Our People
Creative & Production Team
- Artistic Director & Producer – Penelope Bartlau
- Set & Lighting Designer – Jason Lehane
- Puppet Designer & Maker – Dan Goronszy
- Composer – Leah Scholes
- Sound Designers – Simon Charles & Angie Grant
- Photographer & Performer – Sarah Walker
- Production Manager – Erica McCalman
- Puppet Maker & Performers – Dan Goronszy, Jason Lehane, Conor Fox, Bronwyn Kamasz, Justine Warner
- Co-Creator & Performer – Jason Lehane, Dan Goronszy, Rachel Edward, Chrissie Shaw
- Production Consultants & Performers – Klari & Dashiel Agar
- Edward Dowling – Stage and Technical Manager, Web Designer (website)
The Barking Spider Board
All board members are Melbourne-based and are the only members of the incorporated association.
Penelope Bartlau (Artistic Director & Producer) is a puppeteer, writer and director, who has worked professionally in film, television, theatre and radio drama for the last 18 years. Penelope trained for 6 months in Commedia Dell’Arte in residence at the Scuola Internazionale Dell’Attore Comico with Antonio Fava in Italy and for a year in Method Acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City. She also studied Professional Screenwriting at RMIT University and has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Political Theory from Monash University. In 2007 she completed a Masters in Puppetry from the Victorian College of the Arts.
Leah Scholes (Treasurer) is the composer for Hatch. Leah works as a freelance percussionist in many varied performance capacities. She has worked with the Malaysian Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony and Queensland Orchestras, and in 2006 she was the principal percussionist in the Australian Youth Orchestra. Leah performs regularly as a chamber musician, and as a soloist she performed with the Melbourne University Percussion Ensemble in 2005. Currently, she is pursuing a passion for collaborative and theatrical performance, creating works with artists from varied disciplines such as puppeteers, circus performers and comedy actors.
Jason Lehane (Chair) is a designer & performer who has been involved with theatre since 1983, and has worked with a diverse range of professional arts groups including All Human Theatre, Victorian State Opera and the National Gallery of Victoria. He has been teaching acting since 1990 at St Martin’s Youth Arts Theatre and the Monash University Student Theatre – where he has been employed for the last three years as the Technical Manager. He has directed a one-hour puppet show for the Melbourne International Puppet Festival and worked as a performer and maker on a variety of shows.
Sarah Walker (Secretary) is professional practicing photographer specialising in promotional and production photography. She has been involved with a diverse series of productions over the last three years including several shows for the Monash University Student Theatre, Barking Spider Visual Theatre and work at the Malthouse.
Danielle Goronszy is a performer/designer exploring puppetry, circus and physical/gestural theatre for the past seven years. A founding member of the Machination Theatre Ensemble, Danielle also works with Polyglot Puppet Theatre, and Wind-Up Beanstalk as a performer, workshop facilitator and designer.
Elsea Bartlau JP has been actively involved in business management for over 32 years, having been a licensed real estate agent in Emerald, Victoria for most of this time. She is also a recognised specialist in antiques and collectibles and was principal of Nobelius Auctions over a similar time.
Lisa Speakman B.Mus (Hons) B.A. LL.B, Solicitor is a lawyer and composer.
Gilly McInnes is an artist with a long history in the performing arts, as a performer, writer, dramaturg and artistic director. One of the original members of Handspan, Gilly was also AD of Polyglot Theatre for a number of years. Most recently Gilly lectured in puppetry in the Post Graduate & Masters courses at the Victorian College of the Arts.
