Past Collaborators

Edwin is a South Australian theatre maker. He is the former Artistic Director of the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild and the founder and Artistic Director of ActNow Theatre. Edwin’s work focuses on interactive theatre and participatory storytelling, exploring social justice themes. As a community arts practitioner, Edwin works with people with disabilities, prisoners, LGBTIQ communities, young people, refugees and migrants. He has worked for several years as a tutor and director for No Strings, creating performances for “connect!” and the Awakenings Disability Arts Festival in Horsham. Edwin holds a diploma in Theatre Arts through Victoria University, Graduate Certificate in Art and Community Engagement through Victorian College for the Arts, and was the 2013 recipient of the Channel 9 Young Achievers Award for Career Leadership.

Emma started making shows for her mum in her bedroom when she was 6, and won the local Rotary Public Speaking competition when she was 13. Since then, she has gone on to have two educations. The first as a graduate of Flinders Drama Centre where she graduated as an actor, and the second as a resident artist with Carte Blanche theatre company in Denmark for 2 years from 2006. There, she co-developed and performed in 6 of Carte Blanche’s new works, and had an engagement with the well-established Group 38 in Aarhus. She returned to Australia with the tools to devise her own live performances. Emma has had the pleasure of creating & performing works with Real TV, Actors for Refugees, Julian Hobba and Elise Hurst in Melbourne, Monkey Baa & Playwriting Australia in Sydney, Glenn Hayden, five point one and Patch in Adelaide. Emma has a relationship with Vitalstatistix Theatre Company, who developed and produced Saskia Falls, which had seasons in Adelaide and Brisbane. This production was directed by Sarah John, whom Emma collaborates with regularly & vigorously on projects both here and overseas. Emma has worked as an actor on screen with several local filmmakers including Holly Owen & Closer Productions, and was the host for television series Artshow with ABC & the Australia Network. Emma has been involved in several processes and productions that have a community focused agenda, and has been a workshop leader for emerging arts companies such as Riverland Youth Theatre, Urban Myth Theatre & Courthouse Arts. She has also taught acting at a tertiary level overseas.

Nick completed a Bachelor of Arts in Drama & Film at Flinders University and went to the Centre for Performing Arts in Adelaide. He also studied with Philippe Gaulier in Paris from 2007-08. In recent years he has worked on a number of productions with Stone/Castro, including: “Purple” directed by Paulo Castro in Whyalla for D’faces of Youth Arts Theatre Company in 2008, “Private Lives” directed by Jo Stone for the 2008 Feast Festival, “Footsoldiers” for Gorge 2009 and “Superheroes” in 2010. He played Dean in the feature film “One Eyed Girl”, which premiered at the Adelaide International Film Festival in 2013.

He has recently worked with No Strings (in April 2014 & October 2015) on the development of ‘Angels’, directed by Paulo Castro. He looks forward to working on the next development with the No Strings team.

Tobiah is an independent dance performer and creator based in Adelaide. He has worked with Graeme Murphy, Larissa McGowan, Anna Smith and David Massingham at Tasdance as well as working independently with Gabrielle Nankivell, Larissa McGowan, Lisa Griffiths, Paulo Castro, Lewis Major, Erin Fowler and Katrina Lazaroff. Tobiah’s work has seen him tour nationally and internationally, performing in a number of prominent festivals and participating in international workshops. Tobiah also runs his own performance collective with which he has created a number of successful works. Tobiah regularly teaches at dance training institutions and has done movement consultation on independent theatre works. He is a tutor with NSA workshops and performed in “Angels” (the third creative development of The Angel Project in 2015).

An actor, dancer, writer, dramaturg, filmmaker and director in his native Portugal and throughout Europe.

Before becoming an Adelaide resident in 2006, Paulo acted for the National Theatre of Portugal in plays by Piradello, Calderon de la Barca, Ionesco, Beckett and Gil Vicente. He directed for National Theatre of Portugal Red ,Black and Ignorant (text by Edward Bond) and Chaos Is Near the God by Lars Noren.

Paulo's other directing credits include: Catogorie 3.1 by leading Swedish playwright Lars Norén (produced for the European Capital of Culture Festival in a psychiatric hospital with a mixed cast of residents and professional performers); Samuel Beckett's Happy Days for the Ibernica International Festival of Expressionism, and Georg Büchner's Danton's Death for the Capital's International Festival Lisbon.

He wrote and directed Nightingale in a Catholic Church (based on the texts of Pasolini) for the Festival Madrid Escena Contemporanea, Berlin Ballhaus ost, Vila Real Theatre Portugal and Casa dos dias de Agua Lisbon Portugal.

He directed and performed the solo Wake Up Hate by Jan Fabre and toured it to Iceland, Berlin, France, Belgium, Barcelona and Australia.

In 2007: his original solo work Red Sky premiered in Berlin and at the Adelaide Fringe; with Jo Stone he co-directed Desintegration for Dance North (Townsville); his production of Deborah Levy's B-File (Adelaide Fringe & La Mama) was nominated for Best Independent Theatre Production at the Green Room Awards.

