Ensemble

The PYT Ensemble program supports the development of a group of outstanding emerging Australian artists from the Western Sydney region aged 18-28 years.

The selected group participate in a year-long program of workshops and masterclasses led by experienced artists and arts professionals, as well as attend industry events.

The Ensemble meet weekly throughout the year to gain intensive skills development in performance and multi-disciplinary making.

Introducing our 2022 PYT Ensemble

Andrew Attieh

Andrew Attieh is a Lebanese Australian Actor most known for his role’s as Bedad Kamiran in ABC’s 2017 television Drama Pulse. He also appears in season 1 of channel 10s hit show The Secrets She Keeps. Andrew Attieh has played lead roles in multiple short films including director Ryan Woods AFTRS masters film Amir and Meg Donnelly’s award winning film The Sacred. The Sacred has taken the international film festival circuit by storm premiering at film festivals in Austria, London, Los Angeles and winning best short film at the Toronto Beaches International film festival in Canada.

In 2021 Andrew was cast as a lead in pilot series Too Many Ethnics directed by Vonne Patiag, scheduled for a 2022 release. His debut theatre performance at Darlinghurst Theatre Company at the beginning of this year showcased a self-devised physical comedy piece about the complex relationship between a Lebanese Jidou’ and his grandson, both played by Andrew.  Andrew has also produced multiple award winning short films including Charles Dejean’s Bliss (2017) and Nathaniel Keesing’s Mending the cloth (2018).

Angela Johnston 

Angela lives and works on the land belonging to the Eora and Dharug nations. She is an actor, theatre maker and graduate of the University of Wollongong’s Bachelor of Performance (Acting) Course. During her time at uni, she was fortunate enough to work with incredible creatives such as Chris Ryan, Deborah Pollard, Catherine Mckinnon and Tom Holloway. She has performed in independent productions around Sydney, including Ingle (Shopfront), Pretty Fly for A Dead Guy (Shopfront), Once in Royal David’s City (New Theatre), Persuasion (Genesian Theatre), Kallistei (Sydney Fringe) and Beth (NIDA FOEA). Up next, she will be appearing in UFO at Merrigong Theatre Company in 2022.

Angela has been a member of the PYT Ensemble since 2018 and is committed to creating fresh new works alongside bold and inspired voices.

Ayah Darwich

Ayah Darwich is an emerging artist experimenting in various mediums including writing, spoken poetry, directing and performance. She is especially passionate about film and media, currently working on her collaborative production company ZORA productions. As a queer woman of colour from Western Sydney, diverse representation motivates her to document her own experiences and shed light on intersectional issues.

Darwich explores themes of suburbia, sexism, feminism, heteronormative gender roles, domestic abuse, violence and rape. Ayah Darwich graduated from Sydney Theatre School with a Diploma in Screen Acting and Theatre in 2019 and went on to study film at New York Film Academy. 

Bella Awraham

Bella Awraham is an actress and singer from Western Sydney who has worked in many local productions and had recently worked for Sydney Theatre Company in Garage Sale as ‘Dina’.

Bella’s performing history includes her role as the Queen of life in A Day in Nineveh Mesopotamia historical poetry night, ‘Lily St. Regis’ in the Annie Jr Production and ‘Juliet’ in the Fairvale Shakespeare workshop production. Bella inhabits many skills include her array of learnt accents ranging from an American to British, great stage, screen and vocal presence as well as her creative insight. Bella aspires to expand her portfolio and eventually work in highly accredited films and shows.

Charnel Rizk

Charnel Rizk is a Lebanese-Australian, actress, singer/songwriter and writer. Charnel is a dedicated storyteller using her experiences in life to shape her craft, on stage and screen. With years of vocal and acting training, she is a driven artist. Inspired by the environment and culture around her she incorporates this in her craft. She aims on breaking the barriers women of colour face in the creative world and enjoys exploring different characters and perceptions. Charnel has been a part of a range of film, television and commercial projects. In the last year Charnel has begun creating a range of music demos, which she hopes to release by the end of 2022. 

