DRIECTOR

Melissa has extensive experience in most areas of stagecraft. As a theatre director, she uses a collaborative process and is known as an ‘actor’s director’. She has a passion for new Australian works. She holds the  NIDA Certificate in Live Production, a BA in Creative Arts from Wollongong University and a Masters of Directing from Western Sydney University. Melissa has directed over 40 major productions and we are thrilled she liked the script of Seed Hunters and is leading our team of ten actors.

PLAYWRIGHT

Carol Dance is the Artistic Director of Scene Theatre Sydney. After retiring as CEO of the Australian Commercial Disputes Centre, she founded Scene Theatre Sydney, where she has championed engaging and global storytelling since 2008.

Carol is also a regular theatre reviewer for Sydney Arts Guide (since 2019) and a contributor to Pearls and Irritations Public Policy Journal. A prolific writer herself, Carol has had four full-length plays produced and 14 short plays performed in festivals.

Carol’s passion for contemporary, thought-provoking theatre shapes everything Scene Theatre Sydney brings to the stage.

Heather Tleige trained with NIDA, ATYP and the Lee Strasberg Institute for Method Acting in Los Angeles.  She has performed across NSW, the ACT and Victoria in theatre and short films.  Her most recent theatre credits include ‘Charlotte Brontë’ in The Lost Voice of Anne Brontë, 'Bubba' in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, 'Raine' in Forgotten, 'Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie' in Steel Magnolias, and 'Bird Lady’ in Freakshow. Her play Harris Street was shortlisted for the Katie Lees Fellowship. She produced an excerpt of her Romeo and Juliet adaptation Rami & Mira for Short & Sweet Sydney and was awarded a 2nd Place Judges Award.  As a Lebanese-Australian woman, Heather is passionate about telling invigorating diverse and female stories and is excited to work on this Scene Theatre Sydney production.

Brock Cramond is a Sydney-based actor, having recently graduated from the Actors Centre Australia with his Bachelor of Performing Arts for Stage and Screen in 2024. In his time at ACA, he engaged in tragic and comedic roles alike, most notably Joe Ryan in When the Rain Stops Falling, Rodolpho in A View from the Bridge and Algernon Moncrieff in The Importance of Being Earnest.

As an aspiring creative, Brock also engages in music, composition, design, and creative writing, adopting a fondness for expanding his craft and ability musically, having played piano and various other instruments for many years now.

Charlie Dashford is an actor from London and has been living in Sydney for ten years.  From a young age, he's known that performance was what he wanted to devote his life to, and that ambition led him to studying at Actors Centre Australia, completing a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Stage and Screen) in 2024.  While there he had the privilege of playing the roles of Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, to name a few. Charlie's creativity is nourished and maintained by a fierce love for music and literature, with an active effort to absorb as much as possible during his free time.

This is Julia's first production with Scene Theatre Sydney.  Previous theatre credits include: Jane Eyre  (Genesian Theatre company, 2024), A Midsummer Nights Dream (Point Break Theatre Co, 2024), Steel Magnolias (Genesian Theatre Company, 2023), & Women's voices: stories to stage (Peach Productions/ Chippen St Theatre, 2022).  For screen, Julia has acted in short films, web series and TV commercials.  Julia’s acting training consists of Australian Theatre for Young People, the Hub Studio and Point Break Drama Studio.

Micah is an English Australian performer who draws upon his skills and interests to fuel unique and engaging performances.  Growing up, Micah tapped into his love for performance through music, dancing, singing, theatre, and circus performing.  He trained at Sydney Actors School where he performed in The 39 Steps as the clown and the lead in Separate Tables.  Recently Micah performed in Bittersweet’s productions of Gosforths Fete and The Potboiler.  He is driven and keen to bring life, laughter and hope through the arts and making someone’s day just a little bit brighter.

Tiang was a businesswoman, educator and nurse in Sydney. She then turned to theatre where she succeeds in both comedy and drama. Her theatre roles include BOOM, Radar and Donald’s Inferno. Tiang’s films include Suka, Paper Daisies, $2 and University student films.  She appeared in the series Coach Dayum, Grouse House’s Pedo San and Coconutface’s Who Invented Moussaka? and Boxing Day.   She wrote and performed DANDELION - When do you stop being a migrant?, a sell- out show  at the Sydney Fringe Festival. 

Don has performed leading roles in a series of Australian plays by Louis Nowra and by Brendon Cowell, at Darlo Drama.  He performed in the Short & Sweet Play Festivals, from 2018 to as recent as April 2025.  He has been in many ’Indie’ film projects, most recently playing Peter Allen in Rio and Third Act.  In his most recent film, No Way Out, Don played a National Parks Ranger tasked with talking suicidal man from a cliff. The film is entered in the Montreal Film Festival.

Joan Rodd is a long standing and outstanding Sydney community theatre performer. She has had leading roles in the Chester Street Theatre, the Pymble Players, the Balmain Theatre Group and the Hunters Hill Theatre.  She has performed in 12 Short and Sweet Festivals, the highlights were War  by Patricia Cornelius and Hibiscus Memories by Bette Gay.  She participated in Crash Test Drama readings for many years.  She learned ‘on-the-job’ and by taking several NIDA summer courses.

Sebastian Gray is an actor based in Sydney. He studied a Bachelor of Performing Arts at the Actors Centre Australia.  Prior to this Sebastian completed a combined Bachelor of Laws and Arts at the University of Sydney, and he currently balances his acting training with working as a legal professional at the Marrickville Legal Centre.

Benjamin is film and stage performer, amongst other things!