In 2008: Paulo performed with the Yashchin Ensemble in I Only Came To Use The Phone by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in the Adelaide Fringe; he directed Purple by Jon Fosse for D'faces in Whyalla; he directed two productions in the Adelaide Feast Festival -- Rachel High and Julie McNamara in the No Strings/Feast co-commission work-in-progress showings of Steak n' Chelsea Out to Lunch, and the Australian premiere of Regina Versus Contemporary Art (in which he also performed with the enigmatic and infamous Madrid transvestite Regina Fez). In October, he directed and collaborated with Duncan Luke and Julian Crotti to present the second creative development stage of Tom the loneliest and the 2009 performance seasons in Adelaide and Melbourne. In October 2009, Paulo performed with Chunky Move in Black Marrow, commissioned by the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Patricia Cornelius is a founding member of Melbourne Workers Theatre. She’s a playwright, novelist and film writer. She’s a recipient of the 2015 Australian writers’ Foundation Playwriting Award, an Australia Council Fellowship, and the 2012 Patrick White Fellowship, the 2014 Victorian Premier’s drama, 2011 Victorian and NSW Premier’s literary, 2009 Richard Wherrett Prize, 2006 Patrick White Playwright’s, 2003 Wal Cherry, The Jill Blewitt and the R.E Ross Trust awards. Her plays have earned her 11 Australian Writers Guild awards. She has written over 30 plays including: Shit, Big Heart, Savages, Do not go gentle…, Slut, Love and The Call.

With No Strings she mentored playwright Alexis West (2013 and 2014) and was playwright for the creative development of “Spring” (2015/16).

Matt is an award-winning graduate of Flinders' Drama Centre, working extensively in South Australia and overseas.

Film highlights include Marcus in 2015 multi-international-award winning thriller One Eyed Girl (Dir. Nick Matthews, Projector Films).

For No Strings Attached Matt has collaborated on No Strings Vs Godzilla as a multimedia artist.

For The State Theatre Company of South Australia Matt has performed in Switzerland, Romeo and Juliet (ASO co-production), Rumpelstiltskin (Windmill co-production), The Red Cross Letters, Volpone; or The Fox, Between Two Waves (Umbrella production), Babyteeth, Pornography and The Give And Take. For Windmill Theatre Matt has recently toured Grug and Grug and The Rainbow through Australia, China and North America including a one month broadway season, and performed in The Girl Who Cried Wolf.

Recent theatre credits include: Eyes, (Sandpit); The Front (Adelaide Cabaret Festival); Speak Out (Act Now Theatre); The Bureau Of Complaints (AJZ Productions), No Hello (Duende), Once Upon A Midnight - Japan Tour (OzAsia Festival); Van Badham's Notoriously Yours - Adelaide/Edinburgh Tours, The Lake, The Share and That Face (five.point.one theatre). Television credits include Series 1 & 2 of SBS comedy DANGER 5 (Dir. Dario Russo, Dinosaur Pty Ltd).

Julian graduated from WAAPA in acting in 2001, and has been a tutor and artistic associate with No Strings since 2004, the same year he wrote and cast a series of SnackinaBox TV commercials that aired nationally.

In 2006, he performed in the national tour of Tanja Liedtke's Twelfth Floor (and in its 2009 international tour). In 2007, he appeared in Hamlet (State Theatre Company of SA/Queensland Theatre Company), Jet of Blood (Ignite Productions), The Bad Father (Feast Festival) and The Jo Stone Concert (Adelaide Fringe).

Julian is passionate about the creation of new work. Since 2005, he has studied with Ros Warby (Australia), Phillippe Gaulier (France), and the performance artists in the Gob Squad (Nottingham, UK). He has performed with P.V.I. Collective (tts: route 21), Cocoloco (Womadelaide), Car Crash (Adelaide Feast Festival) and with the No Strings Men's Ensemble in As One.

In 2008, he collaborated in the production of a series of digital stories about the lives of indigenous Australians in Wadeye, a remote Aboriginal Catholic community situated on the western edge of the Daly River Reserve in the Northern Territory. He was also Assistant Artistic Director for the Growing a Fringe Festival in Bendigo, as well as a collaborator and performer in Private.Secret.Real., an original work by Bendigo's new all ability theatre company, 'Atypical Troupe'.

In 2007, Julian conceived and directed Tom the loneliest with Duncan Luke and performed as Tom in the 2008 2nd creative development showing and the 2009 performance seasons in Adelaide and Melbourne. In October 2009, Julian performed with Chunky Move in Black Marrow, commissioned by the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Alison Currie is a maker and performer of dance with a BA in Dance Performance from Adelaide College of the Arts and a Research Masters from Roehampton University London, UK. In 2007 she was awarded the inaugural Arts SA triennial project grant for her first major work “42a” which premiered at the Australian Experimental Art Foundation in 2008 and toured to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in 2010. Alison choreographed Restless Dance Theatre’s 'Bedroom Dancing' that was awarded Outstanding Achievement in Youth and Community Dance 2010 Australian Dance Awards.