Chloe Singleton

Chloe Singleton is a Fijian-Australian singer, writer, and actor. Studying a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney, she found her start in the performing arts scene at the university. She has many performance credits across multiple disciplines. Highlights include PoC Revue’s The Period Piece (2021) and Science Revue’s CSI:RO (2019). She also served as the president of BarberSoc, the university’s acappella society, in 2020 and 2021. Aside from that, she has also been a contributor to the university’s magazine Honi Soit for the past two years. Chloe is a proud bisexual woman of colour, and finds a deep sense of belonging and community in artistic collaboration. She’s currently aiming to improve her performance skills as a singer and actor, as well as explore elements of filmmaking and photography.

Eisha (Ed) Yawarish

Ed is an Assyrian artist and emerging performer currently based in Western Sydney. For several years he has been developing his creative skills in music, visual arts, video/photography and graphic designing. Eisha has created several human sculptures including art of manipulation of The Scream.

Ed’s creative passion extends on the field of sport as well. He is currently completing a Sport Psychology Degree at Western Sydney, Certificate IV in fitness, and dietitian studies at Macquarie College. He was a competitive swimmer in Syria and Australia and currently in Australia pursuing his dream of bodybuilding.

In 2021 Eisha started channelling his creativity into acting and became a part of the Ensemble at PYT Fairfield to pursue his childhood dream of becoming an actor.

Fanar Moonee

Fanar Moonee is an actor, writer and theatre-maker from Fairfield. She speaks fluent Assyrian, Arabic, English and Turkish.  A life long lover of performing, she began attending PYT Fairfield’ Pilots drama workshops soon after arriving in Australia from Iraq. Her self-devised HSC Drama monologue Suicidal Therapy, a dark comedy about an unhinged Psychiatrist, was nominated for On Stage.  Her theatre credits include Haunted (Spark Youth Theatre), Happy Death Mr Fairfield (PYT Fairfield) and Songs of the Unseen (Culrew Collective), where she was also Assistant Director. Fanar has worked as a Creative Facilitator at the Sydney Opera House at Ping Pong Wow! and as an Assistant Teaching Artist at St John’s Park High School in Greenfield Park and also here at PYT Fairfield.  Through her craft, Fanar aims to shine a spotlight on serious issues using humour.

Gillian Kayrooz

Gillian Kayrooz is an emerging artist from Western Sydney, who’s practice reflects her personal experience and ongoing engagement with local communities. Kayrooz’s work is collaborative; she invites members of the community to contribute authentic impressions, in a bottom-up rather than top-down conception of history and place.

Kayrooz holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts with First Class Honours from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. In 2018 she was awarded the Create NSW Young Creative Leaders Fellowship which led her to exhibit internationally in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently she has completed residencies in Australia, China and Japan. In 2020 she presented her solo exhibition Argileh at Wedding Cake Rock at Firstdraft, and was an artist at the Parramatta Artists’ Studios. In 2021, Kayrooz became a co-director on the board of Firstdraft, a member of Farifield’s PYT Ensemble and in 2022 she will present a solo exhibition at the Murray Art Museum in Albury. Aside from her artist practice, Kayrooz currently works as an associate producer on the Barbershop program between Fairfield High School and Granville Boys High school run by the Arts and Cultural Exchange in Parramatta and as the Social Media and Community Management Coordinator for the New York based creative agency Midnight Sunday.

Helen Guliana

Helen is an Iraqi artist based in Western Sydney. She is a singer, acter, writer and is currently also exploring photography. Helen was the lead in One Month A Year Caffe play produced by Core community. She also performed in Symphony 2165 with PYT, Fairfield. Helen has performed and featured in variety of commercial photography exhibitions and screen events and studies vocals at Ryel Rhythm Studio. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts focusing on creative writing, working on recording cover songs with Ryel Rhythm Studio, and working on producing a collection of poems and short fiction in Arabic language. Through her work, Helen is trying to inspire and represent young people specifically women from her community. 

Jasmine Cai

Jasmine received her diploma in speech and drama in 2019 and is currently studying Medical Science at the University of Sydney. Jasmine is a passionate writer and enjoys the medium of literature to create art and theatre. As her first year in Fairfield PYT Ensemble, Jasmine is looking forward to working on future theatre pieces and re engage with drama and performance theatre.

Junnade Ali

Junnade is a multimodal artist whose works reflect his lived experience as an Australian and participant in the rich artistic traditions of Central and South Asia. As a Burushaski speaker based on Dharug Country, his projects seek to interrogate the role of ancestral heritage and cultural perpetuity, whilst also breaking from the dogmas of European and Anglophone art traditions. Junnade’s projects include a growing portfolio of creative writing and performance poetry. He is currently a creative co-director for The University of Sydney’s People of Colour Revue.

