Associated Artists
Sophie hails from Aotearoa (New Zealand), where she completed a BPA and a BA in Theatre at the University of Otago. In 2022, she relocated to Melbourne to attend the Full Time Professional Actors Programme at 16th Street Actor’s Studio, as well as the studio's Postgraduate Programme "The American Way.” Since graduating, she has continued to develop her craft by completing a variety of short courses for the stage and the screen, including Matchfit with Iain Sinclair and a Masterclass with Miranda Harcourt. Her theatre credits include the roles of Kayleen in Gruesome Playground Injuries (2024), Tiffany in Blackrock (2024) and Cariola in The Duchess of Malfi (2024). Her film/tv credits include the web series’ Let Me Taste Your Husband (2024) and BONGRATS (2024), as well as the pilot Vendetta-19 (2024) and the upcoming feature film It’s Showtime, Dan (2024). Alongside her acting pursuits, Sophie teaches drama with Stage School Australia, and is studying towards a Masters of Teaching (Secondary) at the University of Melbourne.
Krystal Hollis is an actor and performer from Nelson, New Zealand. She graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts from Otago University in 2023 and moved to Melbourne in January 2024. Krystal has performed in a wide range of live theatre shows, musicals, short films, and web series. With a background in dance, music, and songwriting, she is a versatile performer with a deep passion for the stage. In addition to her performance work, Krystal is also a dance and drama teacher, sharing her love for the arts with children in schools around Melbourne. She is known for her music duo, Love From, and for being an active cast member and deputy venue manager of the improvised theatre show Alcotraz. Krystal will be playing the role of Martha in her first collaboration with BYTE in the new touring piece Martha and Me.
Tom Hoskins is a Melbourne musician and recently un-retired actor. A graduate of Melbourne University’s Bachelor of Creative Arts, acting credits includes the Victorian premiere of Blackrock and the musical Sodomy & Cigarettes. Tom was also the director of serval Newman College productions as well as Beatnik Theatre’s Road Prayer and the Fringe Festival award winning production of The Brick and the Rose. As a musician, Tom has fronted various bands around Melbourne including 16 Millimetre, The Single Men’s Drinking Club and Swamp Moth. Tom appeared in numerous BYTE productions: The Staffroom, In the Company of Whales, Roadwork Ahead, Merry Wanderers of the Night and Midsummer Night’s Dream, re-imagined.
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.
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 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 is an associated artist with Back Yard Theatre Ensemble as a dancer and movement director, performing in shadowfall 2023 and Merry Wanderers of the Night 2024. She has also performed with various independent Melbourne collectives such as Co-exist Collective ( ‘ARTECA’ 2022 ‘Movimentum’ 2023) and Interconnect ('As we Are' 2024).
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.
Rhian is a Melbourne-based actor, writer, improvisor and producer. Rhian is one of BYTE’s associate directors. She is a graduate of the 16th Street Actors Studio Full Time Program and the Master of Theatre (Writing) at the Victorian College of the Arts. She has written, produced and performed works at several of Melbourne’s major festivals, including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In 2022, Rhian toured locally and internationally with Backyard Theatre Ensemble, performing in Hedda, Nora, Julie & Me at the Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, and touring throughout Europe and South-East Asia. She has also been a regular performer at The Improv Conspiracy in both the House Improv and Sketch Ensembles. Rhian has been expanding her stage experience into performing and writing for Film and Television, including several web-series in the works. Rhian is an artist with an invisible disability and places high value on stories and working practices which reflect and cater for the huge range of experiences among artists and the wider community. Her next BYTE-project is performing again in It's Not Your Fault You're My Weakness.
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.
Giacinta is a 23-year-old actor from Melbourne. Since completing a Bachelor’s degree in Acting from Federation University (formally BAPA), she has been involved in a variety of short films and screen projects, as well as a number of theatre shows, including Agamemnon, Blue Stockings and Margaret of Anjou. With training in Greek Theatre, Shakespeare, Stanislavski, devising and stage combat, she is interested in exploring the diverse facets of performance and storytelling.
Giacinta has joined the BYTE community, working within the ensemble in Smith Street. She also appeared in shadowfall (2023). Giacinta will next appear in Merry Wanderers of the Night in 2024.
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.
Ariani is a photographer and videographer who has been part of the arts and music industry since 2013. Ariani started out by photographing live music and ventured into dance and theatre not long after. She has become a part of the BYTE family very quickly – creating promotional photos and trailers for productions in collaboration with the team. Her past works with BYTE includes trailers for Missing in Me, What Country Friends is this? The Deep Freeze Option, By the end of the year, ophelia. maybe, Hedda, Nora, Julie and Me, the problem is the ending, Merry Wanderers of the Night, before she knew me, fractured love. Ariani continues to capture life on stage, hoping to constantly be inspired people and things around her.