Her other major works include: “Three ways to hold”, co-directed with visual artist Bridget Currie for South Australian School of Art gallery in 2010. This work was viewed as four performances and four X three weeks of sculptural installations created by each of the performances. “Solo” was a reinterpretation from a memory of Pere Faura’s work which she viewed once in 2005 and performed in 2011 as part of “Return to Sender” at Performance Space, Sydney. “Build, Hold, Destroy” was part of Window World free outdoor event commissioned by Adelaide Fringe Festival 2013. Her work “I Can Relate” screened as part of “24 Frames Per Second” at Carriageworks, Sydney 2015.

She has tutored with No Strings (2006-2008), and partnered No Strings performer Anton Sagrillo to create “Platform 1”, one of four theatre duets in “Tempted” (2007).

Maude Davey trained at the Victorian College of the Arts and has worked as an actor, director and writer for more than twenty-five years, with her primary focus being the creation of new work.

Recent performing work includes “The Trouble with Harry” by Lachlan Philpott for Melbourne Festival 2014 (MKA) for which she received a Green Room Award nomination for Best Actress, and her own post apocalyptic variety show, “Retro Futurismus”. She was a member of “The Burlesque Hour/Glory Box” ensemble with Finucane & Smith until she retired her nude acts with her hit show “My Life in the Nude”, for which she also received a Green Room Best Actress nomination. Her recent directing projects include: “I am not a Unicorn”, by Emma J Hawkins; “plus sign attached” at the Victorian College of the Arts with 3rd year drama students; an original music theatre piece, “Evolution, Revolution and the Mail Order Bride” by renowned Tatar singer songwriter Zulya Kamalova, and “Herstory” with Queen of Burlesque, Imogen Kelly.

Film and television work includes: The Slap; Rush; Offspring; Tangle; Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries; My Year Without Sex, by Sarah Watts, Roy Hollsdottir Live and Noise both by Matthew Saville, and Summer Heights High.

She was Artistic Director of Vitalstatistix Theatre Company in Adelaide between 2002 and 2007, and of Melbourne Workers Theatre, 2008/2009.

For No Strings Maude has directed “Burlesque for Two”, starring Rachel High and Emma J Hawkins, and she is currently working with playwright Patricia Cornelius and an ensemble of four NSA women to adapt “Spring Awakening” by Franz Wedekind.

At the age of forty, I gained entry to the Drama Course and the Theology Course at Flinders University, while working 20 hours a week for two Pro Vice Chancellors and for some months in the Biotechnology Unit of the Flinders Medical Centre. During this time, I also worked with Sarah Maddocks (Flinders Drama Centre) and Gestures Theatre of the Deaf creating a film for SBS TV; it was aired several times in Australia, on Channel 4 in England, and won awards in American and Italy.

Having gained distinctions in Drama, I fell ill with the workload to support my children. I was in Glenside Mental Hospital for four years.

In 1993, I founded No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability, assisted by the Kensington and Norwood City Council and a hand picked Board of Management. Through the local TAFE, I met some wonderful young people with disabilities as well as Pat Rix who would soon found Tutti Arts. Our first production was Norwood at Work, the history of old and new Norwood (an Adelaide suburb). Other artists essential to our early success included Pat and Paul Mitchell, Bryan Tingey, Shadia Design, Bec Phipps, Stephen Sheehan and PJ Rose.

I have founded other theatre companies as well. In 1992 'Old Friends' made a series of radio plays with Pat Rix. By Arrangement Productions (1998-2002) staged my play Floral Tribute for the Our Lives Our Choices Mental Health Conference II (1998) was responsible for the paper I gave to the Asia and Oceania Mental Health Conference in Hobart and at the 2000 High Beam Festival in Adelaide.

Thanks to all those who helped make the years from 1971 to 2010 the richest and most creative years of my life (so far). After all, I am a Mad Woman at heart.

A founding member of Taikurtinna (which means 'family' in the Kaurna language). Taikurtinna is an Adelaide based dance group that encourages Aboriginal dancers from all around the country to come together and share cultures and stories and perform together as one.

Cultural backgrounds represented so far by Taikurtinna are:

• Kaurna people
• Narrunga people
• Kurnai people
• Ngarrindjerri people
• Yolngu people
• Noonghar people
• Waka waka
• Birra gubba

Members of Taikurtinna have performed at various high profile events such as:

• Seattle International Children's Festival 1999
• Pittsburgh International Children's Festival 1999
• Come Out Festival
• Click Festival 1999/2000
• Womadelaide 2001,2003,2005,2006
• Womad Singapore 2006
• Womad Reading, England 1999
• Inaugural Adelaide International Film Festival
• Adelaide Festival of the Arts Opening Performance 1996, 2002
• Adelaide Fringe Festival 1996, 2002, 2004
• Adelaide Festival Centre (Something on Saturdays) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
• 10th festival of Pacific Arts 2008 American Samoa

Members of Taikurtinna have also participated in many television appearances such as:

• Book Place
• Postcards
• Totally Wild
• Morning Show (Singapore)
• Gleaning City Council history documentary (regularly shown at Gleaning Maritime Museum)
• Out of the ordinary
• And also many more nationally and internationally

Taikurtinna performs at workshops and conferences for kindergartens, primary schools, high schools, universities, festivals, and specialist community groups such as Elders villages, special schools, and disability groups.

