Nathan Maynard and Jamie McCaskill; produced by Performing Lines TAS
lutruwita (Tasmania) / Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Nathan Maynard is a descendant of the chief of the Trawlwoolway Clan and of the whole of the North East Tasmanian Indigenous peoples. Nathan has 17 years’ experience as a dancer in schools and communities. In 2012 he performed in SHADOW DREAMS (Terrapin/Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra). In 2013 and 2014 Nathan was selected for the Tasmania Performs Artists Residency and in 2014 received an Arts Tasmania grant for a year-long career development program. His play THE SEASON was featured in the 2015 Yellamundie Festival (Moogahlin). The Tasmania Performs production received MFI funding and premiered in 2017 at the Sydney Festival, Ten Days on the Island and Melbourne Festival followed by an 11-venue national tour in 2018. Nathan’s play for children A NOT SO TRADITIONAL STORY produced by Terrapin, toured to primary schools across Tasmania in 2018 and in 2019 and was presented at Arts Centre Melbourne and Brisbane Festival.
Nathan was named Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year Award in 2006 and 2013, and Tasmanian Aboriginal of the Year at the 2017 NAIDOC awards. In 2019 he was awarded the Balnaves Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship at Belvoir and a Churchill Fellowship. Before he discovered his love for writing, Nathan worked in land management for 16 years. He balances his life between family, community, culture and writing and resides on the east coast of Tasmania.
Jamie McCaskill (Ngati Tamatera, Te Ati Haunui a Paparangi, Nga Puhi) graduated from UCOL Theatre School in 2000 and has performed in many plays throughout New Zealand and internationally for the past 18 years. In 2003 he was awarded the “Hot New Thing Award” at the New Zealand Fringe Festival and was awarded, Best Supporting Actor, at the Wellington Theatre Awards in 2015. Also a writer, Jamie has written 12 plays and was awarded the prestigious, Bruce Mason Award in 2013 for NZ Playwright of the year for his show Manawa, which premiered in 2012. In 2015 his play, Not in Our Neighbourhood, was awarded Best New, New Zealand Play and Best Actress at The Wellington Theatre Awards.
Recent directing credits include Hinepau for Capital E National Theatre For Children, Anzac Eve with Armstrong Creative, Not in Our Neighbourhood and The Biggest for Tikapa Productions. Jamie is also Artistic Director of the independent Wellington based company Tikapa Productions and is the founding member or the popular Maori Showband, The Maori Sidesteps.