Emina Ashman
heart-based artistry
Make Me A Houri
About
Two women have passed on.
After experiencing grave punishment, Asmara desires to transform into a Houri, a virgin of paradise. Safia, who has never married, assists her with this endeavour.
Make Me A Houri is a story of two women seeking to defy the external forces governing their bodies. It blends poetry, stylised physicality and unusual anecdotes to explore the relationship between the realms of the sensual and the spiritual, the mystical and the material.
Cast and Creatives
Written by Emina Ashman
Directed by Stephanie Ghajar
Set and Costume Design by Lara Week
Lighting Design by Shane Grant
Sound Design by Sidney Millar
Stage Management by Jordan Carter
Publicity by Eleanor Howlett (Sassy Red PR)
Performed by Emina Ashman and Nisha Joseph.
Hungry Ghosts
About
When you’re a young queer Chinese-Malaysian Australian, how do you work out where you belong in the world? Criss-crossing between our unnamed protagonist, the disappearance of flight MH370 and an unsolved mystery, Hungry Ghosts offers an unconventional take on the complexities of contemporary life from exciting new playwright Jean Tong.
Cast and Creatives
Director Petra Kalive
Set Designer Eugyeene Teh
Costume Designer Sophie Woodward
Lighting Designer Emma Valente
Composer & Sound Designer Darius Kedros Movement Director Lyndall Grant
Lighting Secondment Marty Shlansky
Sound Secondment Rory Tyzack
Directing Secondments Karla Livingston-Pardy, Ryan A. Murphy Stage Manager Lisette Drew
Production Photographer Jeff Busby
Performed by Emina Ashman Jing-Xuan Chan Bernard Sam
Too Ready Mirror
About
“Do you know the rules? You must always follow the rules.”
Too Ready Mirror is about sex and power. It is about performing. It is about succumbing. It is about resisting.
Three overlapping worlds and four trapped women.
In 17th century London, Nell pleases audiences and the King to keep her place. In present day Melbourne, Ruby performs for camera clicks and the love of Mars. In the future, the Institution tells Lily and Alma to be good girls, to stay safe and never escape.
Cast and Creatives
Playwright: Jamaica Zuanetti
Director: Rachel Baring
Dramaturg: Keziah Warner
Initial dramaturgy (text): Raimondo Cortese and Richard Murphet
Sound design: Russell Goldsmith
Sound engineer: Linton Wilkinson
Set & Costume design: Daniel Moulds
Costumer maker: Lisa Ganderton
Lighting design: John Collopy
Performers: Emina Ashman, Heath Ivey-Law, Emma Annand, Shoshannah Oks and Jessica Tanner
Image by Sarah Walker
Roberto Zucco
About
Roberto Zucco has escaped.
The city isn’t safe…
‘Killers never do look like killers.
Killers go for quiet little strolls in the crowd just like you and me.’
Roberto Zucco is a psychological thriller that follows the absurd and sinister adventures of an escaped killer through an underworld teeming with gangsters, detectives, prostitutes, pimps and philosophers.
Koltès’ anti-hero Roberto takes us on a mythic journey that examines society’s relationship with violence.
Inspired by the true-life story of Italian serial killer, Koltès’ comic brutal masterpiece was his last play, written in 1989.
Cast and Creatives
Directed by Alice Bishop
Performed by Emina Ashman, Alice Bishop, Michael F. Cahill,
David Kambouris, Belinda Misevski, Matthew Molony,
Elizabeth Thomson and Ben Schumann
Spatial design by Efterpi Soropos
Image by Jordan Pill
Tales of a City by the Sea
About
A unique and poetic journey exploring the lives of ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges in the besieged and war torn Gaza Strip. Jomana, a woman from the Shati refugee camp falls in love with Rami, an American Palestinian doctor on a humanitarian mission. Can their love transcend closed borders, falling bombs and high prison walls?
Cast and Creatives
Written by Samah Sabawi
Original direction by Lech Mackiewicz
2016 remount direction by Wahibe Moussa
Performed by Helana Sawires, Osamah Sami, Emina Ashman, Reece Vella, Alex Pinder, Rebecca Morton, Cara Whitehouse, Aseel Tayah and Ubaldino Mantelli
Set design by Lara Week
Lighting design by Shane Grant
Sound design by Khaled Sabsabi
Sound Mixer: Max Schollar-Root
Assistant Stage Manager: James Crafti
Production/ Stage Manager: Hayley Fox
Produced by Samah Sabawi, Daniel Clarke and Lara Week
Poster design by Ahmad Sabra and Aya El-Zinati
Bock Kills Her Father
About
“Because a hurricane’s comin’ at him. Because all the dark patches of his life’s history have come up at him tonight, have gathered wind and shit, honed in on him. Full force hurricane and he’s battening down the hatches.”
Bock returns to her desolate hometown to find her father.
But she’s not the only one looking for him.
Late at night in a nowhere town, girls roam the street, men hide for cover under their beds and nobody is left without blood on their hands.
Award winning playwright Adam J. A. Cass and She Said Theatre storm into La Mama with a powerhouse all-female cast. Memories become nightmares as five lives are inextricably caught in a forever-yesterday dystopia, pinned, all flapping wings and buzzing.
Cast and Creatives
Written by/ Adam J A Cass
Directed by/ Penny Harpham
Assistant Director/ Anna Kennedy
Dramaturgy/ Seanna Van Helten
Performed by/ Emma Annand, Annie Lumsden, Emina Ashman, Marissa O’Reilly and Ruby Hughes
Sound design and composition by/ Raya Slavin
Set and costume by/ Owen Phillips
Lighting design by/ Jason Crick
Image by/ Bronwyn Kemp
