Perpetual Wake

Jeffrey Jay Fowler is a playwright, dramaturg, director and actor. He wrote and acted in award winning shows A History of Drinking and ELEPHENTS. He has performed in and co-created FAG/STAG (winner Scotsman Fringe First 2017), BALI, THE ADVISORS, PERPETUAL WAKE, ALL THAT GLITTERS and LÉ NØR [THE RAIN] with The Last Great Hunt, of which he is a founding artist.

His other plays include MINNIE AND MONA PLAY DEAD, PRICE TAG, THE ONE, Second Hands, Hope is the saddest, and IMPROVEMENT CLUB.

Among the shows he has directed are Girl Shut Your Mouth, Blithe Spirit, The Eisteddfod (winner 2017 PAWA Best Director and Best Mainstage Play), and In The Next Room, or The Vibrator Play for Black Swan State Theatre Company.

Jeffrey Jay was Associate Director of Black Swan from 2014 to 2017, and then he was their Director of New Writing for 2018 and 19. His postgraduate studies were in directing at NIDA in 2010. In 2020 Jeffrey Jay was awarded the NT Literary Award for The Hypotheticals which he co-wrote with Sarah Reuben.

Gita Bezard is a playwright, devisor, director and performer. She’s a founding member of The Last Great Hunt and mother to a tiny artist in the making.

For The Last Great Hunt: As a Writer/Director - PERPETUAL WAKE, THE TALK, THE ADVISORS, YOSHIS CASTLE and ALL THAT GLITTERS. As a co-devisor/performer - WHISTLEBLOWER (Perth Festival, 2021), LÉ NØR (Perth Festival, 2019), STAY WITH US, MINNIE AND MONA PLAY DEAD (Fringe World 2013 Martin Sims Award for Best New WA Work; Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Brisbane International Festival) and ELEPHENTS.

In 2016 her play GIRL SHUT YOUR MOUTH debuted at Black Swan State Theatre Company and was nominated for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award.

Playwriting Comissions - THE PAPER ESCAPER (Terrapin Puppet Theatre), THE PERFECT BOY (Black Swan State Theatre Company, LEMON and IN A BONY EMBRACE (Curtin University), REMARKABLE (WAAPA).

Arielle Gray is a performer, theatre-maker, director, puppeteer, voice-over artist, improviser and founding artist of The Last Great Hunt.

She has a passion for creating and performing in inventive, original and engaging theatre. Roles include – As Adaptor/performer: Cicada (Barking Gecko). As performer: Cloudstreet (Malthouse/Black Swan), Picnic At Hanging Rock (Malthouse/Black Swan): including at the Barbican Centre, London, My Robot (Barking Gecko) and Laika: A Staged Radio Play (Second Chance Theatre).

For The Last Great Hunt - As co-creator and Director: Whistleblower (Winner ‘Outstanding Direction of a Mainstage show’ Performing Arts WA Awards), Stay With Us. As co-creator/performer: Helpmann nominated Lé Nør [The Rain], Helpmann nominated New Owner, The Advisors, All That Glitters, Falling Through Clouds and Helpmann nominated It’s Dark Outside (ArtsHub critics’ choice ‘innovation’ award). As performer: Bite the Hand, Monroe & Associates, Perpetual Wake and Improvement Club.

Chris Isaacs is a writer, devisor, performer, and founding core artist of The Last Great Hunt. As a playwright he has had his works performed nationally and internationally.

Credits include Bite The Hand, York (Co-written with Ian Michael for Black Swan State Theatre Company); the multiple award winning The Great Ridolphi (Blaz Award for New Writing Perth FRINGEWORLD); the multiple award-winning FAG/STAG (co-written with Jeffrey Jay Fowler); award winvning Old Love (Audience Development Award – The Blue Room Theatre); and award winning Flood (PAWA best new play), Bali (co-written with Jeffrey Jay Fowler), and The 1s, The 0s, and Everything In Between (RIPTIDE and ATYP).

As a co-devisor/performer Chris' work includes Lé Nør [The Rain] (Perth Festival) Stay With Us ; All That Glitters; Falling Through Clouds; and the award winning It’s Dark Outside (ArtsHub Innovation Award – 2013 and Helpmann-nominated) for The Last Great Hunt.

