JK Productions

Dione Joseph is a writer, director and dramaturge. She has an academic and practical background in live performance and her work has an emphasis on culturally and linguistically diverse communities.Over the past ten years Dione has directed a range of productions including new dramas by contemporary writers, classics and their adaptations, experimental works, musicals, comedies and community-based theatre productions in the USA, New Zealand and Australia. She has also been active as a stage critic for both theatre and dance and has engaged with a variety of topical issues as an arts journalist. Dione has also held various residencies and fellowships in the UK, China, Mexico, Canada and the USA and is the recipient of numerous awards for theatre including the Lorna Stirling Theatre Award (2012), a Creative Young Stars Australian government grant (2013) the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Award (2013) and has been consecutive roles as a Guest Scholar and Artist in Residence to the University of Saskatchewan (2014/15) in the Theatre department.She is also the first New Zealander to have been awarded a place at the prestigious Lincoln Centre directorslab in New York (2014) and was the only New Zealand critic to have been shortlisted for the Allen Wright media award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2014).In the past Dione has been a senior theatre critic at Australian Stage, arts editor at Melbourne City Newspaper and features writer at Aussie Theatre. Currently based in Aotearoa New Zealand, Dione writes for The Big Idea, and DANZ (Dance Aotearoa NZ) and her reviews can be found on Theatreview, Metro, the New Zealand Herald and Radio NZ. Dione holds a BA(Hons) in Creative Arts with a Theatre major from the University of Melbourne (2009) and a MA (Community and Cultural development) from the Victorian College of the Arts (2012).

Jimmy James Kouratoras is an Auckland based artist whose work depicts a rich, almost decadent examination of contemporary culture. Babies mix with dragons, trees-of-life are hung with skater girls, and there is a strong impression of the artist’s Greek and Maori heritage. At 45 years old, Kouratoras has only recently started  exhibiting his work outside his native New Zealand, although he has been painting ardently since the 80s and has over two decades of experiences as a film scenic. He describes his work as “much more than a hybrid or fusion, but a deliberate layering of story and truth that will reveal itself to the beholder through a series of vibrant textures, patterns and imagery.” Versatile with a range of different mediums (including canvas, paper, wood) he has exhibited his work across New Zealand and internationally. His most recent shows in 2015 including presenting work at the Santa Monica Art Studios in Los Angeles and Ora Gallery In New York. He is also the winner of teh People's Choice award for the Contempoarray Brisbane Art Prize, 2016.