CAST AND CREW BIOS
Jacob Golding
LEE | CO-PRODUCER
Fresh out of Dan Andrews crash hot 7-month lockdown in Melbourne for the later half of 2020, Jacob has been eager to get back on stage after finding his feet back in Hobart over the last 12 months.
Jacob has trained under Sara Cooper at Cooper Screen Academy since 2010, which has seen him land roles in projects of all shapes and sizes over the years, from hanging out in Rosehaven for ABC, Deadloch for Amazon Prime, and The Gloaming for STAN. He has also recently seen in Pulsar: A short film recently created by Gabriel Morrison, soon to be released online. As well as having worked on numerous other short films and advertisements in both Tasmania and Victoria.
Before COVID (the new BC), Jacob was regularly seen on stage around Hobart. He has performed in Hairspray, The Drowsy Chaperone, and The Addams Family for Rosny College. Avenue Q for Hobart Rep. Allo' Allo' for John X Presents. Spring Awakening under the direction of Jack Lark and Finn Carter. And most recently as Jeremy Heere in the Tasmanian Premiere of Be More Chill, under the direction of Mikaela Campbell, which landed him multiple nominations at the 2022 Tasmanian Theatre Awards.
Sam Tooker
AUSTIN | CO-PRODUCER
While not the best performer in the world, people often tell Sam he’s “pretty good at acting” which was enough to spark his ego and move to Melbourne to persue a carreer in acting. Since then, Sam has been lucky enough to have roles in Netflix shows ‘ClickBait’ and “Why are you like this?’ as well as lead roles in music videos working alongside ‘Illy’, Tassie star ‘Katedwards’, Melbourne death metal band ‘Grave Mind’ and the unforgettable Bollywood hero Diljaan Parmer. He’s most recently done commercial work for Subaru and is the face of RACT insurance – on some billboards if you look close enough. We can’t forget he’s also done more extras work then anyone in the world, one of which involved gate crashing a 50th party in Neighbours (RIP). Overall, the Melbourne dream lasted 12 months and he’s back in Hobart.
Penny McDonald
MOM | DIRECTOR
Penny McDonald has worked for over 40 years in the theatre and event industry. She first began performing in Hobart in the 1970s, before moving to Sydney to study acting at the Q Theatre. She performed with Death Defying Theatre in 1984 -1987. She worked with Rock n Roll Circus and ran a CEP Youth Theatre Program with Liverpool City Council. Penny moved to Melbourne in 1989 to take up the position of Artistic Co-coordinator for Melbourne Workers Theatre. In 1991 she formed Event Logistics with partner Liz Pain and for 22 years co-run a successful event business specialising in outdoor festivals and parades, production management and stage management.
Penny is also a trained Alexander Technique Teacher and works predominately in the performing arts helping performers realise their full potential. Since graduating in 1996 she has taught in a private practice as well as teaching the Alexander Technique at 16th Street Actors Studio, Howard Fine Acting Studio, the Australian National Academy of Music, the Alexander Teacher Training Course, Victorian College of the Arts, Brave Studios, Cooper Screen Academy and the National Drama School. Penny is currently running a teacher training program to train Alexander Teachers in Hobart.
Alex Sangston
SAUL
True West marks Alex’s first performance in Hobart since 2001 and his first stage performance since 2008. In the mid to late 90s, Alex was a regular performer in Hobart with favourite performances including Jimmy in Look Back in Anger for Mainstage; Doug in Cosi and Dennis in Loot for Hobart Rep; Quince in Popular Mechanicals and Lord Are in Restoration for PLOT; the wonderfully named Man 1 in The Visit and Ted in It’s My Party (and I’ll Die if I Want to) for Old Nick; Don John in Much Ado about Nothing for Directions; and David in the premiere of Franz Docherty’s St Valentine’s Peak for Big Picture. In 2002, Alex moved to Canberra, where he appeared as Laertez and either Rosencrantz or Guildenstern (he can’t remember which) in Hamlet, Dr Cuckrowicz in Suddenly, Last Summer; Jack in Elizabeth Rex; Bosie in Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde; and Ted in The Foursome. His last stage performance was for papermoon in Canberra, playing Louis in the two-part Angels in America (2008). Having returned now to Tasmania, Alex is thrilled to be back on the boards in such a wonderful play, and with this fabulous group of people. However, given it’s been quite a while since he’s been on stage, he asks that you be gentle.
Milla Chaffer
STAGE MANAGER
Milla has been working in theatre for many years in and loves working both on and offstage.
Her backstage credits include The Old Man and the Old Moon (Jack Lark Presents, 2021) Assistant Stage Manager, Crave (The Theater Closet, 2021) Stage Manager, The 39 Steps (Hobart Repertory Theatre Society) Stage Manager, as well as doing stage management for a number of Tasmanian Festivals.