The PYT Fairfield Company is an offshoot of the PYT Fairfield Ensemble, a collective of young adults aged 18-28 from Fairfield and surrounding suburbs who come together once a week at PYT Fairfield to share skills and collaborate on new theatre work.
For the first time, in 2022, PYT Fairfield launched the “PYT Company”, a select group of Ensemble members who receive a paid opportunity to develop an original theatre work suitable for presentation. The PYT Company is hand-picked by PYT’s Creative Producer – Youth and Emerging and AWGIE nominated writer, Bina Bhattacharya, who also provides dramaturgical and producing support to the work.
2023 COMPANY
Tammy Dang
Tammy Dang is a Western Sydney theatre-maker and filmmaker who makes wholesome, fun and equally emotional stories about dreams, love, and family for young people (think Disney Pixar films!). She was awarded the Mayor’s Creative Artist Award (2023) for her commitment to the creative arts and was one of the PYT Lansdowne scholarship recipients in 2022.
While currently completing her Law and Media (Screen and Sound Production) degrees, Tammy has directed, filmed and edited her first music video for Charnel Rizk, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ (2023); co-devised and acted in the theatre show, ‘KHair’ (2023); worked on numerous theatre shows as a/n [assistant] stage-manager and tech crew, including ‘Action Star’ which premiered at the Adelaide Oz Asia Festival; photographed at high-end events like the ‘Vogue Convention’ (2022 & 2023) and ‘Exclusive Stranger Things Event’ (2022); and worked on various film and video projects, including second-unit directing a feature film, ‘From All Sides’ (2022-23), and co-creating a short film under the Ensemble Micro-commission awards, ‘For April’ (2022). Tammy is currently creating a musical theatre show called ‘Little Big Dreams’ which explores dreams, love and family in a Vietnamese-Teo Chew household, as part of her 2023 PYT residency.
Sarah Gattelari
Sarah Gattellari is a Western Sydney based actor, singer and dancer. She is most known for playing the recurring role of Miss Elizabeth in NBC Universal’s Young Rock directed by Nahnatchka Khan, Jeffrey Walker and Cherie Nowlan. In 2015, Sarah completed her Certificate IV in Dance at Ettingshausens Pro as a scholarship student and in 2023 received a scholarship for the RISE Musical Theatre Program. After a successful experience, she was asked to become an Ambassador for RISE, a program that aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people in the performing arts. Later this year, Sarah was accepted into the Theatre Bridge Company led by Nathan M. Wright and Andrew J. Bevis to extend upon her musical theatre skills. She has also been cast as Aoife in Kookoo Entertainment’s upcoming short-film An Unexpected Pilgrimage To The Pub shooting in 2024.
Sarah is passionate about creating a sense of community for performing artists in Western Sydney and looks forward to the day she makes her professional musical theatre debut in one of Australia’s major theatres.
Terence Nguyen
Terence Nguyen is an actor and professional live events host from Liverpool, Western Sydney. His first acting training was through the Acting for Mindfulness program led by international stars and Fairfield natives Maria Tran and Takashi Hara. From there he was selected for the PYT Fairfield Ensemble to develop his acting and theatre making skills.
As an actor, Terence was cast in the lead of the short film “Perfect” (My Tiger Productions) and has has also worked on film and television sets as a background actor for “Last King of the Cross” (Paramount Plus) and “Anyone But You”. A highlight of Terence’s hosting career was hosting the 2020 Lunar Lances 2020 Lunar Lanes Festival for the Lunar New Year Festival for the City of Sydney.
Charnel Rizk
Charnel Rizk is a Lebanese-Australian singer, actor and writer from Western Sydney. Describing herself as a ‘storyteller’, Charnel uses her experiences in life to shape her craft through her music, and presence onstage and on screen. Charnel recently released her debut single ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ which was featured on FBI radio, Sydney. Charnel is set to release her next single during summer 2023.
Charnel has completed a range of courses from Parramatta’s Actors Centre, focusing on improvisation skills and screen acting skills. On screen Charnel has been a part of major TV productions for Foxtel, ABC and Stan. On stage Charnel has been a part of PowerHouse Youth Theatres, ‘Symphony 2165’ as well as ‘Khair’, which featured a monologue written by Charnel. As a writer Charnel has had one personal essay published on SBS Australia and another personal essay published on WestWords. Charnel was selected for the 2022 Lansdowne Scholarship and is currently an Artist in Residence at PYT, working on a woman-show navigating her journey through becoming a music artist and the psychological barriers within it.
