The Sydney Fringe Festival is the largest independent arts festival in New South Wales with over 450 events presented in over 70 venues across Greater Sydney each year.
Each September emerging artists and culture creators from all over the city join forces with us to share Sydney’s stories, presenting new work from all genres. Outside of festival time the Sydney Fringe works with public and private sector partners to activate unused space, drive policy and regulatory reform and advocate for independent artists to build a vibrant and sustainable arts, culture and creative industries sector.
In 2024, Sydney Fringe Festival and The Ethics Centre partnered together to provide opportunities for four artists to engage with The Ethics Centre through their Residency Program.
MEET THE ARTISTS
Charley Allanah
Charley is a director, performer, writer & co artistic director of House of Sand (HoS). Credits include, Director: Welcome the Bright World, Talk of Angels (STCSA); Manage Your Expectations, That Was Friday, The Split, all h0urs, REVOLT. SHE SAID. REVOLT AGAIN., (HoS); Trans Scripts (Paul Lucas NYC); Titus Andronicus, Mother Courage (AC Arts). Assistant Director: Maggie Stone (dir. Geordie Brookman STCSA), Cosi Fan Tutte (dir. Sir David McVicar Opera Australia) and Julia (dir. Sarah Goodes STC). Actor: Triple X (STC) Five Women Wearing The Same Dress (ACTHub) and King Lear (STCSA).
Her play The House Collector was read at KXT Storytellers Festival directed by Sheridan Harbridge, Stable was long listed for the 2024 Griffin Award, and new musical with composer Nick Delatovic – Must Go On – is in development with Canberra TC.
She is an audio describer, a business consultant to creative entrepreneurs, has held programming roles at Sydney Fringe and Sydney WorldPride, and is Co-Chair of MEAA Diversity.
Diana Paola Alvarado
Diana Paola Alvarado, an accomplished director and actor, is a Master of Fine Arts in Movement graduate from the prestigious Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London (2018). With a stellar academic background, she delved into the world of theatre from an early age, completing her theatrical studies at the School of Art, Kodaly Studio, and CETAU (Urban Experiment Theatre Company) in Guatemala. Her journey continued at the Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Theatre with high distinctions.
Diana’s thirst for knowledge led her to study the technique of Jacques Lecoq in Paris and she further honed her skills in Barcelona. In 2018, she completed her master’s degree, focusing on Movement: Direction and Teaching. Her thesis, under the guidance of Ayse Tashkiran, explored the theory of touch and its impact on an actor’s character development.
Returning to Guatemala in 2013, Diana became a professor at various institutions, leaving an indelible mark on the local theatre scene. She founded and served as the Creative Director and Movement Director at La Fábrica de Microobios de Guatemala, her own theatre company. Her directorial repertoire includes classics like Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and inventive productions such as The Unusual Case of Mr. Morton and 3 1⁄2 Floppy Girls.
Beyond Guatemala, Diana’s influence extends globally. As an actor, she toured the UK with productions like Horoscope and My Father Doesn’t Understand Me. She completed an internship at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, showcasing her skills as a Movement Director, which she echoed in the success of her movement direction on Labyrinth at Flight Path Theatre in Sydney.
Diana also produced and directed a successful season of Blood Wedding at Flight Path Theatre in August of 2024.
Zack Lewin
Zack Lewin is a theatremaker who specialises in transmedia, digital, and community-engaged practices. His work emphasises audience co-creation through digital and multimedial systems. Zack strives for storytelling which bends reality, builds lore, and immerses audiences in robust other worlds; both strange and familiar.
In 2023 Zack completed a Hospitanz at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin as well as his Master of Theatre (Dramaturgy) at the Victorian College of the Arts. He has worked dramaturgically on main-stage plays such as In Memory of Doris Bither by Yana Eva Thönnes at Schaubühne and interned and performed in experimental works such as the Green Room Award-Winning 8/8/8: WORK by Harriet Gillies and Marcus McKenzie.
Today, Zack serves his community as Board Secretary of Shopfront Arts Co-op. This valuable contribution to the youth arts sector was recognised by Theatre Network Australia when Zack was invited to participate in their innovative Youth Arts Chair Network.
Emma Whitehead
Emma is a director and creative producer from London, UK, grateful to be living and creating work on unceded Bidjigal, Cammeraygal, and Gadigal land. She is the founder and artistic director of experimental company Lost Thought. Emma works with theatre, dance, opera, interactive installation, and durational performance. She completed the NIDA MFA Directing course in 2023, where she was the recipient of The Frank Thring Scholarship for skill, expertise, and achievement. She also trained in multidisciplinary performance making and devising at University of Warwick, UK, where she won The Lord Rootes Memorial Fund Major Award. Emma takes an international view of society and the arts, having grown up in one of the most multicultural communities in the world. Coming from a working-class background, Emma is inherently drawn to giving underrepresented stories a voice.
Her directing credits include Shook (QTOPIA); One Who Wants to Cross (Flight Path), in/finite SOL. (Sideshow Attic), Jane Franklin and the Rajah Quilt (Theatre Royal Hobart, Riverside); YAMA (KXT residency); The Chocolate Roster (New Theatre), Trash Wizard (KXT), Me/DEA and SIMPLE (Theatre Works), SOL.and Jono, and Charlene the Sex Doll (NIDA); and music video Frogs by TEND1E ft. WheresCCINO (NIDA x Triple J x rage).