A Kaurna/Narungga performer and teacher of many skills. He is currently the head Cultural Performer and Guide at Warraparinga and has run Cultural Education Programs for Tandanya.

He was Aboriginal Project Worker for The Investigator Science & Technology Centre (1994-2002), and a freelance Cultural Awareness presenter for the Aboriginal Education Employment Development Branch of the Australian Principals Association Professional Development Council, the Courts Administration Authority, Catholic Education as well as government and private schools (1998-2004).

Between 2000 and 2005, Stephen spent eight months touring Europe at festivals, galleries and institutions in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland.

He's co-founded and managed Indigenous dance companies, performs at Womad and has been a key Cultural Performer in both No Strings and Tutti productions.

Multi-talented and multi-skilled, Emma J Hawkins (The Divine Miss Em) co-founded and currently runs Atypical Theatre Company, representing fair representation of disability in the Arts.

An all round performer, Emma toured with CircusOz as a tap dancing, stilt walking acrobat. She has also toured her own award winning dance theatre piece, One More Than One. She started her career as an actress in such productions as King Lear, The Maids, Volpone (STC) and Eat Your Young (Arena). She's also dipped her toe into the world of musicals with featuring roles in Sideshow Alley and The Fireraisers. She has been involved in creative developments with Restless Dance Company, Arts Access, Snuff Puppets and Balletlab.

Emma's alter ego, The Divine Miss Em, travels around Australia appearing in many events and festivals. She was most recently the poster girl for The Other Film Festival's What are you looking at? Her first appearance on stage was chasing a boy with a frying pan, so just don't give her any kitchen utensils!.

Emma joined No Strings in 2010 to work with Rachel High under the direction of Maude Davey. The trio created Burlesque for Two (two solos and a duet) which became part of the Salon de Dance at the 2010 Feast Festival. We did give her a knife .

Kerry was nominated for a 2009 Green Room Award as lighting designer for Tom the loneliest. She has worked for many festivals and theatre companies over the past twelve years, in a range of different roles.

While her career started in stage management at the State Theatre Company of SA, her recent interests include lighting design and production management.

Some of her positions include Operations Coordinator for the Commonwealth Games (Opening Ceremony 2006), Malthouse Venue Coordinator for the Melbourne International Arts Festival 2008, Special Event Coordinator for the Ten days on the Island Festival 2007, Production Manager for the Come Out Festival 2005 (SA).

She has also created various lighting designs for theatre companies including the State Theatre Company of SA, Vitalstatistix, Kurruru, Budgielung and Finucane & Smith.

She created the lighting in all the indoor and outdoor venues for the 2007 astonishing black fella/ white fella (Kururu / Vitalstatistix) indoor / outdoor promenade performance spectacle called Second to None.

In May 2009, Kerry was appointed Creative Producer of Adelaide's Feast Festival, celebrating diverse sexualities and genders.

February 2021 Kerry was appointed as Creative Producer of No Strings. She finished up her time with No Strings at the end of July 2021 after accepting a full time position with the Adeladie Festival Centre. 

Since completing a Bachelor Creative Arts (Drama) (Honours) at the Flinders Drama Centre in 2015, Cassie Litchfield has enjoyed working as a screen actor and voice over artist. A recent highlight for Cassie has been collaborating with No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability and True North Theatre Company where her skills as an actor and teacher have been utilized. Cassie is a passionate theatre maker and creates contemporary work that theatrically fuses; stand up, clown and burlesque. In 2016 Cassie made her Adelaide Fringe debut in performing in, 'That Siege in Adelaide'. Cassie was excited to return to the festival in 2017 with her first solo development, ‘Hello…It’s Me’. The show was awarded a Fringe weekly award for Best Emerging Artist and was nominated for Best Emerging Artist of the festival. Cassie is hard at work on her next development in preparation for the 2018 Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Julie is Artistic Director of Vital Xposure, a disability-led touring theatre based at Hackney Empire in London. Julie’s theatre is a passionate appeal for social justice. Her work has a bold narrative style with extraordinary visuals. With a penchant for revealing uncomfortable truths and shedding light into the deepest parts of our souls, she pulls no punches.

Julie is an award-winning playwright, performer and theatre maker, unearthing hidden stories and giving centre stage to talented disabled artists and voices from the political periphery.

