Othello at Melbourne Shakespeare Company

Lucy Ansell

Lucy is a multidisciplinary artist of Afro-Caribbean/English descent, currently based on unceded Wurundjeri land. She trained at the Victorian College of the Arts, graduating in 2018. Recently, she featured in Robert Connolly’s The Dry 2: Force of Nature and Binge Original Series: Strife. Past live productions include Hour of the Wolf (dir. Matthew Lutton, Malthouse Theatre), Escaped Alone/What If If Only (dir. Anne-Louise Sarks, Melbourne Theatre Company), Your Name Means Dream (dir. Kat Henry, Red Stitch) and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Melbourne (Michael Cassel Group). Other stage credits include Wild Cherries (dir. Beng Oh), Patalog Theatre’s Far Away (dir. Cass Fumi) and She Is Vigilante (written by Chanella Macri and co-dir. by Krystalla Pearce and Bridget Balodis) which she later received a Green Room award for.

Matt Furlani

Matt graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts as an actor in 2009 and with a Post-Grad Diploma in Voice Studies in 2015. He has performed in productions including sex.violence.blood.gore (MKA), SubUrbia (Exhibit A: Theatre), Macbeth (Band of Creatures), Requiem for Dalinka (The Artisan Collective) and The Boy at the Edge of Everything (Melbourne Theatre Co.) Recently, he appeared in the premiere of David Williamson’s new work, Credentials (La Mama), Dirty Dancing (Mushroom Group) and The Iliad (Stork Theatre). An experienced voice-over artist, Matt participated in the development and performance of The Love Play for Malthouse Theatre and ABC Drama and The Radio Hour for Radio National/2014 Melbourne Writers Festival. His feature film work includes Jugular (Best Film - MUFF 2013) and Can’t Win, Do Try - for which he won Best Actor at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival 2017. Matt was a recipient of The Mike Walsh Fellowship, enabling him to travel to Scotland to work with renowned voice teacher Kristin Linklater.

Christopher Kirby

Probably best known to international audiences as “Mauser” from The Matrix trilogy of films, Christopher Kirby began his career in his native USA before moving to Australia in the late 1990’s and has a long list of varied Film and TV roles to his name, from both countries. US television roles include the series Quantum Leap, Space: Above and Beyond, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Lost World, BeastMaster, The Burning Zone, Nightmares & Dreamscapes and The Starter Wife, as well as the television special Blockheads for HBO. Australian credits include Marshall Law, Neighbours, Ocean Girl, Flipper and The Games. Chris’ film credits include Queen of the Damned with Stuart Townsend, the comedy Crackerjack with Mick Molloy, Visitors, penned by the late, great Everett de Roche and directed by Richard Franklin, the Michael Caton and Paul Hogan comedy Strange Bedfellows, Macbeth, directed by Geoffrey Wright, Daybreakers with Ethan Hawke, George Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the Chi Cao dramatic adaptation Mao’s Last Dancer, the sci-fi motion picture Predestination with Ethan Hawke, the cult classic Iron Sky and the iconic The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions with Keanu Reeves. But Chris is no stranger to theatre either. He has played roles in such diverse professional stage productions as The Speechmaker for MTC opposite Nicholas Bell and Lachy Hulme, Twelfth Night for the Australian Shakespeare Company, the Green Room Award nominated This is How it Goes as well as Lobby Hero for Red Stitch Theatre, Transit for La Mama Theatre, The Sapphires for Company B, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the WW2 touring drama production Boundary Road. Recent screen credits include the feature films Blood Vessel and Lee Whannell’s Upgrade, TV series We Were Tomorrow with Gyton Grantly, Hunter, Camp, The Divorce and Season 2 of the hit series Wolf Creek, alongside John Jarratt, Matt Day and Chris Haywood, directed by Greg McLean, as well as his multi-award winning role as “Sir Thomas More” in the critically acclaimed digital series Shakespeare Republic. Chris will next appear on the big screen in Paramount’s Dora The Explorer live action feature film playing the role of “Viper” alongside Eva Longoria and Temuera Morrison and on the smaller screen in Foxtel’s Secret City as “Kip Buchanan”, opposite Anna Torv and Jackie Weaver. Has appeared in the TV series My Life is Murder, Preacher, How to Stayed Married, NCIS: Sydney, Population 11, Apples Never Fall. Good Cop/Bad Cop and feature films, Late Night with the Devil, Vincent, WTFITNESS, and War Machine.

Dushan Philips

Experienced across both stage and screen, Dushan won a Green Room Award for his performance in Angels In America, for Dirty Pretty Theatre (2017) and Outstanding Ensemble as part of Counting and Cracking for Melbourne's RISING. Other theatre credits include Sydney's Belvoir Theatre and Public Theater, New York. He also played the role of Niv in Stay Woke for Malthouse and Darlinghurst Theatre, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in The Meeting for Red Stitch, and also recently tread the boards in Bighouse Dreaming at Arts Centre Melbourne. For screen, Dushan played main cast roles in feature film Jones Family Christmas for Stan, and independent feature The Returned. Recent television roles include Fires and Jack Irish - Hell Bent, both for the ABC, Stan original series The Gloaming and Channel Ten's My Life is Murder, directed by Leah Purcell. Previous TV credits include ABC's Glitch, Channel 10's Offspring, Foxtel's Wentworth, Stan's Romper Stomper and the American TV Series Hunters. He was also main cast in Channel 31's ghost hunting six-part series Sonnnigsburg. Other stage credits include the Australian Shakespeare Company's productions of Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth, playing the roles of Lord Capulet and Macduff. He is both an ensemble member and actor with Red Stitch Theatre Company, appearing in many productions including Fury, The Antipodes and Right Now. For Malthouse Theatre Company, Dushan played Ivan the Crocodile in The Crocodile. His theatre debut was with the Flying Bookworm Theatre Company, touring through Victoria as the lead male in productions of both Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet. Regularly developing his skillset, Dushan has graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts Foundation Program (Melbourne), The Melbourne Actors Studio (Bruce Alexander), The Actor's Playhouse (Meisner Technique) and 16th Street (Chubbuck Technique). In London, he is a member of the Actors Centre.

Tanya Schneider

Tanya is an actor and voice over artist, and her recent credits include The Whale (MSC), Beautiful Highness (Chapel off Chapel), Much Ado About Nothing (SLAY Theatre) and the national tour of Grace Under Pressure. Other credits include Metrosexual, Harrow, There Is No Antimemetics Division, Heist, short films Occupation and A Picture of Other People, and many audiobook titles. Tanya studied at The Actor’s Workshop, holds a BA Film & TV Production, and is also a yoga and meditation teacher. She is excited to be returning to the Melbourne Shakespeare Company for another Studio production. www.tanyaschneider.com

Tanya Gerstle

Jennifer Sarah Dean

Seamus Allan

Harry Gill

Sidney Younger

Jack Burmeister

Jade Hibbert

Siena Bonnici

Geraldine Cook

Bridget Sweeney