Outside of The Last Great Hunt, Chris is a resident artist for Black Swan State Theatre Company and a sessional tutor at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).

CHARLOTTE OTTON is a multidisciplinary artist who has studied improvisation in Chicago and New York (iO and Second City) and is a current ensemble member of The Big Hoo Haa. Since graduating from WAAPA in 2017, Charlotte has undertaken a residency with Fremantle Arts Centre, a six-month internship with Perth Festival and worked on productions and developments with PVI Collective, PICA, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, WASO, The Blue Room Theatre, Rorschach Beast and Renegade Productions. Charlotte’s work LET ME FINISH. (writer/performer) saw a three-week sold-out season in 2018, a return Fringeworld 2019 season and garnered both Judges Choice and Members Choice at The Blue Room awards. Her solo work FEMINAH debuted during Fringeworld 2019 and won both the Melbourne and Sydney touring awards as well as the ECU Performing Arts award.

MAX JUNIPER is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, acquiring an undergraduate degree with honours in Composition and Music Technology. Having written his thesis on binaural spatialisation (3Daudio for headphones), Juniper has a particular interest in the interaction between music and physical and social spaces. Since graduating in 2017, Juniper’s first foray into professional composing took the form of sound design with the Western Australian Youth Theatre Company’s CLOUD NINE, under the direction of Jeffrey Jay Fowler; where he adapted several song texts from the script to new original melodies and arrangements. Since then, Juniper has again worked with Fowler on IN CASE OF EMERGENCY for Curtin University, wherein he delivered a near-continuous sound design to accompany the 50-minute work.

KAREN COOK is a lighting designer, stage manager and technician. She has previously lit THE TALK and THE ADVISORS for The Last Great Hunt. She has also designed lighting for companies such as Lost & Found (ACTÉON), Spare Parts Puppet Theatre (THE LITTLE PRINCE, HACHIKO, TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA, MISS LILY’S FABULOUS FEATHER BOA), Yirra Yaakin (MOTHER’S TONGUE, WINDMILL BABY), Barking Gecko (AESOP AND HIS FABLES), and a host of independent theatre companies. Several of her lighting designs have been part of award-winning productions at The Blue Room Theatre, including GROUNDED, JOEY: THE MECHANICAL BOY, MOTORTOWN, and QUEST: A TELL-TALE OF THE HEART. Karen has also toured Australia as a tour/stage manager, working in venues ranging from regional town halls and primary schools to major performing arts centres.

Born in the UK, Rose graduated from University of Wales, Trinity Saint David in 2014 with a First Class Honours degree in Theatre Design and Production, specialising in Stage Management. Since graduating, Rose has worked in numerous theatres around the UK, most notably for two summer repertory seasons at Theatre By The Lake, Keswick in 2015 and 2016. After taking some time out to travel around Australia, New Zealand and Asia in 2017, and having particularly loved their experiences in Western Australia, Rose and her partner moved from England to Perth in April 2018. Since then, she has worked with West Australian Ballet on their productions of DRACULA, THE NUTCRACKER and IN-SYNCH: BALLET AT THE QUARRY and is thrilled to be working with The Last Great Hunt on this exciting production.

MOLLY EARNSHAW is a Perth-based emerging theatre maker, who recently completed her bachelor of arts in Theatre at Curtin University. Recent credits include her own work 21 (Writer/Director, Hayman Theatre Company, 2018), MARK RAVENHILL’S POOL (NO WATER) (Director, Hayman Theatre Company, 2018) & In Case of Emergency with Jeffrey Jay Fowler (Performer, The Blue Room & Hayman Theatre Co.). She is currently working on THE WOLVES (Performer, Red Ryder Productions), PERPETUAL WAKE (The Last Great Hunt) & CEPHALOPOD (Performer, Squid Vicious). Outside theatre, Molly listens to too much true crime and wishes she rode her bike more.

CAITLIN MCFEAT is an emerging theatre maker based in Perth, WA. After graduating from Curtin University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in Performance Studies, Caitlin has been working in the independent theatre scene since. Recent acting credits include MUNGBEAN (directed Terence Smith) and BODY FARM (directed by Will O’Mahony). Most recently, Caitlin performed in Static Drive Co’s production - SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY (directed by Alexa Taylor), which received glowing reviews.