Awards include DaDa Lifetime Achievement Award for services to Disability Arts (2006), Writers' Award - DaDa with ITV (2009, which led to a placement with the Coronation Street writers team), South Bank Show Diversity Award (2010) and Unlimited Award (2014).

Previous work includes: Pig Tales (2002-8), Pig's Sister (2005-7), Derby and Joan (2008-9), Crossings (2008-10), The Knitting Circle (2010-12), Let Me Stay (2012-14), The Disappearance of Dorothy Lawrence (2014-15), Whisper Me Happy Ever After (2012 - currently touring).

In 2008, Julie Mc shared a creative collaboration with NSA’s Rachel High, devising and performing Steak n' Chelsea Out to Lunch at Higher Ground theatre as part of the Feast Festival's 'Just a Nibble' Program and at Brady Arts Theatre, London UK (2009).

Gaelle has worked as a set and costume designer for theatre, dance and events for over twenty years. She is resident designer for Restless Dance Theatre, where she has designed all their shows to date. She has designed for companies including Australian Dance Theatre, Brink Productions, Adelaide Film Festival, State Theatre Co SA, Rambert Dance (UK) and Tanja Liedtke. She is a co-founder and designer for performance company Ladykillers.

Gaelle received a 2004 Churchill Fellowship, 2002 Adelaide Critics Circle Individual Award, and 2006 Adelaide Fringe Festival Award for Design. In 2007 she was nominated for both a Ruby Award & Green Room Award. Most recently, she won a 2009 South Australian Screen Award for her production design on Necessary Games.

(B.A. Educational Theatre (University of Adelaide / University of California), Grad. Dip. Ed. Monash University)

Stephen is an actor, dancer and arts educator. He has performed with Yashchin Company, Vitalstatistix, para//elo, Men of Steel, Unreasonable Adults, Restless Dance Company, Dance Exchange, Safe Chamber, Soft Crash, KneeHigh Puppeteers, Slack Taxi and Outlet Dance Company.

Stephen is the winner of the South Australian Government's 2008 Education and Arts Ministers' award for an artist working with students and teachers.

Stephen has performed overseas in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, America, Canada, France and Denmark. He has taught at a number of art institutions in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Sweden.

In 2003 Stephen undertook an Asialink performing arts residency at the Hong Kong Art Centre. The residency involved working with local artists and theatre companies as well as combining his own teaching practice with the Hong Kong Art Centre, Art School resources.

Stephen has taught for a number of organisations including, Flinders University Drama Department, Adelaide Centre for the Arts, Back to Back Theatre, No Strings, Carclew Youth Arts Centre, Cirkidz, Southern Youth Theatre Ensemble, Kurruru Indigenous Youth Performing Arts, Willunga Circus, Urban Myth Theatre Youth and D-Faces of Youth Arts.

Hew is a graduate of Flinders University Drama Centre. Hew was the recipient of the 2007 Neil Curnow Award where he studied at The Hunter Gates Academy of Physical Theatre one-year program in Canada. Hew has also extensively trained and mentored in the in the Pochinko Clowning Method with John Turner and Bouffon with Karen Hines whilst in Canada. In 2009 he returned to Manitoulin Island where he undertook a three-month mentorship to further his skills in Pochinko Clowning Method with John Turner. Hew continues his mentorship with John Turner and has returned to Canada in 2011 and 2014 to further develop and refine his training in this style. Hew is the only Australian trained to teach this method and is the resident Clown teacher at Flinders University Drama Centre. Hew won the 2004 Melbourne Fringe Award for Best Spoken Word Performance for Pounding Nails into the Floor with My Forehead, other credits includes: Me and My Shadow (Patch Theatre Company); Superheroes (Stone/Castro); Gorge (Brink Productions); Big Smoke (Riverland Youth Theatre Company); Boo! (Windmill Performing Arts); several incarnations of Berlin Cabaret from 2002 to 2010 (Weimar Productions); Significant Others (Oddbodies); Tomfoolery (Loaded Productions); Seven (Leigh Warren and Dancers); Don’s Party (Holden Street Theatres), Drinking Songs and La Chevre Noir (both La Boheme Productions).

Stephen is an actor, comedian, director and performance maker who has worked with a diverse range of theatre companies in South Australia for over 20 years including State Theatre Company (“Waiting for Godot”), Vitalstatistix (“Cutaway, a Portrait “and “Cutaway, a Ceremony”) and Slingsby Theatre Company (“The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy”). His self-authored work “Stevl and His Translator Fatima” won Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe 2010. In 2015 he premiered his own cabaret version of “Tristan and Isolde” as part of Barry Humphries' Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Stephen has a long history with NSA: in 1994, he assisted Helen Flinter-Leach in establishing No Strings, and in 1995 he worked as a tutor, director and administrator. He later worked as an actor in the show “Hidden” before returning as administrator (2001-2004).

