The Giant’s Garden

Andy is an award-winning director of theatre, music theatre and opera. He has also worked as creative producer of multidisciplinary arts programs, creative director of large-scale events and festival director. In 2007 he co-founded Slingsby.

Andy has also directed productions and events for Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, State Opera South Australia, State Theatre Company South Australia, Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide Chamber Singers, Australian String Quartet, Windmill Theatre, Restless Dance, Tutti Ensemble, Rundle Mall Management Authority, the International Astronautical Federation and the World of Wearable Art.

Quincy has spent his life being a freelance composer and musician, and written hundreds of works for soloists, chamber ensembles and orchestras that have been performed in many decades of concerts. 

He has written the music for over forty theatre works, for companies all over Australia, including two operas. 

He has played and written for many bands over the decades, in many different styles – the most recent being the despicable gypsy-influenced band Golonka and the folk outfit Miranda Bede. 

He has toured to many countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.   

He is co-director of The Firm, a company that presents concerts each year featuring Australian classical musicians in programs of new Australian music along-side carefully chosen repertoire.

Quincy lives in Adelaide with his dear Anna, and has three children: Arland, Clara and Miranda.

• soundcloud.com/quincys-room/sets
• quentingrant.com
• YouTube Channel

Ailsa completed the Bachelor of Dramatic Art in Design (NIDA) in 2003. Recent design credits include Kimberly Akimbo (costume design, State Theatre Company South Australia/MTC), Housework, Jack Maggs and The Puzzle (State Theatre Company South Australia), A Quiet Language (ADT, costume design), Watershed (Opera Australia) and The Marriage of Figaro (State Opera South Australia).

Design credits for State Theatre Company South Australia include: The Dictionary of Lost Words (costume design), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Girls and Boys, Single Asian Female, Chalkface, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia (costume design), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Ripcord (set design), Gaslight, Jasper Jones, End of the Rainbow, Sense and Sensibility, Switzerland, The 39 Steps, Beckett Triptych, The Importance of Being Earnest, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, The Ham Funeral, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), The Price and The Cripple of Inishmaan.

Other design credits include Marrow and Tracker (ADT, costume design), Dido and Aeneas (State Opera South Australia), A Christmas Carol (Ensemble), Boxing Day BBQ (Ensemble), The Boy Who Talked to Dogs (Slingsby, costume design), Emil and The Detectives (Slingsby, costume design), Cloudstreet! (State Opera South Australia, costume design). Ailsa was the recipient of the 2011 Mike Walsh Fellowship.

For Slingsby, Wendy’s work has included The Young King, Man Covets Bird, and The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy (Set & Costume Design), The Boy Who Talked to Dogs and Emil & The Detectives (Set Design) and, most recently, A Concise Compendium of Wonder – The Tree of Light,  The Giant’s Garden, Childhood of the World, (Environment Design).

Wendy’s Set & Costume Design credits include Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Tim Overton/Wickedly Good Productions), The Thing That Matters and Touch & Go (Sally Chance Dance), Seashore (Sally Chance Dance/Dream Big), Vaudeville (Brink Productions/Rory Walker), Land + Sea (Brink Productions), Supernature and North/South (Australian Dance Theatre), The Lighthouse (Patch Theatre), Picaresque (Robyn Archer, Adelaide Festival), Long Tan (Brink Productions/State Theatre Company South Australia), Babyteeth, Blasted and Pornography (State Theatre Company South Australia). Wendy also designed the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s opening, closing and family galas from 2016 to 2018 (Adelaide Festival Centre).

Wendy’s Set, Costume & Lighting Design credits include Symphonie de la Bicyclette (Brink Productions/Hew Parham) and The World Is Looking For You (Control Party).

For Adelaide Festival Centre, Wendy’s event designs include Adelaide Cabaret Festival (Co-designer 2015-2019) and Adelaide Guitar Festival (2016). Late-night club designs for Adelaide Festival include Blinc Bar (Designer, 2015), Lola’s Pergola (Design Assistant/Coordinator 2014), Barrio (Design Coordinator 2012-2013), and Persian Garden (Assistant Designer 2006, 2008). Wendy also designed the biannual Bowerbird Design Markets from 2013 to 2017.

Chris is a lighting and video designer from Adelaide, South Australia. Following his completion of the Technical Production course at the Adelaide Centre of the Arts, Chris has continued to develop his experience across theatre, dance, and other live events in Australia and internationally.

Chris worked on the inaugural Illuminate Adelaide Festival to deliver their flagship project Light Cycles in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, crafted by the world-leading Montreal-based studio Moment Factory. Chris has since been working on a number of large outdoor lighting installations with Illuminate Adelaide, Moment Factory and others.

