This week Candy chats with not one, but two creatives - Sapidah Kian and Eugyeene Teh.
Sapidah is a a director, actor, theatre maker and dramaturg, working across theatre, film, television and radio. Born in Tehran of Azeri Iranian heritage, Sapidah’s family migrated to Sydney at age 3. An outlier growing up in the suburbs of St Ives, at 16 Sapidah found her like-minded folks at a free class run by ‘PACT’ and feel in love with the arts. Nowadays Sapidah acts for both stage and screen, whilst teaching and holding space for students of colour at the VCA.
Eugyeene Teh is a Malaysian born and bred theatre maker, architect and designer across theatre, dance, opera and fashion. With a passion for design and expanding his individuality, Eugyeene relocated to Melbourne at the age of 19 with the mission to decolonise and centre the stories of underrepresented minorities. These days Eugyeene can be found looking chic in his impeccably curated outfits.
Discussion Points
Exploring queerness as a youth in Malaysia
Class and racism growing up in Australia
The outdated idea of queerness in Australia
Navigating institutions and holding space as queer people of colour
Biography
Sapidah Kian is a director, actor, theatre maker and dramaturg, working across theatre, film, television, and radio. Recent credits include: Fuck Fabulous (SGL Mardi Gras), Atomic (Malthouse Theatre), Anthem (ACM/Melbourne Festival), The Appleton Ladies Potato Race (Ensemble Theatre), Merciless Gods (Little Ones Theatre – nomination for Best Performer Green Room Awards), Alice Fraser Trilogy (ABC Radio), Fefu and her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes (VCA Theatre), Evanescence (Amos Gebhardt), Bad Mothers (Nine Network), Five Provocations (Black Eye Films), Tomorrow When the War Began (ABC TV), Partisan (Warp Films). Since 2014, she has been a lecturer in acting and directing at the Victorian College of the Arts, teaching across graduate and undergraduate programmes. She was Director in Residence at Malthouse Theatre for 2017/18 and, alongside Eugyeene Teh, she is currently co-president of the Green Room Awards Association.
Eugyeene Teh is a theatre maker, architect and designer across theatre, dance, opera, and fashion. He has worked extensively on shows throughout Australia and internationally including Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Back to Back Theatre, Bell Shakespeare, Little Ones Theatre and Sydney Chamber Opera.
His works, in close collaboration with some of Australia’s most exciting artists, dismantle the patriarchy through decolonisation and advocate for and support underrepresented minority identities, particularly people of colour and the queer community.
Recent design credits include Endgame, Straight White Men, Hungry Ghosts, Abigail’s Party and Working with Children (Melbourne Theatre Company); Blaque Showgirls, Meme Girls, A Social Service and Atomic (Malthouse Theatre). With Little Ones Theatre, his many designs include The Happy Prince trilogy, Merciless Gods (with Griffin Theatre Company and Arts Centre Melbourne); Dracula, Dangerous Liaisons (with MTC NEON, Brisbane MELT, Darwin Festival). Other recent credits include Bell Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, Melbourne Festival’s Lady Eats Apple (Back to Back); Book of Exodus PartII (Fraught Outfit); Exil and The Howling Girls (Sydney Chamber Opera, Tokyo Festival); The Seen and Unseen(Asia TOPA) and Shanghai Mimi(Sydney Festival).
Some of his works have been presented at and recognized at International Festivals including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin Festivals, Tokyo Festival – World Competition, Pesta Raya Malay Festival of Arts in Singapore and Music Theatre Now Network of International Theatre Institute in Rotterdam.
He has previously worked as an architect, with LAB Architecture Studio, Tridente Architects, and RotheLowman Architects.
In 2019, Eugyeene presented a fashion collection at New York Fashion Week in collaboration with Angela Clark.
He is currently the co-president of the Green Room Awards Association with Sapidah Kian. He was the co-chair of the GRAA Independent Panel in 2018 and 2019, and co-curated APAM’s (Australian Performing Arts Market) NEIGHBOURHOOD forum in 2020, in conjunction with Asia TOPA 2020.
Eugyeene is a recipient of a Green Room Award and has been nominated for three Sydney Theatre Awards. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch Fellowship and a placement through the Besen Family Artist Program.
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