Aarne Neeme has been involved in professional theatre since 1962, working as a director since 1969. He has taught at various tertiary institutions over the past 40 years, including at ITI where he remains a full-time periodic Acting teacher. He also contributes to several Arts Grant Panels in Australia and is on the Academic Board at ITI. 

Since 2001, Aarne has been involved in television directing, having worked on notable Australian series such as Blue Heelers, All Saints, MDA, Out of the Blue, Neighbours, and Home and Away.

He was previously Artistic Director of several Australian theatre companies, Head of the Department of Theatre at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts, and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore.

In 2013, he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his significant service to the performing arts as a director and educator in theatre and television. Neeme has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New South Wales. 

This year, he directed The Actress (Quilter) in Canberra and revived his production of The Gospel According To Paul (Biggins) at the Sydney Opera House, which went on to tour regional Queensland.

Steven Berkoff (b. 1937) is a British actor, playwright, and director, known for his intense, physical approach to theatre. His work often combines elements of classical texts, modern themes, and exaggerated, stylized performances. Berkoff’s adaptations of works like Kafka's Metamorphosis and Shakespeare’s plays reflect his commitment to the power of the body in conveying emotion and narrative.

Berkoff's approach to theatre is heavily influenced by physical theatre traditions, such as mime and commedia dell'arte, and he often uses minimalist sets and props to focus attention on the actors' physicality. He emphasises expressionism, with bold, exaggerated gestures, and vocal delivery, creating a heightened, sometimes surreal, performance style. His work challenges naturalistic acting, focusing instead on the dramatic potential of every moment. Berkoff's confrontational, often politically charged pieces are both visceral and provocative, making him a distinctive figure in contemporary theatre.

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was a German-speaking writer from Prague, known for his existential, surreal, and often nightmarish works. His most famous stories, The Metamorphosis, The Trial, and The Castle, explore themes of alienation, guilt, and the absurdity of human existence. Kafka's writing is characterised by its unique blend of reality and fantasy, creating an eerie sense of dread and helplessness.

Kafka had a deeply troubled relationship with his domineering father, Hermann Kafka, which profoundly influenced his life and writing. He felt emotionally crushed by his father’s overbearing personality, which Kafka later detailed in his famous Letter to Father. This unresolved tension fueled his feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and self-doubt, themes that pervade much of his work. Despite his literary talent, Kafka struggled with confidence and often requested that his works be destroyed after his death. 

It is generally agreed that Kafka suffered from clinical depression and social anxiety throughout his entire life. He also suffered from migraines, insomnia, and other ailments, all usually brought on by excessive stresses and strains. He battled tuberculosis for many years before his condition worsened in 1924. Kafka spent his final months in a sanatorium near Vienna, where he died on June 3, 1924.

Bernice Ong is a scenic designer, artist, and cultural producer working across film, visual arts, and performance. As an arts worker, her diverse portfolio spans curatorial, producing, fabrication, and technical support. As an artist, she is interested in the many politics of space, seeing urban environments as embodied interfaces engaged in an evolving ecology of relations. 

Bernice holds a Masters in Media Studies (Research) from Utrecht University. She also graduated with a BA (Honours) in Theatre & Performance Studies, and a BFA in Drawing & Painting from the University of New South Wales. Some set design credits include Mesra (ChildAid), The School (Singapore International Festival of Arts), Sherlock Sam: The Musical (Dream Academy), Puppet Origin Stories @ ONE-TWO-SIX (The Finger Players), and OmnIVerse: The Fourth Dimension (NUS Arts Festival). www.berniceong.com

Max Tan started his eponymous label MAX.TAN in 2007 and began creating capsule collections to meet the increasing interest for his designs. The label made its full-fledged debut with the S/S 2010 collection, which was featured as one of the top ten collections globally on premier trend forecasting report, Stylesight.com alongside fashion powerhouses such as Alexander McQueen and Valentino. Now an internationally acclaimed local fashion designer whose collections have appeared in Vogue France and Italia, Tan has been recognised for his innovative designs that challenge fashion trends while incorporating his Asian roots. 

Apart from designing for his label, Tan also lectures at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and enjoys partnering with different theatre groups in Singapore to design costumes for their key theatre productions. In 2022, he created a body of work titled Ceremonial Enactments, commissioned for Singapore International Festival of Arts. He was the costume designer for Wild Rice’s award-winning show Pulau Ujong in 2023, the Singapore National Day Parade in 2017 and again in 2024.

Syafiq Halid is a manipulator of sound, electronic artist and experimental percussionist based in Singapore. He has worked in several traditional and contemporary performing arts projects regionally with various collaborators and companies at platforms like the Esplanade, National Gallery Singapore, ArtScience Museum, Nusasonic and Goethe Institute.

Drawing from sounds, aesthetics, and experiences of the Malay world, Syafiq’s compositions traverse the grey realms that exist between the traditional and the contemporary. His creations deconstruct, exploit, and reimagine these sounds, manifesting them into an experimental sonic language unique to Southeast Asia.

Faith Liu trained at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Lighting Design (2016), under the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship (Postgraduate). In September 2017, she co-founded 微 Wei Collective with theatre practitioner Neo Hai Bin. They are interested in the performance of space, and how material and movement can allow one to experience a breathing space.

She is honoured to have worked on numerous theatre and dance productions in Singapore. 

Portfolio: https://liuyonghuay.tumblr.com/