KD Robinson

KD Robinson (she/they) is a debuting performer, writer and theatre maker from Campbelltown. They graduated from University of Wollongong with a Bachelor of Creative Arts Theatre in 2017 and joined PYT Fairfield’s Ensemble program in 2019. They have toured with youngstars2.com’s children’s performances for 4 years and have performed in many of the amateur musical productions by Campbelltown’s World of Fine Theatre And Music (WOFTAM).

KD also co-devised and developed PYT’s first escape room Happy Death Mr Fairfield, for Youth Week 2022 and is currently in residence developing their live musical work Stage Soldiers (working title).

Marco Sindoni

Marco Sindoni is a promising young actor and writer. As the youngest member of the PYT Ensemble program for 2022, he’s looking to fully immerse himself in the vibrant world of the Western Sydney arts scene. Recently in 2021, he joined The Monologue Collective, a writing program in partnership with PYT & KXT Bakehouse for young Sydney artists to develop a working resource for HSC Drama Students.  As an ensemble member, Marco hopes to improve his writing and performing skills by experimenting with different forms of creative expression and taking on diverse projects with his fellow Ensemble members.

Marie-Jo Orbase

Marie-Jo Orbase is an emerging Filipino-Australian actor, director and artist with a passion for performing, writing and storytelling. She is dedicated to articulating the complexities of the human experience, with a particular focus on her journey growing up as a WOC in Australia. 

Currently undertaking a Performance Studies degree at the University of Sydney, Marie-Jo has devised and performed the works Skin by Merlynn Tong, The Measures Taken by Bertolt Brecht and several University revues. She started her own production company, ZORA Productions, which emboldens and empowers overlooked and underrepresented voices. 

Olivia Xegas

Olivia Xegas (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist of Greek and English descent based on unceded Dharug country. As an emerging artist, Olivia primarily works as an actor, director and writer. In May 2021 she completed a Bachelor of Performance at the Australian Institute of Music – Dramatic Arts (AIMDA). Olivia is Co-Founder of independent theatre company Dollhouse Collective and has been an active member in youth theatre programs at Belvoir and Riverside Theatres. As of 2021, they are a proud member of the PYT Fairfield Ensemble, ATYP’s Youth Advisory Board (YABbies), and in 2022 joined the PP&VA’s Performing Arts Committee.

Olivia has a deep interest in stories that reflect upon the intersectionality of people’s lives, particularly the relationship between culture and queer identity. She has a passion for stories that celebrate and investigate the lives of women and non-binary folk, and dynamic storytelling that inspects the complexities of the human condition.

Olivia’s most notable credits include Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor (New Theatre, 2022, dir. Victor Kalka), Project Intern for Dorr-e Dari (PYT Fairfield, 2021, dir. Dr. Paul Dwyer) operating as Stage Manager and Assistant Director, Ensemble and Set Designer of Playpen (Dollhouse Collective, 2022, dir. Jennifer Hart & Lucy Yabsley), and Performer and Co-Writer of Originate: Our House (Q Theatre, 2021, dir. Sophie Kelly). Olivia’s most notable credits at AIMDA include Hamlet (Hamlet, 2019, dir. Dr. David Fenton), Joyce (Top Girls, 2020, dir. Peta Downes) and Nikki, Mr. Hussey (Picnic at Hanging Rock, 2019, dir. Dr. David Fenton).

Osamah (Sam) Abdulkareem

Sam Matty is an actor from Western Sydney. As a teenager, Sam joined PYT Fairfield’s Pilots program for High School students. He made his short film debut in the upcoming film Leopard (director: Kamil Domaradzki) and has also completed NIDA’s Acting for Screen course.

Sam is a community leader and winner of the Fairfield City Council Youth “Community Spirit” award 2021. He has been profiled by SBS commenting on the impact of lockdown on Fairfield’s refugee community. Sam’s goal is to take his acting to the big screen as a Hollywood actor.

Silvana Yousif-khan

Silvana Yousif-Khan is a performer and emerging Actress who grew up in Western Sydney (Fairfield Heights) and now lives in South Sydney.

