Denni Proctor is a multi-talented artist.
The pakana woman from north-east Tasmania began her music career at a young age. She started off as a folk singer, knowing just a few chords on her guitar.
"Then I moved into bands, then bigger soundscapes and electronic music," she says. And next came .
The 28-year-old is now working with the Terrapin Puppet Theatre in Hobart, developing costumes and puppets for an upcoming show called Hide The Dog, one of the first palawa and Māori collaborations.
Co-written by Nathan Maynard (palawa) and Jamie McCaskill (Māori), Hide the Dog is about two best friends who discover the world's last Tasmanian Tiger. The play will in January.
Denni discovered the Terrapin Puppet Theatre through , a program set-up by the state government to support the arts in Tasmania.
Tasmania Peforms is producing Hide The Dog, and through its Denni is having one-on-one sessions with leading Australian puppetry designer Bryony Anderson.
Annette Downs is the senior producer of Tasmania Performs and also the creator of Tasmania Performs' First Nations mentorship and residency programs.
Annette Downs is the senior producer for Tasmania Performs. Source: SBS News: Sarah Maunder
"I think it was 2012 when I set up the first residency and I felt like the list was very white and middle class, so I went hunting for more diversity, to dig out new talent," she says.
I went hunting for more diversity, to dig out new talent. - Annette Downs, Tasmania Performs
"It started with Nathan Maynard, he's now a professional playwright and his residency was an unbelievable success. So the state government contacted me, asking, given his success, was there a way we could repeat it?
"They set-up a fabulous mentorship program where do they grants, mentorships ... and the lovely thing about the program is that it is really flexible."
'They taught me everything'
Jordy Gregg is a 23-year-old Aboriginal man who grew up in Tasmania and previously benefitted from Tasmania Performs.
"When Tasmania Performs found me I was about 15 or 16 and they really taught me professionalism in the arts," he says.
"They taught me everything I know about the arts scene. Working with them, I’ve been nationally and internationally working with a play that I am currently writing, but more so, I think it’s my professional development that has been really nurtured."
Jordy is currently penning a play called Park Days, about the lives of four people trying to make ends meet. He said the storyline focuses on dark themes, drug addiction, mental health and alcoholism.
Jordy Gregg is writing a play with the support of Tasmania Performs. Source: SBS News: Sarah Maunder
"It's a coming-of-age play, but at the same time it's about getting through adversity and using everything you have - but what happens when you don't have that much."
The play is still in its early writing stages, but Jordy hopes it will soon have a season in Hobart, and possibly a national Australian tour.
Jordy grew up in Tasmania but doesn't know much about his Aboriginal ancestry. He identifies as having no mob.
I know I'm black as hell, but I've got no idea of where I belong. - Jordy Gregg, Playwright
"My father, at the age of two ... he and his twin brother were adopted from Palm Island in Queensland, by a white family in Tasmania. So they grew up here but ... they both passed away at the age of 36.
"When you've got a timeline of people dying so young, you don't ask the important questions first. As a 23-year-old, I have no idea of what mob I belong to.
"I know I'm black as hell, but I've got no idea of where I belong."
He credits Tasmania Performs with helping him get this far with his writing.
Jordy at home. Source: SBS News: Sarah Maunder
"I am really lucky to be with Tasmania Performs, more so than anywhere else in Australia because of the networks I have here.
"I probably wouldn't be in the arts in Tasmania Performs hadn't found me."
Each day looks different as part of the Tasmania Performs residency. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Jordy travelled to meet with other writers and watched performances of plays in Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand. He also spent time on film shoots.
Recently he's mostly been at home writing, but he can find support at the other end of a phone or Skype connection.
He wants to create a sustainable career in the arts, and he's also working full-time for the ABC in Hobart.
"I really love Tasmania, it's the one thing I am patriotic about. I would love to get more into film, maybe chuck out four more plays.
"We are so lucky with Tasmania Performs upskilling my mob. Maybe we could have a Blackfulla theatre company here in Tasmania ... we've got the actors, the writers, the talent ... the sky is the limit."
'Tassie has been great'
Back in a small theatre in North Hobart, Denni is busy making her puppet creations.
"At the moment I'm creating a thylacine mask, and also a blue wren puppet, and working with our costume designer on some other characters that are quite like ... big spiritual characters between the palawa, pakana and the Māori culture as well," she says.
Like Jordy, Denni wants to create a sustainable career for herself in the arts scene in Tasmania.
One of Denni's puppet creations for the upcoming Hide The Dog show is a blue wren. Source: SBS News: Sarah Maunder
"Tassie has been a great place for me to learn and grow with such a strong arts community, and try bits of everything."
The success of the Tasmania Perform's First Nations' mentorships and residencies has since inspired other states and territories to create their own similar programs, Ms Downs says.
"Last year I took the residency to Darwin and taught a colleague like myself so they could own the model and continue it for their community.
"[I did the same thing] in Bunbury, and that’s lead to fabulous outcomes there. The Bunbury one has led to a major festivals project for regionally based artists.
"It’s been the most rewarding thing in my career and I’m constantly astounded by the outcomes that these artists are achieving, and I want to keep learning from them. Anything I might impart to them, I get it back in spades, and I would like to keep doing it."
