Associated Artists
Chiara has loved to tell stories through the arts from a young age, but it was only the beginning of her passion for theatre. She then went on to studying full time at Federation University Arts Academy. There she was given the opportunity to perform characters such as reviving the role of “Cutie Pie” in the Australian Musical rival of Tribe, written by Anthony Crowley, Bertha in Jane Eyre , directed by Dr. Ross Hall, and her graduating role of Ismene in ‘Welcome To Thebes by Moira Buffini, directed by Dr. Kim Durban. After graduating, she has played Marigold in an interactive experience called Packing by Eleni Telemachou which had the opportunity to be part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2023. Chiara also has been involved in student short films such as How to be Immortal by Elle Cruz, starring as Lucien the immortal. by the close of day is Chiara’s first collaboration with BYTE.
Oscar O’Brien (he/him) is an emerging creative based out of Melbourne (Naarm) who has been up to a lot of mischief acting and writing in 2023. Oscar studied at Federation University Arts Academy, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in 2022. Oscar has both written and performed for the regular Comedy on the Rocks shows across 2023 at the Motley Bauhaus and played Lachlan Green in A Zoom Group Project: The Musical, directed by Stephanie Lee. In late 2023, Oscar played the Hobo as part of the live theatre experience of The Polar Express, with the Bellarine Railway. Most recently Oscar played Vinnie in Op Shop Til You Drop, an original musical created by Victoria Mertzanidis for the Melbourne Comedy Festival 2024. Merry Wanderers of the Night is Oscar’s first collaboration with BYTE.
Vasi Devi (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, writer and creative based in Melbourne. She is a fitness enthusiast studying a certificate in personal training at the Australia Fitness Academy, and a student of fine arts at RMIT, doing her Masters. Vasi has an interest in paleontology, and loves exploring deep time through her art projects. Merry Wanderers of the Night is Vasi’s first collaboration with BYTE.
El Kiley is an English/ Australian actor living and working Naarm. Graduating with a BA from Fed Uni Arts Academy in 2020, she has performed with the Australian Shakespeare Company as Rosalind in As You Like It (2022), at Theatreworks in Wildefang Productions The Marvellous Life of Carlo Gatti (2022), Baggage Productions Mad Women Monologues (2022) and Five by Five Theatres Ohio! (2023). Her screen credits include Audrey (2022) with RMIT, The Red Symphony (2023) with SAE and Unpalatable (2023) with Deakin. She is also trained in Improv, Shakespeare performance and Le Coq technique. Fractured Love is El’s first production with BYTE.
Elsa is an actor, singer and writer born and bred in Melbourne. From a young age, she was drawn to the stage and stuck to it as she grew. Elsa performed in many productions throughout her younger years and beyond, including two international theatre tours of Europe and Asia. Some of these productions include: Lysistrata, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Don Juan, Noises Off, Under Milkwood, and Joachim Matschoss’ Star of Wormwood and Night Duty. Elsa took a hiatus from the stage to work as a creative in the advertising industry. However, she is now working solely on completing her first novel, Divine Power, and in 2024 will join BYTE’s production of Merry Wanderers Of The Night. In 2025 Elsa will appear in by the close of day.
Jess is a graduate from Federation University with a Bachelor of Performing Arts completed in 2021. Whilst training Jess performed roles such as Packer and Sprenger in Vinegar Tom, Emma in Made in Dagenham and was a key Player in Exquisite Corpse, a self-devised theatre piece. Since University Jess has worked in Dogfight (Theatrical), as Jay (lead) in the short film I Fought the Love, and other commercial work. Merry Wanderers of the Night will be her first collaboration with BYTE, followed by a new piece, by the close of day.
Stevie McKeon (she/they) graduated from 16th Street Actors Studio in 2021 and since then Stevie has been lucky enough to perform across a range of creative projects. This includes performing an original cabaret at Chapel off Chapel, recording a successful audiobook, touring nationally with a children’s theatre company and performing at the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Stevie is a queer performer and is passionate about the power of storytelling and performance as a tool to elevate and represent marginalized voices and communities. It’s not your fault you’re my weakness is Stevie’s first collaboration with BYTE. Fractured Love will be a further production with BYTE.
