Robert the Cat (RTC) is a theatre collective headed by Lisa O’Neill and Anatoly Frusin (directors), and Rosalind Williams (vocal coach). Together they have directed and taught within the acting and performance program at TAFE Queensland for two decades; and maintained a wide range of national and international creative practice across many theatrical platforms and genres.
As educators they have had the fortune of working with apprentice actors for many years within their degree programs, developing theatre works that are highly crafted and marked by an emotional intensity, physicality and theatricality.
The Robert the Cat collective has been established to take the work of these practitioners to a broader public, provide the many talented graduates from the course with a platform to continue their theatre practice, and create an opportunity to showcase their skilled work as emerging performers in challenging contemporary theatre practice.
Robert the Cat is proudly supported by Metro Arts as part of their educational partnership with TAFE Queensland Acting and Performance
Lisa O’Neill is a performing artist, director and educator working across dance, theatre, contemporary performance and new-media.
She has developed a broad body of original performance works over the past 30years, presenting across Australia, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, New Zealand and United States of America. A polymath of sorts, Lisa has presented digital art installations in the Forbidden City of Beijing, performed Off Broadway in Australia’s longest running children’s show Fluff, danced at the Sydney Opera House numerous times and acted in Shakespeare and Greek Tragedies in castles and ruins across Europe. Since 2001 Lisa has directed the Acting program at TAFE Queensland, using this platform to facilitate a rigorous and informed performance culture for young actors and performers to practice and study. www.lisaoneill.com
Anatoly Frusin is a Russian born, New Zealand raised and Australian based director, writer and acting teacher. He graduated from the University of Auckland with a Masters in English Literature, and continued his studies at the University of Toronto Drama Centre on a Commonwealth Scholarship. In 1996 he graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Directing, and then worked extensively at Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney, at Opera Australia and other opera companies; as well as directing many independent productions. His collaborations with Polish based Kropka Theatre have been seen at festivals all over Europe and the Middle East, and have been widely awarded. He is currently a lecturer and co-course convenor for a Bachelor of Acting and Performance at TAFE Queensland. He teaches Acting, Theatre History, and directs student productions as well as working in the industry in theatre and cross-genre collaborative projects.
Rosalind Williams graduated from NIDA’s voice studies course in 1996 and has been teaching voice to trainee actors for over a decade, including students at NIDA’s Young Actor’s Studio, TAFE Queensland and QUT.
Having majored in drama and English at UQ, Rosalind brings her love of literature and theatre history to her voice teaching. She also has an MA in creative industries (film) from QUT and is fascinated by film voice and acting methodologies.
Rosalind has a graduate diploma in education, a certificate IV in training and assessment and she is a qualified yoga teacher (IYTA). She synthesises her interest in voice and movement in her teaching.
Rosalind has studied with Bill Pepper, Betty Williams, Rowena Baylos, Cicely Berry, Barbara Houseman, Kristin Linklater, Nancy Krebs and Katerina Moriatis. She completed the introductory Lessac workshop at NIDA in 2018, and is certified by Kristin Linklater to teach the world-renowned Linklater voice method.
Rosalind also works as a community lawyer.
