MISSION STATEMENT
Shock Therapy’s vision is to create Transformative Arts Experiences. We do this through telling stories that explore what it is to be human - provocative, challenging, uplifting, impactful.
Shock Therapy Arts is a Not for Profit Social Enterprise, founded on the Gold Coast in January 2015 by Sam Foster and Hayden Jones.
Shock Therapy is made up of a team of the arts industry’s most experienced artists, designers, accountants, lawyers, strategic advisors, administrators and producers who work together to achieve the company’s creative vision.
As a Company we are driven by our EPIC values that underpin everything we do. These values are:
· Engage
· Provoke
· Inspire
· Connect
We collaborate with others to create work that engages, provokes thought, inspires and creates impact.
Creatively Shock Therapy’s work covers a broad range of arts practices including; writing, directing and performance works that span conventional theatre spaces, site specific work, immersive experiences, performance art, installation, physical theatre, issue-based youth theatre, children's theatre, digital media, film and workshop facilitation.
AWARDS
WINNER 2017 MATILDA AWARD
BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION - THE FORWARDS
WINNER 2016 MATILDA AWARD
BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION - VIRAL
WINNER 2015 MATILDA AWARD
BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION – THE PILLOWMAN
WINNER 2015 MATILDA AWARD
BEST DIRECTOR – SAM FOSTER, THE PILLOWMAN
MEET THE PEOPLE
SAM FOSTER
Founder & Artistic Director
Sam (he/him) is an award winning Actor, Director, Writer, Producer, Stunt Performer and Stunt Rigger as well as being a Physical Theatre Performer, Movement Director and workshop facilitator. He is the co-owner and co-founder of Shock Therapy Arts.
Sam works in theatre, film and large scale events and has worked for a number of companies and festivals over the past 20 years. His career has taken him to New York, London, Namibia, South Africa, Denmark, Norway and India as well as all over Australia.
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He recently appeared in the first season of the Netflix Australia original production, Tidelands in the role of Zach Maney. Sam will also appear in the upcoming series The End and Reef Break. Sam has won a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for his work as a Stunt Performer in Mad Max – Fury Road.
He was also awarded Best Director at the 2015 Matilda Awards for Shock Therapy’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman. Sam has also been nominated twice for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Matilda Award.
Sam was involved as a physical performer in the creative development of King Kong – The Musical by Global Creature. He has been part of the creative team for further developments of the show in London and New York in preparation for the shows Broadway premiere in 2018.
Sam has written and created a number of works with his company Shock Therapy Productions including Viral which was awarded Best Independent Production at the 2016 Matilda Awards, was nominated for Best New Australian Work and has been published by Playlab. Sam and co-creator Hayden Jones also directed a Norwegian version of Viral which was produced and toured by Akershus Teater.
Shock Therapy has won a total of 5 Matilda Awards, including Best Independent Production 3 years in a row.
He has worked extensively on large scale events as a director and movement director. In 2015, he was assistant to Gavin Robins on the Opening Ceremony of the Asia Cup. In 2016 Sam was the Movement Director on a major project for the 2016 Bleach Festival called Shifting Sands, Directed by Donna Jackson. He was Movement Director for the Woodford Folk Festival Opening Ceremony in 2016 and has been Performance Director for the Fire Event at Woodford since 2017.
Sam is directing a major production, which is in development called Odysseus: Live which is a live retelling of the Homer's Odyssey, told by performance poet and hip hop artist, Luka Lesson in front of a live orchestra.
Sam also performed in and directed a section of the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Shock Therapy Productions were also commission to create a new work for the Commonwealth Games Arts Festival, Festival 2018 called Welcome to Sameville. Sam not only co-directed and co-wrote the piece but also starred in the show as Professional Von Gleich.
Shock Therapy were also commissioned by Splendour in the Grass to create a new performance installation work. The Cleaners premiered at Splendour in 2018 and was then performed at Bleach Festival in 2019.