Jeni Bezuidenhout is a HOH/deaf actor, screenwriter and creative born in Pretoria,
South Africa, who now resides in Melbourne, Australia.
Since graduating from Bachelors in Performing Arts from Ballarat Arts Academy (Federation
University) in 2012, Jeni has worked extensively as an actor in theatre, film and online content.
She is currently appearing on Amazon Prime in feature film In Corpore and also appeared in
award-winning cult horror feature Cat Sick Blues.
Jeni has appeared in Screen Australia funded web series 2121 and in numerous internationally
screened and awarded short films.
On stage she has performed at many venues and festivals, for example appearing as the lead in the sell-out Adelaide Fringe season of "Altar Girl" by Hannah Samuel ("The Heights"), Jeni's performance was described as “incredibly magnetic” (yaniism) and that “at times chills you to the bone, and at other times nearly makes you laugh out loud” (Emma Connell-Doherty, Great Scott).
Jeni is also an accomplished screenwriter, playwright and director. She was accepted into the Originate development and production program, a joint initiative by Film Victoria, SBS and Arenamedia. It’s not your fault that you’re my weakness is Jeni’s first collaboration with BYTE.
Nikki Green is a contemporary dance artist based in Naarm (Melbourne). Relocated from Sydney to study at the Victorian College of the Arts, she graduated in 2020 with a Batchelor of Fine Arts (Dance) and the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Scholarship for Most Outstanding Dancer. Whilst studying she performed in works by Rochelle Carmichal, Alice Lee Holland, Prue Lang, Stephanie Lake and Anouk Van Dijk. Nikki participated in a film project for the University of Melbourne on 'Growing and Supporting the Arts' and recently performed at Co-Exist Collective + Collaborators event 'Arteka'; as a dancer in 'Hex: React'.
Nikki has also completed her Diploma in Professional Pilates Instruction to continue in expanding her practice and research of the body and movement to share and work through with others. She was the Movement Director and also performed in shadowfall (La Mama 2023). Nikki is the movement director/performer in Merry Wanderers of the Night in 2024.
Florensia Andarani has been performing on stage ever since she was 6 years old. She has performed in many traditional Indonesian/contemporary shows that involved dance and singing. She has appeared in ‘High School Musical’ as Gabriella Montez and was a co-deviser of ‘All Of Us Or None’ and ‘Doorways’ as a Director. By the end of 2019 she has successfully graduated with a Diploma of Theatre Arts. Florensia has appeared in short films and plays for festivals, including: ‘The Expedition of The Missing Lighter’ and ‘Dear Sun, Love Joy.’ Filling in her time whilst studying, she has assistant directed her former school’s musical ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’ and aspires to continue collaborating in community theatre. Aside from theatre, Florensia has just completed her Diploma of Stage and screen performance course at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Arts and cannot wait to show what she is capable of and how much she can bring to the world in the near future. Florensia performed in shadowfall (La Mama 2023) and is currently exploring the material for the international touring piece The Problem is the Ending (2023/24). Florensia will also appear in Merry Wanderers of the Night in 2024.
Emily O’Connor hails from regional NSW and relocated to Melbourne in 2012 to study a Bachelor of Performing Arts at Monash University. It was here that she met many of her longtime collaborators at Bloomshed, with whom she has worked on several critically acclaimed shows, including Paradise Lost and The Market is a Wind-Up Toy. She has starred in numerous short films, such as Meantime (Los Angeles Lift Off Film Festival), and In the Shadow it Waits (Raindance Film Festival). For BYTE she was part of thye touring cast of Missing in Me. Aside from acting, Emily works as a visual artist and jewelry maker. In 2023 Emily has performed in the international co-production with Jahrmarkttheater, Ruess and Vetter and Wheels Berlin, Traces of Vanishing Germany.
