The Legend

Ted Gott is Senior Curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. After studying at the University of Melbourne, the British Museum, Northwestern University and the Art Institute of Chicago, he previously worked at the Robert Holmes-à-Court Collection, Heide Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Australia.

He has curated and co-curated more than 25 exhibitions, including The Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay (2004), Kiss of the Beast: From Paris Salon to King Kong (2005), Modern Britain 1900-1960 (2007), Salvador Dalí: Liquid Desire (2009), Napoleon: Revolution to Empire (2012), Masterpieces from the Hermitage: The Legacy of Catherine the Great (2015), Degas: A New Vision (2016) and Van Gogh and the Seasons (2017).

He has published widely on Australian, British and French art, and in 2013 co-authored a cultural history of the gorilla in 19th and 20th Century art, literature, scientific discourse and cinema (Gorilla, Reaktion Press, London).

Ali Alizadeh is a writer and academic, based in Melbourne. 

His books include the new novel, The Last Days of Jeanne d'Arc (Giramondo, 2017); the work of fiction, Transactions (UQP, 2013); the collection of poetry, Ashes in the Air (UQP, 2011) and the work of creative non-fiction, Iran: My Grandfather (Transit Lounge, 2010). 

Iran: My Grandfather was shortlisted for a 2011 NSW Premier’s Literary Award and Ashes in the Air was shortlisted for the 2012 Prime Minister's Literary Award.

Ali’s research and writing interests include the connection between politics and literature, writing and history, aesthetic theory and poetry, and art and violence. He was born in Iran in 1976 and migrated to Australia at the age of 14. He has lived and worked in China, Turkey and Dubai and is now a lecturer at Monash University. 

Mark Wilson is a Melbourne based maker, performer, dramaturg and director. He trained at the VCA (Performance Creation, Directing) and Monash (Performing Arts), has studied with Philippe Gaulier and is an International Fellow of Shakespeare’s Globe in London. 

Performance work ranges from plays to performance art, most recently Right Now at Red Stitch, and the upcoming Bottomless by Dan Lee at fortyfivedownstairs. He most recently directed Bighouse Dreaming by Declan Furber Gillick, and regularly directs Shakespeare, including three productions for Essential Theatre.

For a year he was a Dramaturgy Intern at MTC. In 2016 he completed his trilogy of radical Shakespeare adaptations: Unsex Me – which toured fringe festivals for five years – Richard II with Olivia Monticciolo, Melbourne Fringe/Brisbane Festival and Anti-Hamlet, nominated for Greenroom awards for writing, direction and production. 

Sophie Lampel trained at The University of Ballarat (Performing Arts) and is an International Fellow of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre London. She works as an actor, theatre producer and pilates instructor. Her main producing work is with the creation, development and management of Essential Theatre. The company recently collaborated with Three Birds Theatre on their new work Enter Ophelia which had a sell out season at La Mama in early 2018. 

Other performance highlights with Essential Theatre include Antony (Julius Caesar), Nurse (Romeo & Juliet), Leonata/Dogberry (Much Ado About Nothing), Viola (Twelfth Night) and the Dromio Twins (The Comedy of Errors) to name a few. 

Sophie is looking forward to taking on the role of Bottom in their latest Shakespeare in the Vines production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream touring to wineries this summer. She has also been fortunate to work with a number of terrific independent theatre companies in Melbourne over the past 20 years.