ADVISORY BOARDS

CONGRESS ADVISORY BOARD

Congress Advisory Board is a forum of important contributors and individuals with experiences from working with big international events. A close cooperation with this advisory board will make the best counselling and expertise available to the organisers of the Congress.

Members of the Congress Advisory Board are:

Yvette Hardie (South Africa)

Yvette Hardie works in theatre as a director, producer, writer, actor and educator. She serves as Chairperson of Assitej South Africa, Communications Officer of ACYTA, and Treasurer of Assitej International.

She is the South African Producer and General Manager of Colonnades Theatre Lab, which has created ‘Truth in Translation’ to tell the story of the TRC in places of former conflict. She has toured with the piece to Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Edinburgh, the USA, Sweden, Belfast, the Western Balkans, as well as performing the play in South Africa itself.

As Head of the Drama Department at the National School of the Arts, where she taught between 1991 and 2004, she was responsible for transforming the department and spearheading several new initiatives. She has been active as an examiner, moderator and writer of the new Dramatic Arts curriculum, and has written textbooks on the subject.

She works as a professional director and actor, her most recent production being Between Cup and Lip for her company, FreeVoice Productions. She works as a course leader for Creative Voices, an outreach programme to empower Arts and Culture teachers, and teaches voice at the University of Cape Town.

Lenora Inez Brown (USA)

Lenora Inez Brown is Head of the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism program at The Theatre School, DePaul University. She is also the president for Theatre for Young Audiences/USA Board, the nation’s service organization for institutions and individuals producing theatre for young audiences.

She regularly serves as dramaturg for adult and youth theatre, including: Sundance Theatre Lab 2000 and 2001, South Coast Rep’s Pacific Playwright’s Festival, The Kennedy Center’s New Vision/New Voices, and The Bonderman. In Chicago, she has worked at a number of theatres including: MPAACT on this season’s TEN SQUARE and the Jeff-nominated MiLK by Nambi E. Kelly; Lydia Diamond on the premiere of THE BLUEST EYE at Steppenwolf Theatre and at the Goodman Theatre with Karen Zacarias on MARIELA AND THE DESERT, which received the 2006 Francesca Primus Award. She has written numerous articles on theatre including a chapter on dramaturgy and research for PLAYING WITH THEORY (Palgrave) and THE ART OF ACTIVE DRAMATURGY (in process with Focus Publishing).

Lenora received an MFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from the Yale School of Drama and a B.A. from Dartmouth.

Kim Woo Ok (Korea)

Kim Woo Ok, Ph.D. President, ASSITEJ KOREA (1986-1992, 1998-2006). Executive Committee Member, ASSITEJ International (1991-2005). Vice President, ASSITEJ International (1999-2002).
Artistic Director, Seoul Performing Arts Festival for Children and Young Audiences (1993-2007).
Organizer, The 14th ASSITEJ Congress and International Performing Arts Festival, Seoul 2002.
Artistic Director, Dong-rang Theatre Company for Young People, Seoul, Korea (1985- ). Artistic Director, Dong-rang Repertory Company, Seoul, Korea (1980-1994). Dean, School of Drama, The Korea National University of Arts (1994-2000). Professor, Department of Theatre, Seoul Institute of the Arts (1980-1994).
Honorary President’s Award from ASSITEJ International (2005).
Honorary Member of ASSITEJ International (2008).

Tony Mack (Australia)

Tony is an Australia Council Fellow researching theatre for the very young and developing an online Global Youth Arts Portal. 
   After graduating from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and working professionally as an actor throughout Australia, Tony branched out to work in a variety of roles, as a playwright, director, arts journalist, magazine editor, actor trainer and university lecturer. He founded Boulevard Theatre and, as its Artistic Director, toured early childhood theatre throughout South Australia, writing and directing acclaimed shows such as ‘Try Again Red Riding Hood’ and ‘Next Door’. He trained some of South Australia’s finest performing artists at the University of Adelaide in the 1990s and was Editor of Lowdown, Australia’s youth performing arts magazine, from 1999–2007. 
   From 2002–2008 he served as Vice-President of ASSITEJ International. As Chair of the Congress Working Group from 2005–2008, he was responsible for the delivery of the 16th ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival in Adelaide, Australia. 
   He continues to work in the corporate area – presenting, performing and narrating corporate videos and television and radio commercials – and in feature films such as ‘Esther Blueberger’.

Vicky Ireland (UK)

Vicky Ireland worked as an actor/teacher in the original Theatre-In-Education company at the Belgrade Theatre and was also the presenter of various Children’s TV programmes. She was Artistic Director of Polka Theatre, London from 1988-2002. 
   As a writer, she has had many children’s theatre, radio and TV plays produced. 
   With the actress Kumiko Mendl she is currently co-artistic director of A Thousand Cranes which creates theatre inspired by stories from Japan and Europe to celebrate and unite the two differing cultures. 
   From 1996-2002 she served as a committee member, and from 1999-2002 as Treasurer of ASSITEJ International. 
   She is a board member of Theatre for Young Audiences ASSITEJ UK, Vice Chair of Action for Children’s Arts and a Patron of Polka Theatre. 
   Vicky was awarded the MBE medal in the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours list 2002 for services to children’s drama, the first of its kind. In 2008, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts.

FESTIVAL ADVISORY BOARD

Festival Advisory Board consists of a smaller number of internationally recognized festival organisers – representing most of the continents. The Festival Advisory Board works actively with suggestions and points of view regarding possible performances for the Congress Festival.

Members of the Festival Advisory Board are:

Hisashi Shimoyama (Japan)

Producer of International Festival OKINAWA for Young Audience (Kijimuna Festa). 
Representative Director of ACO Okinawa Co., Ltd. (cultural cooperative institution). 
General Producer of "Ashibina", Okinawa City Small Civic Theatre.  Director of ASSITEJ Japan Centre. 
Executive Director of Japan Children's Theatre Association. 
Director of NPO Okinawa Prefecture Art and Culture Development Association.

Etoundi Zeyang (Cameroun) 
Actor and Director of Drama Play. Has studied drama at TJA in Lyon, University of Avignon and at the Conservatoire National Superieur D'art Dramatique (France).

Etoundi Zeyang is the Director of Theatre du Chocolat, one of the famous theatre companies of Cameroon. Until 1996, he was the General Manager of the African theatre festival for children and young people (FATEJ) which takes place every second year in Yaounde, Cameroon.

NORDIC ADVISORY BOARD 

The close cooperation with the other Nordic countries will be a valuable source help and inspiration. The Nordic Advisory Board will meet at the regular regional meetings of the Nordic ASSITEJ Centres.

(Members to be announced)