Over the past 16 years Sam has toured extensively in secondary schools throughout Australia mainly with Zeal Theatre. He is also a highly-experienced workshop facilitator and has worked for Queensland Theatre, Qld Arts Council, Grin and Tonic, Soapbox Theatre Productions, Zeal Theatre, Backbone Youth Theatre, The Young Company (Cairns), ATYP (Australian Theatre for Young People), Empire Theatre (Toowoomba), NORPA (Northern Rivers Performing Arts), Drama Queensland and Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus). He has also worked as a facilitator with Qld Shakespeare Ensemble’s Shakespeare in Prison’s project in 2015.
Sam continues to perform and create work that is meaningful and thought provoking and enjoys exploring cross art form collaborations.
HAYDEN JONES
Founder & Artistic Director
Hayden (he/him) is a performer and contemporary performance maker, working across a range of forms including theatre, installation, immersive experiences and cross art-form collaborations. He has worked as an Actor, Director, Writer, Producer and workshop facilitator, for some of Australia’s most recognised and innovative arts organisations. He is also a co-founder of Shock Therapy Arts.
Hayden has an extensive background working in Youth Theatre, Children’s Theatre and Theatre In Education for over 15 years, writing and directing shows for young people, and touring nation-wide performing and teaching workshops.
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Hayden co-founded Shock Therapy Productions in 2015 and they since have staged original and existing works at various venues and festivals nationally and internationally. The company has been awarded the Matilda Award for Best Independent Production for three consecutive years for The Pillowman in 2015, Viral in 2016 and The Forwards in 2017.
Hayden is Co-Writer and Co-Director of Viral, which is published by Playlab and was also nominated for Best New Australian Work at the 2016 Matilda Awards. Viral had its premiere season at The Arts Centre Gold Coast and is programmed for a 2018 season at NORPA. A scaled down version of the show has toured throughout Queensland Secondary Schools. Hayden also performs in the show alongside Sam Foster. The rights to Viral have since been purchased by Oslo based company Akershus Teater. Hayden and Sam will be travelling to Norway in 2019 to direct the production, which will then tour the region extensively.
In 2017 Shock Therapy were Company In Residence at 2970 – The Boiling Point, a three day forum on arts, innovation and ideas curated by David Pledger, founder of not yet it’s difficult (NYID). For the event, Hayden and Sam collaborated with Sipat Lawin Ensemble (Philippines) on Gobyerno.
In 2016, Hayden was cast as the Shakespearean villain ‘Don John’ in the Queensland Theatre production of Much Ado About Nothing. The same year, Shock Therapy directed the Youth Theatre Project at The Arts Centre Gold Coast, directing a production of Flood, by Chris Isaacs.
Hayden also Co-Wrote and Co-Directed The Magic Garden, a site-specific promenade performance commissioned by Bleach Festival. Shock Therapy have since adapted the work into a school touring stage show for Primary Schools. Hayden also wrote Thicker Than Water, which the company will produce as a new work in 2018.
Hayden is Co-Writing, Co-Directing, Co-Producing and performing in Welcome to Sameville, a large scale immersive outdoor work by Shock Therapy Productions, which will have its World Premiere at Festival 2018, during the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Hayden has worked for other companies, venues and festivals such as Zeal Theatre (The Stones, The Apology, The Forwards), Jack Morton Worldwide (Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games), Godsbanen (Locked In, Denmark), Winterlysfestivalen (Locked In, Norway), Erth Visual and Physical inc. (Fish Out of Water), Not Yet It’s Difficult (Hotelling – Down the Rabbit Hole, Hotelling - Hightower), Urban Theatre Projects (Home Country), CIRCA and the Bell Shakespeare Company (The Tempest – creative development), The Grin and Tonic Theatre Troupe (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, As You Like it, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles, Timon of Athens, Taming of the Shrew, A Comedy of Errors, Two Gentleman of Verona, Walking Shadow, Complete Works, Livid, I Am Macbeth, Heartfail, Sunburn), pvi collective (Resist), Brainstorm Productions (CheapThrills, SticksandStones), Queensland Arts Council (FairPlay), The Arts Centre Gold Coast (TheZoo Story), Seeing Place Productions (TimeCapsule, Plunge), Showtime FMX (FreestyleMotocrossAnnouncer), Anywhere Festival, Varsity Winterfest, The Young Company, and more.