Kathryn’s recent projects include design for Sons & Mothers (No Strings Attached); Muckheap (Polyglot Puppet Company, touring Shanghai & Australia); The Flood (Finucane & Smith/Critical Stages national tour); Costume Designer for Maria de Buenos Aires (Leigh Warren & Dancers/Vic Opera); True West and The Dark Room (Flying Penguin Productions); The Art of War, Arden versus Arden and Punk Rock (Flinders University SA, director: Tom Healey). An Evening with Annabel Crabbe, (Annabel Crabb: Adelaide Fringe Festival 2016). Kathryn designs nationally for theatre, dance and large arts events. A graduate in Stage Design from NIDA, Kathryn was Resident Designer for Magpie Theatre and State Theatre Co of SA from 1988 – 1993. Other companies include: Patch Theatre, Vitalstatistix, AJZ Productions, Cirkidz, Legs on The Wall, Playbox, Chamber Made Opera, Hothouse, Melbourne Theatre Company, Red Stitch, The Production Company, Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Brisbane Festival & Qld Music Festival. Festival Event Design includes: Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2005 – 2011; OzAsia Festival & Moon Lantern Parade 2007-2014 & Adelaide International Guitar Festival 2007-2016. Venue design includes the award winning Queens Theatre, Fringe 2012; Live from Channel 9, Fringe Festival 2014 & 2015; Live from Tandanya, Fringe Festival 2016. Kathryn’s film & television credits includes Set Design for “Talking Heads” ABC & “Poh’s Kitchen” ABC; & Women & Children’s Easter Appeal for Channel 9 2015 & 2016.

Since graduating from Flinders Drama Centre in 1995, Jo has worked as an actor, director and choreographer for companies in Australia and Europe. She performed in Benedict Andrews' Information for Foreigners, Peter Greenaway's Writing to Vermeer and Red Sun Red Earth Angela Chapman/John Romeril (Australia/ Japan production). She directed film/dance theatre piece Blue Love (Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Odeon, Melbourne's Malthouse and Brisbane Powerhouse). The film Blue Love was nominated for best short film for the Australian Dance Awards.

In Europe Jo toured with Company Les Ballet C de la B in productions 9x9 and Foi, and worked as an actor/dancer with the Schaubuhne-Berlin. Since 2002 Jo has collaborated with Director Paulo Castro on Stone/Castro productions, writing, directing and performing their own works.

Since living back in Adelaide, Jo has been nominated for Best Outstanding Performer Green Room Awards 2007. In 2008 Jo performed with companies Slingsby and LadyKillers and, as a director, Jo created works for No Strings, Dance North-Townsville, AC Arts, and the Feast Festival 2008. Jo has also worked as movement director for the State Theatre Co on their production Metro Street in which she was nominated for a 2009 Helpmann Award. She will direct Superheroes to be presented 2010 at InSpace/Adelaide and Arts House/Melbourne.

Brad graduated from AC Arts after Stage Managing Little Shop of Horrors for the college in 2012. Brad was involved in the running of the Adelaide Festival’s hit club, Barrio and has since been part of the Stage management team at Adelaide Writers week. His Theatre credits include stage manager for Foul Play’s Macbeth, A Kid Like Me (True North Youth Theatre), Behind the Front (from Page to Stage productions), Impersonal Space (Company AT) and ASM for Slingsby’s Emil and the Detectives and Touring Production Coordinator for The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy early in 2018. Brad has also designed and programmed vision for No Strings Attached Godzilla vs No strings and EBully by True North Youth Theatre.

Bryan designed the set for the 2009 production of Tom the loneliest. He has been an exhibiting visual artist since 1983. He is a member of numerous professional artists' associations, has had work purchased for six public collections, has been winning awards since 1994, has shown in dozens of group and solo exhibitions, and identifies as a disabled artist. "I have been diagnosed with a disability called Spastic Ataxia, which affects motor control and brain-eye-limb co-ordination. The most notable and most frustrating area of my disability is verbal communication. Because of the importance our society places on verbal communication, it is this that has the greatest impact on me socially, leading to incredible frustration, and providing the greatest influence on my Art practice. Although I am lucky enough not to be severely physically disabled, I have found empathy with the physically disabled, especially those confined to wheelchairs, who are disadvantaged due to non-accessibility, and fit neatly under the umbrella of "the disadvantaged". The disadvantaged tag is also me." His art ethos, and main influences are Dadaism, Pop Art, Surrealism, Art Brut, Graffiti and Archaeology.

Josie is an Adelaide performer and theatre maker interested in how stories can be told and in finding unusual, visceral ways to tell them. She makes live theatre, site-specific performance and audio stories. She is curious always about that strange terrain between an audience and a performer.

As an independent maker, her recent work spans audio performance: "Three Wishes" (Crack Theatre Festival, 2014) and "My Beautiful Train Station" (Carclew, 2015); theatre: "Just Like the Movies" (Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festival 2011/12, Best Theatre Performer Nominee) and "Sometimes I…" (in development, 2015); and site-specific performance: "Hold/Held" (FELTnatural, 2014), “Hello?" (Moving Music Festival, 2015), "Linger Longer" (Unley Council, 2015), and "Hotel Noarlunga" (Carclew, 2015).