Chris has worked with State Theatre Company South Australia on Single Asian Female, A View from the Bridge, Brothers Wreck, In The Club, Terrestrial, Mr Burns, Red Cross Letters, Eh Joe for the Beckett Triptych, Gorgon, Masquerade, The Kreutzer Sonata, Maggie Stone and Little Bird. Chris has completed designs for Gravity and Other Myths’ Ten Thousand Hours and Playbook. Carla Lippis’ Mondo Psycho live at WOMADelaide 2022. Theatre Republic’s The Garden, How Not To Make It In America, The Bleeding Tree and Lines. Australian Dance Theatre’s The Third, Objekt, Of All Things, The Beginning of Nature Part 1 and Ignition 2016. Restless Dance Theatre’s Zizanie and Touched. Slingsby’s The Tree of Light, The Boy Who Talked to Dogs, Songs for Those Who’ve Come Across the Seas, Emil and the Detectives and The Mouse, The Bird and The Sausage. Windmill Theatre Company’s Moss Piglet, Rella, Creation Creation, Hiccup!, Beep, Grug and the Rainbow, Big Bad Wolf and Story Thieves. Vitalstatistix’ The Photo Box, Cher and Quiet Faith. Flying Penguin’s Oleanna, Bitch Boxer and Seawall.

David started working in theatre from 1979 to 1988 with the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust (AFCT) Production Department as a Mechanist and Flyman. In 1981 he went on his first tour with State Opera South Australia touring Regional South Australia with Don Pasquale and then again in 1982 with Cossi Van Tutti.

From 1889 through to 1994 he worked as Head Flyman / Rigger for the Australian Opera Company working mainly at The Sydney Opera House and Victorian Arts Centre and touring as required.

For the second half of 1994 through 1995 David was Head Mechanist with the Canberra Theatre Centre in the Australian Capital Territory.

Upon returning home to Adelaide South Australia in 1996 David was firstly Head Mechanist of the Festival Theatre and then from 2000 through to 2004 was Technical Coordinator for the AFCT Production Department.

From 2005 through to 2018 he was Production Manager for State Opera South Australia, Production Coordinator for Adelaide Fringe 2009, 20010, 2011, 2013 and a Production Coordinator for Adelaide Festival (AF) 2006 and 2008.

From 2019 through to 2023 David was the Production Manager for Adelaide Festival’s Operas.

Darian is a multiskilled lighting and vision designer and technician from South Australia.

Since graduating from Adelaide College of the Arts’ technical production course, Darian has honed his skills working in local venues, with theatre and dance companies, for festivals, on installations, and events. He has worked and toured with many Slingsby productions including The Young King, Emil and the Detectives, and The Boy Who Talked to Dogs, as well as acting as Lighting and Technical Designer for Slingsby’s Flying Squad shows This Tree is a Story and The River that Ran Uphill.

Jess is a South Australian stage manager and theatrical all-rounder. Since graduating UniSA with a Bachelor of Arts in 2020, she has collaborated on many productions and festivals, ranging from local open mics to international tours.

Jess’ backstage credits include Sweeney Todd (ASM, State Opera South Australia), The Golden Cockerel (ASM, Adelaide Festival), Frozen (Dresser, Disney Theatrical), A Little Life (Props, Adelaide Festival), Emil & the Detectives Australia/New Zealand/Hong Kong Tour (SM, Slingsby), Elvis: A Musical Revolution (ASM, David Venn Enterprises), Into the Woods (SM, Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre) and, most recently, A Concise Compendium of Wonder (SM, Slingsby).

Kate is an actor, theatre-maker, dramaturg, and arts facilitator living and working on Kaurna Yerta.

A graduate of the Adelaide College of the Arts, she has performed with many of Australia’s leading mainstage and independent theatre companies. Select theatre credits include Emil and the Detectives (Slingsby), Baby Doll (Ensemble Theatre), Dead Cat Bounce, Masquerade and Minus One Sister (Griffin Theatre Company), Three Sisters, The Glass Menagerie, Jessikah, That Eye the Sky and Hedda Gabler (State Theatre Company South Australia), Kill Climate Deniers (Kinetik Collective), Big Bad Wolf and Fugitive (Windmill Theatre Company), the Australian tour of Brief Encounter (Kneehigh Theatre, UK), Spring Awakening (ATYP — nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, Sydney Theatre Awards), The Overcoat (Belvoir 25A) and Home Invasion (An Assorted Few — nominated for Best Performance in a Leading Role, Sydney Theatre Awards).

In 2018, Kate played the lead role in the AACTA-nominated feature film Strange Colours, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and earned her a nomination for Best Lead Actress from the Film Critics Circle of Australia. Her additional screen credits include Riot, The Letdown and Ladies in Black (ABC), The Commons (Stan), Sexy Nails (Photoplay Films), and the feature films The Royal Hotel, The Obscure and One Eyed Girl.

