTRS.

Tyler Dias (he/they) is a queer Sydney based writer, actor, and improviser who is passionate about creating comedy with heart, and supporting POC in the performing arts. They often work as a notetaker, actor and photographer. In 2023, he was a participant in ATYP’s National Studio and performed in improvised shows in the Sydney Comedy Festival, Sydney Fringe Festival, and SXSW Sydney. In 2022, Tyler graduated from AFTRS and directed Jenny Tian’s TikTok series Coach Dayum!, funded by Screen Australia and NZ On Air in their inaugural Every Voice initiative with TikTok. WIth this background in screen-based storytelling, Tyler has been expanding his understanding of theatre over the last few years, both as an audience member and as an actor with their involvement in staged readings (Z Bui’s Back to Birdy, Bella Battersby’s Trash Wizard), and creative developments (Eric Jiang’s Rhomboid, and Etcetera Etcetera’s Big Screen, Small Queen). They are excited to support the future of POC storytelling and foster more anti-racist spaces in the arts.

Kobra Sayyadi is an emerging writer, dramaturg and interdisciplinary artist who lives on Dharawal country in South West Sydney. She is interested in working across different mediums including poetry, theatre, film and audio to tell stories that probe, excite and elevate. She is a member of PYT Fairfield 2024 and was the head writer and assistant director of Tuân’s Party, a nominal Australian play devised by young Western Sydney artists as part of PYT Company 2023. Kobra’s latest project is co-writing a play adaptation of the novel Detention with celebrated dramaturg and actor Callan Purcell for a Monkey Baa Theatre production. In 2022 she completed a residency at the Bankstown Arts Centre and published her first feature essay ‘Unveiling through Art’ on Turkish-Australian contemporary artist Cigdem Aydemir for the Sydney Review of Books literary magazine. Kobra is passionate about community work and works part-time as a projects assistant at Western Sydney Community Forum. She previously served as the president of Saba Group, a youth-led community organisation advocating scholarship for the Hazara diaspora in Australia and engaging the community in cultural, historical and arts programs. She is also a regular contributor to the Community Environmental Monitoring blog, a group dedicated to grassroots community activism concerning air pollution in Australia. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, listening to podcasts and going on hikes.

Madhullikaa Singh is an actor, theatre maker and Odissi dancer working on Gadigal land. Her stage credits include ‘Human Activity’ at KXT on Broadway and Riverside Theatres (2023), and ‘Dalo Chips and Imli Chutney’ and ‘माँ की रसोई’ (My Mother’s Kitchen) at 107 Redfern, as part of Shopfront’s ArtsLab program (2022), 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art for the ‘Art in the Heart of Haymarket’ Festival (2022), and KXT (2023). Graduating from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts and Advanced Studies in Theatre & Performance Studies and International & Global Studies, she directed (2021) and produced (2022) the People of Colour Revue at the Seymour Centre, showcasing the talents of 30+ BIPOC creatives and solidifying her commitment to amplifying marginalised stories. Expanding her creative horizons, she co-led the Voices of Women’s dynamic creative writing workshop at the Newcastle Writers Festival alongside Lliane Clarke. Most recently she performed for artist HOSSEI’s ESSSENSSSE exhibition in collaboration with the Verge Gallery, Performance Space at Carriageworks and Burwood Council.

Chloe Singleton is a Fijian-Australian theatre maker and singer. She’s currently completing a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney, majoring in Theatre and Performance Studies, and Chinese Studies. She developed her passion for performing at university, gaining both performance and crew credits through a number of student theatre productions and revues. She’s been part of the PYT Ensemble from 2022 – 2024, further developing her theatre making and performance skills through a variety of workshops, and getting involved in a number of community events and performances. She has also been heavily involved in a cappella choirs, and has skills in ensemble singing, arranging and music production. As a proud queer Pasifika woman, Chloe has found a deep sense of community and belonging in artistic collaboration. Some highlights include directing PoC Revue’s 2023 show The Family Reunion staged at the Seymour Centre, and performing in the Pasifika film project One Ocean, Many Waves produced by Satiu Studios for Shopfront Arts Co-Op’s ARTSLAB festival. Alongside performing, writing and directing, she’s aiming to include dramaturgy as part of her artistic practice and is excited to be part of the Cultivate program as an emerging dramaturg.

Dalo Chips and Imli Chutney, a theatre piece following three Fijian Indian women who struggle to see eye to eye on the best way to get through community and life.

Clement Rukundo is an actor, poet, and theatre maker with a passion for movement and storytelling. He is a creator and producer of Unheard project, a collective that brings multicultural ethnic artists together to collaborate and share stories through art.

He learnt directing after graduating from acting school through devising new work and collaborating with independent theatre companies in Adelaide. In 2020 he directed a show called Journey by Soul Lounge and Actnow Theatre. He went on to work as an Assistant Director for Hibernation at State Theatre Company of South Australia, and Chalkface at State Theatre Company of South Australia and Sydney Theatre Company. He directed Unheard with Adelaide Festival Centre in 2022. He collaborated with The Gram Collective company as a poet writer for their first ever show New World Coming in July 2022. Clement’s motivation is to continue sharing stories and culture of where he is from. His hope is to motivate and inspire other people of colour to take up space and create and tell their stories too. 

As an actor Clement’s theatre credits include How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found (director Corey McMahon), Could Be Perfect (director Jenn Havelberg) A Doll’s House (director Sasha Zahra), A Bright New Boise (director Christopher Pitman) and New World Coming (director Conner Reidy). He has also been in an RAA car insurance ad as well as the Mortal Kombat film as an extra. 

Ayah Tayeh is a Palestinian theatre maker and she primarily works as a stage manager with a focus on new works that highlight and challenge the perception of underrepresented communities. Throughout her involvement in theatre, Ayah has advocated for more opportunities for people of colour in creative, backstage, and management spaces; she deeply believes that representation should exist further than what the audience can just see onstage. She hopes to be involved in the creation of more SWANA (South West Asian and North African) focused stories in the future and storytelling that reflects her own family and community, something she hasn’t often seen in theatre in Sydney. 

Ayah is honoured to be part of ATYP’s inaugural Cultivate dramaturg program and is very excited to develop her own dramaturgical methodologies with their mentorship.  

Her credits include: Counting and Cracking (UK, Belvoir), City of Gold (Sydney Theatre Company), seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), The Boomkak Panto (Belvoir), A Room of One’s Own (Belvoir), My Brilliant Career (Belvoir), Breaking Glass (Sydney Chamber Opera), Double Delicious (Contemporary Asian Australian Performance). 

Adam Yoon is a multidisciplinary artist/theatre maker with an interest in exploring creative processes through physical and collaborative devised storytelling. He was a part of the inaugural Art Gallery of New South Wales Youth Collective and a member of the PYT Youth Ensemble 2019-2020. In 2020, he took part in Playwrights of Parramatta and is currently a member of the Ninefold Cohort Program as well as a creative collaborator with Little Eggs Collective. He was a dramaturg for A Game for Flies by Bria McCarthy which played at PYT and recently Moon Rabbit Rising by Nicole Pingon at Belvoir 25a.  Adam currently works at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre supporting research around youth mental health and early childhood development.