Hayden has an extensive background working in Youth Theatre and Theatre in Education, writing and directing shows for youth. He has toured schools nation-wide including remote communities, performing and teaching workshops on a range of theatrical styles with students of all ages. Hayden is a graduate of Griffith University where he studied Theatre and Writing.
SHARI INDRIANI IRWIN
Executive Producer
Shari (she/her) is an Australian theatre-maker of Indonesian-New Zealand heritage, with over 20 years of experience as a producer specialising in new Australian theatre having held positions at Queensland Theatre, La Boite Theatre Company, and currently as an Arts Queensland peer assessor. Shari also maintains a creative practice as a playwright, performer, visual artist, and director.
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Her creative credits include: as Director: Shadow in a Dress (HWY Festival, La Boite Theatre Company), Sparks First Nations Playwrights Readings (Clancestry, QPAC), Bi Empat (HWY Festival, La Boite Theatre Company); as Assistant Director: City of Gold (Queensland Theatre/Griffith Theatre Company); as Writer/Director: The Bone People (QUT Virtual Production), Recipe (QUT Collab Works); Shari was Program Manager at La Boite Theatre Company 2009-2011, a participant of the CAAP’s Directors Initiative 2018-19; and Producer of New Work at Queensland Theatre 2012-2022.
Facilitating accessibility for arts lovers with blindness and low vision, Shari has been an Audio Describer (AD) for live performance since 2012 through her volunteering with Vision Australia, and from 2020 in her private consultancy Vantagepoint Audio Description, providing AD services for arts organisations such as The Little Red Company, Dance North, and Access Arts for events including The Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Christmas Carols and the biennial Undercover Artist Festival.
EMMA CHURCHLAND
Education Manager
Emma Churchland (she/her) is a dedicated educator, writer, and dramaturg with a mission to enrich the cultural landscape through immersive storytelling. Over the past decade, Emma has demonstrated unwavering commitment to education, working in secondary and tertiary education across Australia, from metropolitan cities to remote regions in Queensland.
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Beyond her role in education, Emma is the Founder and Creative Producer at IMRSE, an immersive theatre company based in Brisbane. Through IMRSE, she challenges traditional performance norms, captivating audiences with experiences that seamlessly blend reality and imagination, fostering play and human connection.
Emma's creative credits include CAKE (IMRSE), where she served as writer, co-director, and producer, earning the production three Matilda Award nominations. Additionally, Emma's expertise as a dramaturg was showcased in La Silhouette (The Sui Ensemble), a production featured at Battersea Arts Center in London.
MEET THE BOARD
PAUL BISHOP
Chairman
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A professional actor, facilitator and creative innovator, Paul Bishop is a husband and father to four children.
Public Service: Paul is currently serving his second term as an elected Redland City Councillor (Division 10: Birkdale/Thorneside) Elected 2012; re-elected 2016-2020. He serves on SEQ Council of Mayors Economic Development Working Group.
He is currently Chair of Redland City/Arts Qld Regional Arts Development Fund and has been on RADF committee since 2012.
Paul has served on MEAA (Actors Equity) National Performer’s Committee: 2002-2006; and as an Associate Artist for Queensland Theatre Company: 2004-2008.
Professional Development: Paul has trained as a Cluster Facilitator; completed AICD Councillor Training; Assed Based Community Development Training; Process Facilitator (including ‘Art of Hosting’; Art of BEiNG a Facilitator & MG Taylor’s DesignShop® Process.
