2025 Ensemble Theatre Sandra Bates Director’s Awards Announcement
We are delighted to announce Anna Houston and Tiffany Wong as the recipients of the 2025 Ensemble Theatre Sandra Bates Director’s Awards!
“As part of the Ensemble Theatre Sandra Bates Director’s Awards, I am thrilled we have another opportunity to welcome two very talented emerging directors to Ensemble Theatre. This award aims to explore and nurture artistic talent, enabling and developing a close relationship with the Ensemble family and the wider theatre landscape. I am delighted Tiffany & Anna will be joining us in 2025. We are incredibly grateful to Jinnie & Ross Gavin for their very generous and continuing support of the Ensemble Theatre Sandra Bates Director’s Awards as we chose two directors who are set to make a mark on the industry.”
Artistic Director Mark Kilmurry
ANNA HOUSTON
Anna is an award winning director, actor and writer. She graduated from NIDA with a BA in Acting, and trained in Paris at Ecole Philippe Gaulier.
Anna’s directing credits include The Lonesome West and Cyprus Avenue for The Old Fitz Theatre, Arlington at the Seymour Centre, No Need to Hide a Light When It Shines Like Hers for Griffin Theatre Company’s Lysicrates Prize, The Wolves (WAAPA), Ice Cream & Hot Fudge (NIDA), as well as works for Flight Path Theatre, Bondi Feast, Empress Theatre, the Sydney Fringe Festival and the Sydney Actors School.
As a professional actor, she has performed for the Bell Shakespeare Company, Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Perth Theatre Company, and Sport for Jove. Her work as an actor has taken her around Australia on five national tours, and internationally to Europe and Asia for commercial theatre productions that include the National Theatre of UK’s production of War Horse.
TIFFANY WONG
Tiffany Wong is an actor and director working across Gadigal and Wurundjeri lands. She is an Australian-born Chinese autistic artist with Singaporean and Malaysian heritage. She is a recipient of the 2025 Sandra Bates Director’s Award at the Ensemble Theatre, was the 2024 Cosgrave Associate Artist for Bell Shakespeare, and is the Artistic Director of Slanted Theatre.
As a director, her credits include Atlantis (New Theatre), Boom (Slanted Theatre & KXT bAKEHOUSE), Short Blanket (Slanted Theatre & Meraki Arts Bar), Lady Precious Stream (Slanted Theatre & The Flying Nun at Brand X), Three Fat Virgins Unassembled (Slanted Theatre & KXT bAKEHOUSE), and Ching Chong Chinaman (Slanted Theatre). She has also worked as an Associate Director to Peter Evans on King Lear (Bell Shakespeare), an Assistant Director to Courtney Stewart on Top Coat (Sydney Theatre Company), to Lucy Clements on Iphigenia In Splott (New Ghosts Theatre Company), as Directorial Assistant to Richard Carroll on Murder For Two (Hayes Theatre Co), and to Javaad Alipoor on Things Hidden Since The Foundation of the World – Creative Development (National Theatre of Parramatta).
As an actor, Tiffany appears as a supporting lead in the feature film Five Blind Dates (Amazon MGM Studios & Goalpost Pictures) released exclusively on Prime Video. Her stage credits include Romeo & Juliet (Australian Shakespeare Company), The Magician’s Nephew (Joining The Dots), Two Worlds, One Heart (Your Side), Animal Farm (New Theatre), and Ching Chong Chinaman (Slanted Theatre).
Tiffany attended the Peking Opera Summer School at Shanghai Theatre Academy and a Shakespeare Summer School with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Performance Studies, Music, Chinese Studies) and Diploma of Languages (French Studies) from the University of Sydney, and an Associate Diploma (Piano) from the Australian Music Examinations Board.
As Artistic Director of Slanted Theatre, she has supported over 130 Asian-Australian theatre-makers and storytellers in five years. Tiffany was featured as an Honouree of the Asian Australian 2022, 2023 & 2024 List and is a proud member of Actors Equity.
Supported by Jinnie and Ross Gavin.