Clockfire is an independent Australian theatre company based in the Wollondilly Shire in NSW on Gundangurra Land. They make original devised productions.
Led by Artistic Director, Emily Ayoub and Associate Artistic Director, Madeline Baghurst, their practice is grounded in physical improvisation and ensemble collaboration influenced by our training at Jacques Lecoq Theatre School. They connect actors, composers, designers and writers as co-devisors in a spirit of artistic innovation.
Their creative process relies on a spirit of discovery between artists and a willingness to pursue an unknown endpoint together. Their education program Clockfire Creative Lab is an introduction to Lecoq’s foundational teachings and offers participants an insight into the inspiration behind our artistic process.
Clockfire was founded in 2012. Clockfire’s most recent productions Plenty of Fish in the Sea and Ruin / أطلال are produced by Kate Gaul.
MEET THE TEAM
Emily Ayoub (Theatre maker / co-director)
Emily Ayoub is founder and Artistic Director of Clockfire Theatre Company and Co-Director of Clockfire Creative Lab. A theatre-maker, director, performer and teacher, Emily graduated from the Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School Paris (2011) having begun her studies in performance at Theatre Nepean, University of Western Sydney (2003 – 2005).
Emily founded Clockfire Theatre Company in 2012. Most recently she co-directed, devised and performed in Plenty of Fish in the Sea which won Best Theatre Show, Best Physical Theatre Show and the Festival Director’s Award for Sydney Fringe Festival 2023. For Clockfire Emily has also directed, performed and co-created The Night Parade of One Hundred Goblins, commissioned and co-produced by The Art Gallery of NSW for Sydney Festival 2020, The Natural Conservatorium for Wise Women (Sydney Fringe 2019), we, the lost company (Old 505 Theatre 2015 & Global Fringe 2020), The Grief Parlour (Riverside Theatres), A Hunger Suite (İkinci Kat Theatre Istanbul, The Old 505 Theatre) and Lei Hideaway (The Old 505 Theatre).
Emily teaches movement and improvisation at the University of Wollongong and has also directed the second year performance students in Solitude I’nterrupted (2019),Clown – Serenely surviving ce soir… (2020) Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad (2021) and Moliere’s The Hypochondriac (2022). Emily has taught movement and improvisation at AIM Dramatic Arts, AFTRS, Casula Powerhouse, InPlay Arts, Riverside Theatres and for school drama students across NSW. As a performer, Emily has worked with Siren Theatre Co/Griffin Independent, Riverside Theatres, Night Sky Productions and in numerous education tours for Echelon Productions and Brainstorm Productions.
Madeline Baghurst (Collaborator / co-director)
Madeline Baghurst is Co-Artistic Director of Clockfire Theatre Company and Clockfire Creative Lab. Madeline is a Clown Doctor for The Humour Foundation. She graduated from L’école International de Theatre Jacques Lecoq (2018)- the two year professional course and the Laboratory of Movement (LEM). Madeline also graduated with a Bachelor of Performance at AIM Dramatic Arts in 2014.
In collaboration with Clockfire, Madeline has devised and performed in we, the lost company (Old 505 Theatre), The Natural Conservatorium For Wise Women (Sydney Fringe 2019), Night Parade of One Hundred Goblins (Sydney Festival 2020) and most recently Plenty of Fish in the Sea (Sydney Fringe 2023) which received Sydney Fringe Festival Awards, ‘Best in Theatre’, ‘Best in Physical Theatre’ and ‘The Festival Director’s Award’.
Along with her work for Clockfire Creative Lab, Madeline teaches Mask and Mime at NIDA, Clown, Bouffon, Movement and Devising Techniques for various institutions including NIDA, ITS, Riverside Theatres, Monkey Baa and for school students across NSW.
Dr. Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Script/Dramaturgical Consultant)
Dr. Michael Mohammed Ahmad is the founding director of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and the author of three award-winning novels: The Tribe (Giramondo, 2014), The Lebs (Hachette, 2018) and The Other Half of You (Hachette, 2021). He is also the editor of several critically acclaimed anthologies, including After Australia (Affirm Press, 2020). Mohammed received his Doctorate of Creative Arts from Western Sydney University in 2017.
Adam Al Kuheli (Chorus)
Adam Al Kuheli was born in Babylon, Iraq. In 2009, Adam fled to Syria with his family. They arrived in Australia in 2012 as refugees. He recently starred in the upcoming Disney series “The Artful Dodger,” directed by Jeffrey Walker, Corrie Chen and Gracie Otto. He also has an upcoming appearance in the Netflix Feature Film Anyone But You, directed by Will Gluck.Theatre credits include Swipe Right by Mara Davis, Metamorphosis and Dirty Work by Ellen Houghton and Malcolm Whittaker (University of Wollongong), Tree of Life by Ruth O’Brien & Catherine Maguire (Seymour Centre & Casula Powerhouse Theatre), Suitcase Stories by Ruth O’Brien & Catherine Maguire (Seymour Centre & Casula Powerhouse Theatre). Adam holds a Bachelor in Performance and Theatre Acting from The University of Wollongong and has been a collaborator with Clockfire Creative Lab.
Piumi Wijesundara (Chorus)
Piumi Wijesundara is a Sri Lankan theatre artist currently based in Sydney, Australia. Piumi is a passionate theatre director, playwright, and actor who strives to create socially conscious theatre. Piumi has credits in producing, directing, acting, writing, and advocacy.
She has written, directed, and performed in award-winning devised theatre productions in Sri Lanka. Formerly the Co-Artistic Director of Stages Theatre Group, a renowned ensemble theatre company in Sri Lanka, Piumi is currently a Program Manager at NIDA while continuing her practice as a devised theatre maker independently.
Previous theatre credits include directing and writing Awa/ Kaawa/ Giya: An Anthology on Migration (Colombo, Sri Lanka); directing Goldilocks Museum (Joan Littlewood Studio, Essex, UK); directing and writing award-winning youth play Ovaryacting! (Colombo, Sri Lanka); performing in Thought Curfew (Kigali, Rwanda); performing in Girls at Checkpoints (Mercury Theatre, UK).
Kate Gaul (Producer / Outside eye)
Kate Gaul is a theatre and opera director, creative producer, festival director, designer, and writer. She is a graduate of NIDA (Directing 1996) and Artistic Director of Siren Theatre Co. Kate undertook a residency with SITI Company (NYC) and was Associate Director at Ensemble Theatre.
Kate has established herself as a distinctive and inventive director, with directing credits including plays, opera, physical theatre, devised works and classics for theatre companies and schools in Australia. She is Artistic Director of Siren Theatre Co. where her passion is for text-based drama challenges artists and audiences to have bold imaginative experiences.
As Creative Producer Kate’s credits include theatre productions and festivals: World Interplay, Playlist, Invisible Circus, Cabaret and Short Play Festivals, and Sydney Mardi Gras Parades.
Recent directing credits include an acclaimed interpretation of H.M.S Pinafore which toured extensively and played Sydney Festival 2021; an opera/drama mash up based on the Jenet/Poulenc La Voix Humaine (2022) The End of Winter (2022) by Noëlle Janaczewska which has embarked a national tour in 2023; and new play CAMP for Sydney World Pride. Kate directs a new production of The Magic Flute for opera Australia in January 2024. As a writer, Kate’s credits include Girl Running Boy Falling, Fat Boy, The Engagement, Friction.