As an applied ethnographer, Paul has documented thousands of hours of interviews and workshops with change makers and design thinkers committed to better futures.
Professional Actor, Paul graduated from QUT Drama in 1986 and has worked in lead roles with every Major Performing Arts Theatre company in Australia.
He has appeared in telemovies, feature films and many television series. Paul received two TV Week Logie Award Nominations, while filming over 260 episodes as regular character Sgt. Ben Stewart in Police Drama ‘Blue Heelers’ (1998-2004). He has twice received Matilda Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (‘Poison’, 2018 and ‘Edward Gant’ 2011).
A skilled MC and Presenter, Paul was mentor/MC for Education Queensland’s ‘Creative Generation - State Schools on Stage’ from 2007-2011
Company Director: Paul became founder of Arts Evolution Pty Ltd in 2007. Æ is committed to an ‘evolution of the arts’ and ‘the arts of evolution’ toward ecologically sustainable human futures.
Between 2013 -2018, Arts Evolution was trading as ‘The Red Place’. Through this vehicle Paul hosted a co-working space and innovation hub for a range of start-up entrepreneurs, creatives and community/commercial events, classes, training and product launch projects based in Cleveland CBD.hly-experienced workshop facilitator and has worked for Queensland Theatre, Qld Arts Council, Grin and Tonic, Soapbox Theatre Productions, Zeal Theatre, Backbone Youth Theatre, The Young Company (Cairns), ATYP (Australian Theatre for Young People), Empire Theatre (Toowoomba), NORPA (Northern Rivers Performing Arts), Drama Queensland and Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus). He has also worked as a facilitator with Qld Shakespeare Ensemble’s Shakespeare in Prison’s project in 2015.
ANDREW LARDER
Secretary
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Andrew is an experienced finance professional with a diverse background in finance business partnering, corporate finance, corporate taxation and chartered consulting. He has a demonstrated history of establishing positive working relationships with clients and stakeholders, identifying opportunities to streamline business processes and service offerings and providing value adding commercial advice.
Currently, Andrew is the Manager Finance Business Partnership at BHP. In this role Andrew manages a team delivering on all financial matters for two of BHP's premium coal assets, including planning/forecasting/reporting processes and performing financial and commercial analysis of operational and capital opportunities.
Previously, Andrew was the Engineering and Projects Finance Partner at Aurizon Holdings Limited (ASX:AZJ), Australia’s largest rail freight operator and a top 50 ASX company. There, Andrew was responsible for partnering with the VP Engineering & Projects where, in additional to general financial services, he delivered on significant outsourcing and procurement strategies.
INKE LOOS
Director
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Inke Loos is the Principal Solicitor of Leora Rose Law. She has worked in the legal industry for over a decade, and specialises in Commercial Law, Entertainment Law and Intellectual Property.
Inke is a driven and hands on solicitor, with extensive experience in both private legal practice and in house counsel roles.
Prior to founding Leora Rose Law in 2016, Inke spent 5 years as General Counsel and senior executive for a large international music company; heading up and leading its’ legal team across 20 countries internationally, providing corporate strategic advice, overseeing business affairs and working at Board and senior management level.
Inke Loos is also the Managing Director of Akela Services and Akela Consulting. Akela Services is a management and client services company that acts as agent and manager for extraordinary talent. Akela Consulting provides business consulting, and corporate growth and strategy to select clients.
Inke is also a consultant and legal and business affairs manager for Pilgrim Communications and the M&C Collective group of companies.
Inke also sits on the Board of two Australian Charities, Project Purple and My Wedding Wish, and on the Board of Not for Profit company Shock Therapy Arts.