Her greatest achievement is chasing her childhood dreams in performing in front of a live audience in pro wrestling and acting, she also is an extra on shows (will be featured on Celebrity Apprentice 2022 as an extra)

Silvana’s goal is to one day become a WWE superstar and an actress. 

Tammy Dang

Tammy Dang is a visual artist, director, filmmaker, animator and photographer based in South West Sydney. She has been running an art and stationery business, Little Paper Blossom, since 2020. It is currently stocked in 5 physical stores across Australia and has hundreds of online customers. Tammy also has experience with directing, animating, filmmaking, including camera operation, sound recording, and editing. Her short film was shortlisted in the top 50 for Tropfest JR in 2016 and her animation was shortlisted for her University showcase in 2020. Tammy currently works as an event photographer, with experience at the Carols in the Domain and shopping centre promotions. She also enjoys taking portrait photos of her family and friends as a hobby. 

Teresa Li

Teresa is a 21 year old Australian born Chinese actor, dancer and filmmaker. She’s made a short film about her cultural identity in Being an ABC which won 1st place in USYD’s Who is Sydney film competition, acted in Australian Theatre of Young People’s Roomworks project, dances in a K-pop crew called SIRIUS which performs competitively and showcases and in public. She was also commissioned by Diversity Arts to make a short film regarding the anti-Asian hate that rose during the pandemic. Teresa is currently studying a Bachelor of Science and Advanced Studies (Animal Conservation) at the University of Sydney, studies acting at TAFTA and continues to dance with her KPOP crew. She is incredibly passionate about raising awareness around CALD parental-child abuse and young people in social housing due to her own personal experience and the need for better welfare laws to help children and young people living in Australia. She hopes to one day make a social initiative to prevent child abuse cases in CALD families from occurring and to promote healthy family relationships.

Tison Brown

Tison Brown is an actor, singer and writer from Campbelltown in Sydney’s southwest. He started a Bachelor of Music in 2020 and has been song-writing since he was fourteen. With musical influences like Nirvana, Arctic Monkeys, Lorde and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tison fuses grunge and pop music to create a cathartic, modern sound.

In 2022, He joined Australian Theatre for Young People’s teaching artist team where he is developing his directing and writing skills. He is working to release music under the pseudonym ‘Judas’ as an independent artist.

 

Yvan Karezi

Yvan Karezi is a Kurdish-Australian Actor and multi-disciplinary Artist. She studied for a Diploma of the Arts (Acting) at Sydney Theatre School. Since then, she has been in a number of stage plays (Yentl, Kallistei, Measure for Measure), including performances at both the Sydney and the Edinburgh Festivals. Yvan decided to further her acting studies, focusing particularly on Screen acting at both Screenwise Australia, and The Actors Centre. She has been cast in a number of independent short films (Snow Globe, Haunted Love), and most recently played Ruby in an episode of the web-series Social Murderer (New Order Art House, 2021). She is currently part of the 2022 Ensemble at The Powerhouse Youth Theatre, Fairfield.

In her performances, Yvan is particularly fascinated with exploring the nuances of human expression, focusing on themes of the lived ‘real life’ human experience, as well as the human condition in abstract or fantastical settings. She is inspired by history, the natural world, fantasy and fictional creations. Yvan is a firm believer that artistic expression can be found everywhere and anywhere, and should be accessible to everyone.

Zeinab Mahfoud

Zeinab Mahfoud is a third-generation migrant, first-generation born Lebanese-Australian. She is a young professional who completed her Master’s in Disaster, Design, & Community Development. She is currently working in the Community Development Sector across refugee, migrant, and First Nation communities, while her creative practice lies in analogue photography. Zeinab’s photography explores themes of identity, representation of People of Colour, and diversity in Australia, her focus is aimed at uplifting the unheard voices of young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, specifically from Western Sydney. She is currently an Ensemble-member at PYT Fairfield where she is expanding her creative practice into filmmaking, theatre performance, and creative/cultural consultancy.

For any questions relevant to PYT’s ensemble program, please reach out to Bina Bhattacharya on email bina@pyt.com.au 


PYT’s Ensemble is proudly supported by the Australian Council for the Arts, the NSW Government through Create NSW, Crown Resorts Foundations and The Packer Family Foundation.

Image Credit: Anna Kucera