Isabel Knight is an actor, singer, theatre maker and curator based in Naarm. She graduated with a Diploma of Theatre Arts from Melbourne Polytechnic in 2017, and in 2018 studied with The Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2020 Isabel was selected to partake in the National Studio with the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP), and her piece Transit was published by Currency Press. Recent theatre credits include; ‘Abby’ The Musical of Musicals (2020), ‘Lady Macduff’ Her Hour Upon the Stage (2019), Be You Inc.’s Cabaret Entrée (2019) and Minx Cabaret Company’s (TAS) 2019 season. Alongside performing, Isabel Knight is the curator of Cabaretica; A late night cabaret offering at the historic La Mama theatre in Carlton. Isabel has performed in BYTE’s project shadowfall (La Mama 2023) and is currently exploring the material for the international touring piece The Problem is the Ending (2023/24). Isabel will also appear in Merry Wanderers of the Night in 2024.
Sasha Leong is a Malaysian Chinese actor, represented by Who Artists. Sasha has worked on-screen and theatre/live performance for more than nine years. Since moving to Melbourne, she has trained with the faculty at Howard Fine Acting Studios, Katherine Beck, The Rehearsal Room, and The Australian Film and Television Academy (TAFTA). Sasha was on independent shorts Match Point (2021), Rocks (2021), Burger with the Lot (2014) and the award-winning series, Full Disclosure (2017). She was also an ensemble member in Ghost and The Interview for Snatches 2020. Past productions in Malaysia include Trick or Treat: A Halloween Musical (2014), The Betrayal (2012), Kleting Kuning and the Giant Crab (2012), Chow Kit Road: The Musical (2013), Showdown: The Movie (2016), and Bisikan Hati (2011). Previous projects and collaborations available at www.sashaleong.com Sasha has perfomed in BYTE’s project shadowfall (La Mama 2023).
Megan is an actor, improviser and writer originally from South-West Victoria, now living in Melbourne.
She studied at 16th Street Actors Studio, Melbourne and at iO Theatre in Chicago. Megan performed improv in both the UK and the US and has been training and performing with the Improv Conspiracy ensemble for 3 years.
Her recent theatre performances include Lead by Voices (Owl and Cat), The Staffroom (Dramatizing Productions), Little Box of Oblivion (Peridot Theatre), Beers and Babes (Meat Market), and What Country, Friends, Is This? (BYTE). She has filmed over a dozen independent and student films, notably The Desperate (Humblebrag), Fly, Waterfowl (Aristrea), Cardiac Relations (Swinburne) and shot web sketches such as Sideliners (ABC) and Mixed Up (The Improv Conspiracy). She was one of the writers and performers on C31 sketch show Quiz Night and performed in the MAFMAD commercial short There’s No Place Like Home Safe. Megan enjoys developing and exploring scripts as well as working on polished pieces and is fascinated by character relationships and dynamics. Her recent work with BYTE includes Smith Street and she is one of the co-writers and actors of Drama School (2022).
Shamita is a multi-faceted performer and creator, who enjoys choreographing and devising new work. Comfortable on stage or on screen, Shamita is a performer who enjoys a challenge. A trained dancer from an early age, she developed an interest in physical theatre forms such as Butoh alongside her acting. Her foundation began with 15 years of RAD ballet training, but gradually branched out into several other styles ranging from Vogue to Bollywood. She holds a BA Performing Arts from Monash University, supplemented by training with Film & Television Studios International, Stella Adler AoA Los Angeles, and Meisner Technique. Shamita is also a keen writer and director, and is often consulted for movement direction in particular. She seeks inspiration from everyday experiences, music and sound, and socio- political issues she is drawn to. She is an active performer in Australia's queer scene, and is passionate about creating for the LGBTIQ community. Her recent work with BYTE included movement and assistant direction for the play Smith Street’ , staged in 2021, as well as the rehearsed reading Tinderella, Sex and Stanislavski (2021). Shamita continues her association with BYTE currently by providing feedback and suggestions.
Georgia is an award-winning actress ("Best Actress" at Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2017) based in Melbourne, Australia. Her work has been predominately in front of the camera with one of her more recent roles as a co-conspirator on Doctor Blake’s Murder Mysteries (ABC TV). She has worked with BYTE on the production By the End of the Year and toured with the project, The Deep Freeze Option in 2019/2020 to Asia and Europe. Georgia recently finished shooting the feature film The Crossing. Georgia continues her association with BYTE currently by providing feedback and suggestions.