In S.A. she has collaborated and performed with larger companies including Vitalstatistix; "Crawl Me Blood" (Adhocracy, 2015), with "Man O Man" (2014), "Future Present" (Adhocracy, 2014) and "The Things I Should Be Sorry For" (Incubator Residency 2014), with PADA she has performed in Sarah Rodigari’s solo "Reach Out Touch Faith" (2015), and with The State Theatre Company of SA in "Romeo and Juliet" (2010).

As a director or devising leader she has led theatre performances with The Adelaide College of the Arts, “HOME" (2014) and Riverland Youth Theatre "My Place Or Yours" and "Welcome Please Come In" (2015). As a tutor she works with Restless Dance Theatre and No Stings Attached Theatre of Disability.

Josephine is a 2009 graduate of The Adelaide College for the Arts, where she trained in acting. Since graduating she has furthered her physical performance education in New York with The SITI Company (Suzuki and Viewpoints training) and in Paris at Ecole Philippe Gaulier (Le Jeu and Clown training). Josephine recently completed her MA in Performance Making in 2013 at Goldsmiths College, The University of London.

Alexis is an Aboriginal writer, director, collaborator and performer in film, theatre and dance. She has written and directed plays for NSA, Karrikarinya Theatre Collective and Kurruru Youth Arts. Alexis has written and directed three 12-minute documentaries and a 5-minute documentary for NITV. She was a co-writer for the award-winning feature length documentary ‘Kings Seal’. Alexis has produced, written and presented for arts and community program ‘Around the Traps’ for NITV. Her poetry has been published in ‘Mindshare’, ‘Ora Nui’, ‘Our Mob and Spirit Festival Catalogues’ and translated into Polish for ‘Poetiks’.

Alexis has been working with NSA since 2008, and she says of her experience,

"Displaced and disconnected from kin and country I have found solace and family with No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability. Together, we have grown, developed, created, laughed, cried and shared our stories.”

Kirsty Wigg is a performer, improviser and high school Drama teacher. After graduating from Flinders University with a major in Drama in 2012, Kirsty quickly became noticed for her humour, energy and commitment in performance at On the Fly Impro, Adelaide's premier improvisation training organisation. Kirsty soon became a member of a number of independent improvisation troupes around Adelaide, including Scriptease, SOAP!: An Improvised Dramedy, and Tales of Adventure, all of which perform year-round and at festivals. She also performs in immersive theatrical games with Fire Hazard Games Australia. Kirsty's performance highlights so far include performing at the Adelaide Festival Centre as part of the Something on Saturday program, developing and performing in a sell-out Harry Potter-inspired show, 'Unplotted Potter' in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Adelaide Fringe Festivals, and competing in the finals of the 2016 National Maestro Impro Games in Adelaide and Theatresports National Championships in Sydney. Kirsty is also an experienced teacher, director and producer of theatre. As well as teaching Drama to Year 8 - 11 students in a high school setting, she has served as co-Artistic Director of On the Fly Impro for 3 years, and has taught improvisation workshops to schools and adults with Impro NOW! and On the Fly Impro. She has also taught acting and singing skills at Might Good Talent School, and in 2017 was a workshop facilitator at No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability with the Mixed Ensemble.

Brad is an actor, software engineer and an explorer of technology. He is a founding member and current artistic director and producer of five.point.one. He was involved in the development, production and performance of “Notoriously Yours” by Van Badham in both Adelaide and Edinburgh (2014). He played Tom in Van Badham’s award winning play “Muff”, and Joseph in Ben Brooker’s “The Lake”. Brad provided technical support for the Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne Malthouse seasons of Alirio Zavarce’s “The Book Of Loco”. He has also performed in support roles for the mini series “ANZAC Girls” and “Deadline: Gallipoli”. For NSA, he provided technical support, projection design and sound design for “Echoes of Knowing Home” (2013-14), and was an artistic associate for “The Book Of Loco” and “Sons & Mothers”.

Acting and directing credits: She performed in “Checklist For An Armed Robber”. Directed The Hit, by Christos Tsiolkas, Talk To Me Like the Rain and Let Me listen… by Tennessee Williams for State Theatre SA (2007). She performed in Memmie Le- Blank.

Netta undertook the post graduate course in directing at NIDA 2009. She directed “Woytzeck” for downstairs Belvoir St and Dostoyevsky’s “Notes from Underground” for the Sydney Chamber Opera. She directed Sarah Kane’s “Blasted” for STCSA, “Animal Farm” for ATYP, and “That Pretty Pretty or The Rape Play” for Tap Gallery.

Netta directed the chamber opera “Climbing Towards Midnight” with the SCO, assisted on Verdi’s “The Force of Destiny” for Opera Australia and revived the same opera for SOSA. Netta had performed the role of Aria with Arthur in the show “Twin” presented (2015) at the Neon Festival at MTC and recently directed “The Name” by Jon Fosse for the Melbourne National Theatre School and “Trojan Women” by Caroline Bird with NIDA Learn, presented at Theatre Works.