In 2024, Kate was selected as one of five participants in Developing the Dramaturg SA, receiving mentorship and an ongoing professional placement with Brink Productions. In 2026, she will join State Theatre Company South Australia to provide dramaturgical support for SPARK, an initiative supporting local independent theatre-makers.

Kate was an inaugural member of the Belvoir Artist Workshop as a devising artist on new performance works and has collaborated with The Bait Fridge, a multidisciplinary collective working in experimental and socially engaged performance.

She works regularly with Tutti Disability Arts as a creative enabler and program facilitator across adult and youth programs. She was a key contributor to the development of Tutti Pom Pom, an online resource developed for arts organisations and youth arts workers facilitating workshops for neurodivergent or learning-disabled young people.

Kate’s work has been recognised by the Adelaide Critics Circle Emerging Artist of the Year Award, the Neil Curnow Performing Arts Award and the Adele Koh Scholarship for Acting, and has received support from Create SA to further her training both nationally and internationally.

Nathan is an award winning actor based in Adelaide, South Australia. He has worked extensively in theatre, touring nationally and internationally with companies including State Theatre Company South Australia, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, Windmill Theatre, Griffin Theatre, Malthouse, Bell Shakespeare, Brink Productions, Patch Theatre and Slingsby Theatre Company.

Recent State Theatre Company South Australia credits include Jack Maggs, The Puzzle, Chalkface (with Sydney Theatre Company), Cathedral, Gaslight, Hydra (with Queensland Theatre), Sense and Sensibility, Macbeth, In The Club, A Doll’s House, Tartuffe (with Brink Productions), Things I Know To Be True (with Frantic Assembly), The Importance of Being Earnest, Hedda Gabler and Masquerade (State Theatre Company South Australia/ Griffin), Betrayal (State Theatre Company South Australia/ MTC) and the title role of Pinocchio (State Theatre Company South Australia/ Malthouse/ STC/NY for the US premiere season at The New Victory Theatre on Broadway).

Other credits include Talk to Me Like the Rain, Let Me Listen, Hot Fudge, Ghosts, King Lear, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and Three Sisters (State Theatre Company South Australia); Thursday, The Hypochondriac and Harbinger (Brink); this uncharted hour (State Theatre Company South Australia/Brink Productions); Man Covets Bird, Emil & the Detectives (Slingsby); I Am Not An Animal, I Animal (The Border Project); Mr. McGee and the Biting Flea, Emily Loves To Bounce and Me & My Shadow (Patch); Hiccup!, Plop!, Grug and Grug & The Rainbow (Windmill Theatre Co); Checklist for an Armed Robber and Ruby Bruise (Vitalstatistix); Assassins (Flying Penguin) and The Country and Blackout (Stone/Castro).

Nathan was Co-Creator of Me & My Shadow with Patch Theatre Company, which went on to win the Helpmann Award for Best Children’s Production.

From 2017 – 2018 Nathan was a member of State Theatre Company South Australia’s Ensemble.

Nathan was recently Second Director on the award-winning ABC Kids production Beep & Mort for Windmill pictures, alongside his role as a principal puppeteer and voice artist.

Ren is an Australian film & theatre actor, having trained with Honours at the Flinders University Drama Centre. Also specialising in directing and writing, Ren is a co-founder of independent theatre company CRAM Collective.

Since graduating in 2020, Ren’s theatre performances have included Kinetik Collective’s Kill Climate Deniers (Dir. Clara Solly-Slade), supported by State Theatre Company South Australia’s StateSide program; the North American tour of Bluey’s Big Play as Bluey (Dir. Rosemary Myers); the one-woman show Guthrak at DreamBIG (Dir. Matthew Briggs); Hits at the Adelaide Festival Centre (Dir. Rebecca Meston); and CRAM Collective’s world premiere Something Big (Dir. Connor Reidy).

With a screen-acting diploma from Actors Studio UK at the prestigious Pinewood Studios, Ren has appeared in a number of short films including The Hitcher (Dir. Henry Reimer-Meaney), premiering at the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival; With Love, Lottie (Dir. Lily Drummond), premiering at the 2025 Sydney Film Festival; and ABC’s Beep & Mort Season 2 as an additional puppeteer.

Ren’s latest directorial short, This is Fine., won Best Directing and Best Film at the 2024 Adelaide 48 Hour Film Project, sending it to Filmapalooza Seattle where it won 3rd Best Film. It went on to screen in the 2025 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. Ren recently finished production as the lead in Long Flight Home, a screen adaptation of the book by Lainie Anderson based on the real-life story of the Vickers Vimy plane.