VYVIENNE ABLA
Director
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Vyvienne Abla is a visionary Director and Executive Producer in the music and creative industries, with over two decades of experience both locally and internationally. In 2007, she founded Vyva Entertainment, an organisation dedicated to empowering youth, artists, and professionals by integrating industry, education, and community through HipHop and music culture. In 2015, she launched 4ESydney, the only festival and conference of its kind in Australia, specialising in HipHop culture and multi-artform, interdisciplinary practice. Vyvienne's work has gained international recognition, and she has been invited to speak in several countries, including the UK, USA, Europe, and the Middle East. She is also the Artist Manager for several successful artists (DOBBY, BARKAA, Emily Wurramara, Áine Tyrrell and Luka Lesson) and the Producer for multiple events and festivals. Her exceptional work has earned her numerous awards and nominations, including be awarded the 2022 Western Sydney University's Woman of the West Business Award. Vyvienne is committed to making a difference in the industry and is an active member on several advisory boards and committees.
SAM FOSTER
Director
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Sam (he/him) is an award winning Actor, Director, Writer, Producer, Stunt Performer and Stunt Rigger as well as being a Physical Theatre Performer, Movement Director and workshop facilitator. He is the co-owner and co-founder of Shock Therapy Arts.
Sam works in theatre, film and large scale events and has worked for a number of companies and festivals over the past 20 years. His career has taken him to New York, London, Namibia, South Africa, Denmark, Norway and India as well as all over Australia.
He recently appeared in the first season of the Netflix Australia original production, Tidelands in the role of Zach Maney. Sam will also appear in the upcoming series The End and Reef Break. Sam has won a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for his work as a Stunt Performer in Mad Max – Fury Road.
He was also awarded Best Director at the 2015 Matilda Awards for Shock Therapy’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman. Sam has also been nominated twice for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Matilda Award.
Sam was involved as a physical performer in the creative development of King Kong – The Musical by Global Creature. He has been part of the creative team for further developments of the show in London and New York in preparation for the shows Broadway premiere in 2018.
Sam has written and created a number of works with his company Shock Therapy Productions including Viral which was awarded Best Independent Production at the 2016 Matilda Awards, was nominated for Best New Australian Work and has been published by Playlab. Sam and co-creator Hayden Jones also directed a Norwegian version of Viral which was produced and toured by Akershus Teater.
Shock Therapy has won a total of 5 Matilda Awards, including Best Independent Production 3 years in a row.
He has worked extensively on large scale events as a director and movement director. In 2015, he was assistant to Gavin Robins on the Opening Ceremony of the Asia Cup. In 2016 Sam was the Movement Director on a major project for the 2016 Bleach Festival called Shifting Sands, Directed by Donna Jackson. He was Movement Director for the Woodford Folk Festival Opening Ceremony in 2016 and has been Performance Director for the Fire Event at Woodford since 2017.
Sam is directing a major production, which is in development called Odysseus: Live which is a live retelling of the Homer's Odyssey, told by performance poet and hip hop artist, Luka Lesson in front of a live orchestra.
Sam also performed in and directed a section of the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Shock Therapy Productions were also commission to create a new work for the Commonwealth Games Arts Festival, Festival 2018 called Welcome to Sameville. Sam not only co-directed and co-wrote the piece but also starred in the show as Professional Von Gleich.
Shock Therapy were also commissioned by Splendour in the Grass to create a new performance installation work. The Cleaners premiered at Splendour in 2018 and was then performed at Bleach Festival in 2019.
Over the past 16 years Sam has toured extensively in secondary schools throughout Australia mainly with Zeal Theatre. He is also a highly-experienced workshop facilitator and has worked for Queensland Theatre, Qld Arts Council, Grin and Tonic, Soapbox Theatre Productions, Zeal Theatre, Backbone Youth Theatre, The Young Company (Cairns), ATYP (Australian Theatre for Young People), Empire Theatre (Toowoomba), NORPA (Northern Rivers Performing Arts), Drama Queensland and Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus). He has also worked as a facilitator with Qld Shakespeare Ensemble’s Shakespeare in Prison’s project in 2015.
Sam continues to perform and create work that is meaningful and thought provoking and enjoys exploring cross art form collaborations.
