By Esther Lauaki
What’s your connection to Wyndham?
I have lived here for many years.
How long have you lived in the area?
I came out from Scotland in 1971 and attended the then Werribee High School as a student. My family and I lived in Hoppers Crossing till I finished uni in 1981. Then I moved away and returned to live in Werribee with my husband and son in 2001.
What are you passionate about?
Engaging audiences in performance and especially finding great historical and/or real stories to turn into theatrical performances. Working with youth is a huge high for me and always challenging and wonderful. Customer service and exceeding the expectations of customers. I also love working with my team – a group of highly skilled, talented artists who also have their feet well and truly on the ground, but have a great sense of humour and work ethic. Then there’s family – I’m totally passionate about my family and my gorgeous dog, Stella, and my dear friends. Oh, and movies – especially good scary ones.
Tell us about your background in performance/play writing.
I run Essence Productions – an independent theatre company. We run two plays at Werribee Park each weekend – both historical comedy dramas with some scary elements – and have done so for the past 16 years.
I wrote my first short play when studying VCE drama as an adult in 1990.
I was thinking I should get a degree in performing arts as that’s all I wanted to do, even though I have (and duxed) a business degree from RMIT. But after I finished VCE drama, I went on to do hands-on work with writing, acting, directing and singing.
Writing is the world I love to jump in to – like a deep, deep pool.
The play I wrote in 2014,
Point of No Return, won three awards in a playwright competition.
It is now a full-length play that has toured to nine venues.
What are you working on at the moment?
The Scrunch Test is a comedy drama based on my Scottish parents on Christmas Day.
The Dress, which we plan to perform at Werribee Park, is set in the late 19th century and is essentially about the change in the fashion world at the time.
In My Mother’s Words is a short play about the difficult relationship between a mother and daughter. This will be … part of Wyndham Theatre Company’s One Act Season Fractured, September 20 and 21.
What other hats do you wear in the Wyndham community?
I’m on the Wyndham Council Arts, Heritage and Cultural Portfolio as a community advisory representative. I volunteer my time to Wyndham Theatre Company as their artistic director, I am co-ordinator for the Werribee Secondary College’s Drama Club.
What’s the quirkiest thing about you?
My love of Christmas and my continual search to find its magic.
What do you love about Wyndham?
The community feel, the many wonderful connections that I have, the Gold Class at the Plaza, Werribee Park, the street I live in and all my wonderful neighbours, the fact Wyndham has enabled me and my husband to create a wonderful home and home life here. I’m looking forward to the beautification of the areas around the river and seeing Wyndham develop.
