Get your tickets for The Quickest Route to Salvation!

Mere Mortals Theatre Company is composed of many young, queer or queer-allied Wellington-based creatives. Our team features a variety of extremely talented individuals from a variety of creative industries, like music, theatre, dance and film.

Our Accomplices

Photo by Nathan Arnott

Photo by Lila Rose Brackley

Sami Bennie (Sa//Mi)

Sami is the Writer, Director and Composer of 'The Quickest Route to Salvation', and the Owner of Mere Mortals Theatre Company

"I thought for a long time that I wouldn't be able to make a career of acting or music, I thought that it was only for the ultra-gifted. I spent high school acting in plays and writing music for the fun of it. Yet despite my predispositions and doubts, a whirlwind caught me as I started studying music in uni and suddenly I was composing and producing original music for Contemporary Dance, Short Films, Theatre Shows, Haunted Houses and Videogames. I'm living proof that there are no rules that stop you from doing whatever you want to do. It doesn't matter that I'm diabetic, it doesn't matter that I don't have infinite resources, it doesn't even matter that I am not as naturally gifted as others around me because no matter what, I work for it. I love music, I love acting, I love working hard and stressing and downing energy drinks to finish something in time, I am addicted to working as hard as I can and capturing what I envision. "

Janina Smolira

Janina is the Neuron; Praerapidus in 'The Quickest Route to Salvation'

Janina Smolira is a contemporary dancer from Tāmaki Makaurau, now based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. They graduated from the Unitec Contemporary Dance programme in 2022, and have recently completed a Master's of Creative Performance Practice at Toi Whakaari. Janina has worked as a dancer and performer across contemporary dance, film, and physical theatre. Janina has a passion for intimate works where performers and audience cohabitate to investigate matters of the flesh and heart. In 2025, Janina debuted their first choreographic work, The Shedding of Velvet, at the Pōneke Festival of Contemporary Dance. In 2026, they staged their second work, Eve, as part of their Master’s research. They are currently in development for their third work, Carnivorous Flowers. Performance highlights include Quantum Tangerine (2023, Gracie Lewis and Grace Bella), Magpies at the Diner (2024, Miriam Eskildsen/Solvieg Mov), and Our Dreaming Bodies (2026, Lyndon Foley/Quiet Chaos Co).

Photo by Alison Turner

Photo by Tiana Krafft-Soffe

Photo by Alison Turner

Photo by @sunflower_eyed_photographer

Photo by @vdstudioss

Photo by @r_inthewild

Nathaniel Smith

Nathaniel is The 'enigmatic' Seer in 'The Quickest Route to Salvation'

Nathaniel is a performer and playwright based in Pōneke. Through his theatre company In The Mo' Theatre Co., Nathaniel wrote and directed the space western "Inbetween Nowhere and Everything" in 2026 to critical acclaim - and one year prior, starred in Bigger Fish Theatre's hit fringe comedy "The Last Crime". He also has a background in history, with an honours degree in Classics and a production of the Roman tragedy "Octavia" under his co-direction, also to critical acclaim, under his belt. To round off this little list, Nathaniel has also collaborated with award-winning company Ruckus Theatre, performing as a model and dancer for both their CubaDupa and Te Papa runs of "Subversion." Basically, Nathaniel likes telling solid stories in fun ways and doing a little jig on the stage. Now with Mere Mortals Theatre, he can't wait to bring all that and more as the idiosyncratic Seer on "The Quickest Route to Salvation".

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