My Story

 I grew up in South Africa in a family that contained two painters, two graphic designers and three ballet dancers and throughout my teens I felt that my intention to become an engineer left me as the most uncreative black sheep of the family.

I was always quick to get involved in theatre and acting when the occasional opportunities arose in my South African schooling, but it wasn’t until I moved to Kansas City at 16 that theatre started to become an important part of my life. By the time I enrolled at Northwestern University in the Chicago area I had decided to pursue theatre full-time and chose the life of a designer over that of an actor, although I still enjoy performing and take an active interest in clown work and storytelling.

I studied design with notable theatre artists as Dan Ostling, Todd Rosenthal, Linda Roethke and Virgil Johnson, doubling my theatre studies with art history as well as working in the university scene shop, building and painting. I spent two years (2009-2010) living in London, UK, working mainly on the technical side for great small houses like The Almedia, The Gate Theatre and The Bush Theatre as well as designing 2 shows at The Finborough.

I returned home to Chicago in September 2010 and I now work all over the city with exciting artists and companies but I'm always looking for new collaborations that will challenge me to make better and stronger work.

My desire is to produce artwork in and out of the theatre that will challenge an audience’s position on an idea, on a story, and even their position in space, to make people think twice and look twice.

I am also very interested in the philosophy of perception in art, understanding why we indulge in art and how it affects our sense of being in the world. The study of memory and phenomenology through writers such as Proust, Barthes, and Merleau-Ponty is one I’m eager to continue alongside my theatre work, using it to improve the kind of work I produce.