With NSA, Netta directed “Alice’s Cat”, one of four NSA theatre duets nominated for a 2006 Adelaide Fringe Critics' "Innovation and Excellence Award" and, in 2007, she directed (and performed with) Rachel High in “Turkish Delight”, a cabaret olio of song, food, bodies, dance.

Netta currently lives in Israel.

Alirio Zavarce – Actor, Director, Writer, Musician

Alirio was born in Caracas, Venezuela and migrated to Australia in 1992. In 2000 Alirio graduated from the Flinders University Drama Centre, with a Bachelor in Creative Arts (Drama).

Alirio was Artistic Director of No Strings from April 2016 to May 2020.

With No Strings performers, Alirio devised, directed, and performed:

• Trapped - Winner of the 2011 Fringe Graham Smith Peace Trust Award;
• Sons & Mothers – Winner of the 2012 Fringe Best Theatre Production, Adelaide Festival Centre inSPACE development Award and The Adelaide Critics Circle Best in Fringe Award, Winner of the 2015 Ruby Award for Regional Impact under $100,000, and nominated for a 2015 Helpmann Award for Best Regional Tour,
• Night Terrors aka Godzilla vs No Strings – for the 2017 Adelaide Fringe Festival;
• The Gathering for Spirit Festival a piece created, performed and devised by No Strings and Kura Yerlo’s Tracking Culture an Ensemble of First Nations Artists and Performers with Disabilities;
• My Home is Not a Shell with Very Special Theatrics, Singapore;
• ReConnect 2016, 2017, & 2018;
• ReConnect 2019 - Soundscape to our Memories; Shipwreck; Small Wondrous Little Things;
• Not All Who Wander Are Lost – for the 2019 DreamBIG Festival Family Weekend;
• Ignition Point for the 2019 Adelaide Fringe Festival; and
• I Forgot to Remember to Forget – which debuted at the inaugural True Colours Festival in Singapore in March 2018, premiered in Adelaide in July 2019, and had its South Korean premiere in December 2019.

Since 1992 Jo Zealand has directed, devised, written and produced over 40 theatre pieces and facilitated 100's of workshops in clown, voice, movement, acting and writing with a wide variety of people and communities. She has recently completed an Advanced Diploma in Professional Screenwriting, and her film 'Like You Do' was nominated for best performance at South Australian Short film awards 2006.

Jo was Artistic Director of No Strings for 5 years (1999-2004), and led the cast of In Your Wildest Dreams to the 2001 KickstART Festival in Vancouver. She currently works as a freelance performer, recently touring her one-woman show 'Oz Rock Chick' in metro Adelaide and touring to Singapore with Slack Taxi. She is co-director of 'The Jump' -- a workplace training performance group -- and currently she performs with 'Three Men in A Tub', an outdoor traveling theatre performance.

She most recently co-directed Emma Harper's outdoor silent clown show for Fringe Street Theatre Commission 2010 and performed'Dooda', her own style of absurd cabaret for the Adelaide Fringe. She is also the Coordinator of the No Strings pilot training program called Preparing the Garden. 

DR PJ Rose has a long rich history with No Strings spanning over 20 years and it’s safe to say No Strings wouldn’t be what it is today without all her hard work and the impact she’s had on this organisation/community.

PJ Rose first worked with No Strings in 1995 directing ‘Lavender Blue’ written by Pat Rix. This play was subsequently workshopped by State Theatre and performed to an invited audience in the Sewing Room of the Festival Centre by professional actors.

In 1997 our Founder Helen Flinter-Leach stood down from her Artistic Director (AD) position with No Strings and PJ Rose became the new AD and mentor for Helen. During her time as AD, PJ Rose expanded on a long list of awards but one of the most notable was her work on Sons & Mothers.

Son’s & Mothers premiered in a two-week run at the 2012 Adelaide Fringe Festival. It performed to sold out audiences and won four major Fringe Awards including 'Best of the Fringe'. With production support from Windmill Theatre Company and the Adelaide Festival Centre (AFC), Son's & Mothers went on to perform in the AFC’s Space Theatre in 2013 and, in 2014 (supported by Performing Lines), toured to every State and Territory in Australia. That tour led to a Ruby Award for 'Community Impact' and a Helpmann nomination for Best Regional Tour.

Behind the scenes of Son's & Mothers was filmed for a documentary under the same name that went on to win Best Australian Documentary, Antenna Documentary Festival Best Arts Documentary, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards Best Cinematography in a Feature Documentary, ACS Awards WA/SA 2014 and Best Cinematography in a Documentary, AACTA Awards and then best Sound in a Documentary, AACTA Awards in 2015.

In 2016 PJ Rose moved on to the next chapter in her life with Alirio Zavarce taking over her position as AD for No Strings. 

PJ is currently a board director vice chair of Radio Adelaide (2021).