Join us for a week-long intensive bringing brand-new Australian short plays to life, written by young people, for young people!

Participants will develop the skills to craft compelling performances while honing their acting technique through rigorous actor training. Working with fresh new texts, actors will explore character, story, and performance with depth and precision. Focus areas include:

•  Voice and movement
•  Scene analysis
•  Character objectives
•  Body in space
•  Rhythm of text

Students will be working with ATYP teaching artist, Lana Filies, on the 2026 ATYP Intersection scripts. Each script is a self-contained short play that will be performed in pairs or small groups. The week will culminate in a performance of the plays, with one performance to be selected to perform at ATYP’s annual Intersection Festival in Sydney.

NB: Students interested in performing at Intersection will need to opt in by 24 June, before the workshop. *Please see details below. 

Teaching Artist

LANA FILIES is a South African/Maltese actor, writer, director, singer, theatre-maker, and choreographer based on Gadigal land. Described as “the one to watch” (Theatre Travels), she creates bold, socially engaged work that champions female voices. A 2018 graduate of the University of Wollongong (Bachelor of Performance – Acting), Lana also completed Musical Theatre training at Trinity College London in 2021 and is a passionate teaching artist, working directing for ATYP, and Imagination Theatre. 

In 2025, she toured internationally with Hemlines: A New Devised Musical (Moon Bureau), performing at Prague Fringe and London’s Etcetera Theatre following a successful Adelaide Fringe season. The show continues with a national tour. Other recent credits include Wally (KXT/Moon Bureau), CAMP (Siren Theatre Co), Paper Planet (Polyglot, Sydney Opera House) and multiple works with Milk Crate Theatre. On screen, she’s appeared in Heartbreak High (2024), A Place to Call Home, and Home and Away. Lana is a proud MEEA member.

Intersection Festival

Intersection Festival is a national performance festival of new Australian stories. Each year, ten short plays are written by emerging playwrights as part of ATYP’s National Studio residency. The festival brings those stories to life.

This is a unique opportunity for HotHouse’s Launchpad participants from the Albury Wodonga region to rehearse and perform in a brand new Australian play with students from around Australia. The 2026 Intersection Festival will occur on the 11th, 12th and 13th of August in the Rebel Theatre, Sydney, and the HotHouse performance will be on one of those dates.

What does it mean to opt in to the Intersection Festival opportunity?

• HotHouse participants would need to opt in by 24 June so that ATYP can accommodate our group in the festival schedule.
• Participants would need to cover their own travel and accommodation to Sydney for Intersection, accompanied by a parent or guardian. HotHouse can make a $100 contribution (per family) towards your costs, due to a bequest.
• There are no additional fees for HotHouse Launchpad Ensemble members to participate in Intersection.
• The 2026 Intersection Festival will occur on the 11th, 12th and 13th of August in the Rebel Theatre, Sydney, and the HotHouse performance will be on one of those dates.
• HotHouse Launchpad participants will spend an hour rehearsing during the day at ATYP, then will perform that evening.
• To register your commitment to perform at Intersection:
  • phone us at HotHouse on 02 6021 7433, or
  • email Narelle Vogel at exec@hothousetheatre.com.au