HAYDEN JONES
Director
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Hayden (he/him) is a performer and contemporary performance maker, working across a range of forms including theatre, installation, immersive experiences and cross art-form collaborations. He has worked as an Actor, Director, Writer, Producer and workshop facilitator, for some of Australia’s most recognised and innovative arts organisations. He is also a co-founder of Shock Therapy Arts.
Hayden has an extensive background working in Youth Theatre, Children’s Theatre and Theatre In Education for over 15 years, writing and directing shows for young people, and touring nation-wide performing and teaching workshops.
Hayden co-founded Shock Therapy Productions in 2015 and they since have staged original and existing works at various venues and festivals nationally and internationally. The company has been awarded the Matilda Award for Best Independent Production for three consecutive years for The Pillowman in 2015, Viral in 2016 and The Forwards in 2017.
Hayden is Co-Writer and Co-Director of Viral, which is published by Playlab and was also nominated for Best New Australian Work at the 2016 Matilda Awards. Viral had its premiere season at The Arts Centre Gold Coast and is programmed for a 2018 season at NORPA. A scaled down version of the show has toured throughout Queensland Secondary Schools. Hayden also performs in the show alongside Sam Foster. The rights to Viral have since been purchased by Oslo based company Akershus Teater. Hayden and Sam will be travelling to Norway in 2019 to direct the production, which will then tour the region extensively.
In 2017 Shock Therapy were Company In Residence at 2970 – The Boiling Point, a three day forum on arts, innovation and ideas curated by David Pledger, founder of not yet it’s difficult (NYID). For the event, Hayden and Sam collaborated with Sipat Lawin Ensemble (Philippines) on Gobyerno.
In 2016, Hayden was cast as the Shakespearean villain ‘Don John’ in the Queensland Theatre production of Much Ado About Nothing. The same year, Shock Therapy directed the Youth Theatre Project at The Arts Centre Gold Coast, directing a production of Flood, by Chris Isaacs.
Hayden also Co-Wrote and Co-Directed The Magic Garden, a site-specific promenade performance commissioned by Bleach Festival. Shock Therapy have since adapted the work into a school touring stage show for Primary Schools. Hayden also wrote Thicker Than Water, which the company will produce as a new work in 2018.
Hayden is Co-Writing, Co-Directing, Co-Producing and performing in Welcome to Sameville, a large scale immersive outdoor work by Shock Therapy Productions, which will have its World Premiere at Festival 2018, during the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Hayden has worked for other companies, venues and festivals such as Zeal Theatre (The Stones, The Apology, The Forwards), Jack Morton Worldwide (Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games), Godsbanen (Locked In, Denmark), Winterlysfestivalen (Locked In, Norway), Erth Visual and Physical inc. (Fish Out of Water), Not Yet It’s Difficult (Hotelling – Down the Rabbit Hole, Hotelling - Hightower), Urban Theatre Projects (Home Country), CIRCA and the Bell Shakespeare Company (The Tempest – creative development), The Grin and Tonic Theatre Troupe (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, As You Like it, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles, Timon of Athens, Taming of the Shrew, A Comedy of Errors, Two Gentleman of Verona, Walking Shadow, Complete Works, Livid, I Am Macbeth, Heartfail, Sunburn), pvi collective (Resist), Brainstorm Productions (CheapThrills, SticksandStones), Queensland Arts Council (FairPlay), The Arts Centre Gold Coast (TheZoo Story), Seeing Place Productions (TimeCapsule, Plunge), Showtime FMX (FreestyleMotocrossAnnouncer), Anywhere Festival, Varsity Winterfest, The Young Company, and more.
Hayden has an extensive background working in Youth Theatre and Theatre in Education, writing and directing shows for youth. He has toured schools nation-wide including remote communities, performing and teaching workshops on a range of theatrical styles with students of all ages. Hayden is a graduate of Griffith University where he studied Theatre and Writing.
