Cransberg, O'Hara, Yaxley Appointed To Black Swan State Theater Company Board

Sam Walsh, Chairman of Black Swan State Theater Company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Alan Cransberg, Kate O'Hara and Craig Yaxley to the Company's Board.

Alan Cransberg is the Managing Director of Alcoa of Australia and is responsible for Alcoa's bauxite mines, alumina refineries and aluminium smelters in Australia. He is also a Vice President of Alcoa Inc. Between 2004 and 2008 Alan was President, Global Manufacturing for Alcoa's Global Primary Products group based in New York. Alan graduated in 1980 from the University of Western Australia with an honours degree in Civil Engineering and worked for Alcoa in Western Australia in various positions until 2001, when he moved to Alcoa's US operations.

Kate O'Hara is the Group Manager, Marketing for property group Hawaiian Pty Ltd. Her marketing experience covers many sectors including retail, tourism, construction, mining and finance. After starting with JMG Marketing, and then spending four years in Singapore, Kate returned to Perth to take up a senior role with The Shorter Group. After several years as State Manager for The Capital Group and following the creation of her own consultancy, Kate now oversees Hawaiian's communications strategy across all aspects of the company's business.

Craig Yaxley is a tax partner with KPMG and has over 25 years corporate tax experience. He is a fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. He is an Executive Councillor and Treasurer of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies Inc and was previously Treasurer of the Friends of the Ballet (WA). Craig will take up the role of Black Swan's Treasurer.

Sam Walsh said, "I am delighted to welcome Kate, Alan and Craig to Black Swan's Board. Their significant experience and knowledge in the areas of strategic planning, leadership, strategic marketing and accountancy will greatly contribute to Black Swan's future success. I look forward to working with them to in the coming years to ensure that Black Swan is able to present world class theatre for all Western Australians."

Kate Cherry said, "I am honoured that such highly regarded business leaders as Alan, Kate and Craig have agreed to join Sam and the other Black Swan Board members to lead the Company into the new State Theatre Centre of Western Australia and towards an exciting future. I look forward to working with the new "dream team" Board, to ensure that Black Swan, as Western Australia's State Theatre Company, creates dynamic, contemporary Australian work.

The appointment of Alan Cransberg, Kate O'Hara and Craig Yaxley further strengthens the Black Swan Board which also includes Deputy Chairs Andrew Drayton and Duncan Ord and Board members Rob McKenzie, Vicki Robinson and Prof. Alan Robson AM.

The three Board appointments were facilitated by the Australia Business Arts Foundation's boardBank and the Director of AbaF Western Australia, Henry Boston. To find out more about boardBank, visit www.abaf.org.au

Black Swan's next production is God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, winner of the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and Black Swan's first co-production with Queensland Theatre Company. The play's opening night in Perth is on Wednesday, 17 June at The Playhouse Theatre.

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