Biography
Emma J. Hawkins’ flair for the flamboyant, serious and whimsical plays to her strengths as a feisty, charismatic thespian with a knack for subversive, escapist comedy, high-octane dramatics and brilliantly versatile circus showcases. Her movements between the many worlds of fantasy, musical and children’s genres credit her with storytelling-based acrobatics, singing, dancing or slapstick. She is equally at home in the ironic, contemplative tragedies of Shakespeare, bringing joy and laughter as the Fool in “King Lear”, climbing the heights as a tap dancing, stilt walking acrobat in the critically acclaimed Circus Oz or sinking into the dark depths of a murderess in classics like Jean Genet's “The Maids”.
She stands on the fringe of the mainstream, but that’s where Emma does her best work in theatre: distinctive, fun, nuanced and unique while conveying a touching common humanity. She was nominated for a Green Room award for her portrayal as Fleck in the most fabled of musicals, “Love Never Dies”.
As cabaret alter ego Divine Miss Em, she relishes every opportunity to breath life into new characters but also extends a hand into creative development in theatrical productions. At the same time she imbues her performances with heart, audaciousness and fortitude as well as a steadfast belief in social justice and equality.
With a bag of tricks bigger than herself, Emma sees performing as a way of challenging herself and audiences alike to think outside the square. Her first memory on stage was chasing a boy with a frying pan so just don’t give this feisty redhead any kitchen utensils!
Biography
Yoji Tatsuta started his career in film industry as Set Decorator and Prop Master while growing up in Japan. After moving to Sydney, the Japanese/English speaking actor capitalised on opportunities including being featured as a samurai and army officer in director James Mangold’s “The Wolverine” (2012) and Naoetsu Guard in director Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken” (2013).
From there on, Yoji became more serious about the craft of acting in the Australian film & television industry and where possible will use his martial arts background in Judo and Kendo to his advantage. Of course, he also endeavours to bring a little bit of Japanese cultural history into his roles, even if it’s done in a very sendup way as seen in “America V China – RAP BATTLE”. Overall he has been treating his career as a steep learning curve but has been enjoying ‘going to school’ on set at the same time.
Yoji’s character face is can be wizened, weathered, haggard while slick, deadly and inscrutable, making him ideal as a gangster, military, outdoorsy or bureaucratic type. Of course, he does like to go against the elemental grain as well by being the everyman and unspoken philosopher upholding good values. His lifelong goal is to connect with colleagues with similar backgrounds in the industry all around the world.
In the meantime, Yoji works as a graphic designer for a local company and loves playing tennis in his spare time.
Biography
Trung Ly is one of Australia’s top and award-winning martial arts fight choreographers who started out on short films such as "Enter The Dojo", "Gaffa", "Hit Girls" as well as on Hollywood legend Roger Corman's martial arts movie "Fist Of The Dragon". In 2014, he was the Action Fight Choreographer on ABC's TV series “Maximum Choppage” – Australia's much-publicised first Kung Fu comedy set in Cabramatta. He also choreographed the battle scenes in David Bradbury's ABC1 documentary "The Crater" in 2015.
Trung is the founder, owner and Master Instructor of Dong Thanh Martial Arts Association, Australia's largest and one of the oldest Vietnamese non-profit martial arts schools based in Western Sydney. Dong Thanh has been a catalyst of cultural diversity since the late 80’s and has been a crucial place for young people streaming in from refugee backgrounds to develop and therefore adhere to traditions in martial arts skills, specialising in XMA (Extreme Martial Arts) classes. Because of his integrity and authenticity in staging fight movement, he has become one of the influential proponents in this field today.
Trung has studied martial arts since 1984 and is skilled in Shaolin, Kung Fu and Vo Vi Nam, to name a few. He is a current master in Hapkido and has mastered martial arts weaponry such as the nunchucks, staff, swords and hand-to-hand combat. He leads the Xtreme Martial Arts team and also choreographs the lion and dragon dance team, which is renowned for its lively and spectacular performances across Sydney particularly during Chinese New Year Festival.
In addition, Trung has 16 years experience as a QANTAS aircraft engineer and holds a pyrotechnic license, making him very qualified to handle practical, stunts-based effects such as blood splatter, explosions and weaponry.