Kobra Sayyadi
Kobra Sayyadi is a recent BA Graduate, from MQU majoring in English Literature and Anthropology. She is an emerging writer, podcaster and cultural journalist from South West Sydney.
Kobra has been commissioned to co-write Monkey Baa Theatre’s upcoming adaptation of “Detention” with Callan Purcell. She is a member of Fairfield PYT Ensemble as a developing playwright, filmmaker and performer, where she made her acting debut at Museum of Sydney’s “After Dark: Belonging” event. She recently published a feature on the Sydney Review of Books publication as part of her residency for the Bankstown Arts Biennale. Kobra is passionate about community work and is the current 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.
Neda Taha
Neda Taha is a Tongan-Iraqi interdisciplinary artist hailing from Western Sydney with core practises in dance, theatre and community engagement. From her street hip-hop roots with award winning dance crew The Pioneers to her captivating performances in Sydney’s prestigious venues like the Sydney Opera House, Neda’s talents knows no bounds.
As an actor and divisor her theatre credits include: Helpmann nominated PLAYLIST (PYT Fairfield), Swimming Pool (Cementa19), R&J RMX – AI Omelia (Sydney Opera House), PIONEERS (PYT Fairfield) and Khair (خير): An Omen, A Message, A Blessing (PYT Fairfield). Her on screen credits include short films; ‘Playlist’ (Maya Newell), ‘The Whispering Glass’ (Pelesasa Pics) and music video ‘Ha’ele Ki Pilitania by BLKB3RY’ (Lethal Productions) with over 2M views on youtube. As a creative producer and advocate for the arts, she is dedicated to empowering young people from Western Sydney and encouraging their involvement in the vibrant arts community.
Rennard Velasco
Rennard is an actor/performer/choreographer who is represented by Howell Management. He has been featured in several Australian TVC’s such as Woolworths and Roll’d, along with a few short films such as A Faint Smile (2021), You are My Rock (2023) and Canis (2023). Likewise, he has also appeared in multiple films and television shows as an extra, these include Shang-Chi (2021), Pieces of Her (2022), Wolf Like Me (2022) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). As of 2022, he has been working in collaboration with PYT Fairfield to develop a theater production about the origins of his dance crew The Pioneers. his made his debut role as actor in Romeo and Juliet (2022) directed by Jonathan Brown.
Rennard is privileged to be part of PYT Fairfield Ensemble (2023) who had the opportunity to be mentored by professional artists in the industry, Rennard will be devising a stage play “Tuan’s party” along with a diverse company of emerging artists which is currently in pre-production and will premier in early December. Rennard already has an extensive dancing career, and since 2014, he has worked alongside some of the best Australian dance crews such as the Pioneers and Kookies n Kream. He has also represented Australia in some of the most accomplished Hip Hop dance tournaments such as the World Hip Hop International (2016-2017) and World Supremacy Battleground (2014-2019). Similarly, he has performed as a dancer for stars like Ciara, Chloe Dalimore, Bobby Fox, Darren Espanto and Morrisette, while dancing on shows like The Voice on Channel Nine (2017), Disney Channel (2017), and Carols in the Domain (2016, 2017).
Olivia Xegas
Olivia Xegas (they/she) is a Greek-Australian multidisciplinary artist based on unceded Darug country. In May 2021 she completed a Bachelor of Performance at the Australian Institute of Music – Dramatic Arts (AIMDA). They are co-founder of independent theatre company Dollhouse Collective. As of 2021, she is a proud member of the PYT Fairfield Ensemble, ATYP’s Youth Advisory Body (YABbies), and in 2022 joined the PP&VA’s Performing Arts Committee. Olivia is also a teaching artist and has experience in teaching Drama and directing short original pieces by high school students.
Olivia has a deep interest in stories that reflect upon the intersectionality of people’s lives, particularly the relationship between culture and queer identity. They have a passion for stories that celebrate and investigate the lives of women and non-binary individuals, and dynamic storytelling that inspects the complexities of the human condition.
Olivia’s recent credits include Stage Manager for the ‘Dorr-e Dari’ 2022 tour at the Sydney Opera House and Arts Centre Melbourne (dir. Paul Dwyer, PYT Fairfield), Saint Mary Mackillop in the 2023 Sydney and Bathurst tour of ‘Mary – A Story of Courage’ (dir. Therase Neve, Blue Whale Theatre), and Fenton in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ (dir. Victor Kalka, New Theatre, 2022).
Olivia is currently writing her debut play, titled “Are You a Friend of Sappho?”, where they explore the Greek-Australian queer experience through a femme, Western Sydney lens.