The team

Evangelina Telfar

Evangelina Telfar (she/they) is a playwright and theatre practitioner who has been involved in the theatre scene of Te-Whanganui-a-tara for over ten years both on and off stage. They completed their Masters in Scriptwriting through the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2021, with Ken Duncum and received an exit Scholarship for her thesis. 

Evangelina’s staged plays include Surgery in Mind, Biased Beyond Belief, Binge & Chill and Celestial Nobodies. Celestial Nobodies has been performed twice at BATS Theatre with positive audience feedback and critical acclaim. This play was shortlisted for Playmarket’s Plays for the Young Award 2022. Her short plays Windows and Doors and Beck and Call have both been performed at Circa Theatre and commended for the PANZ 10-minute Playwriting Competition. 

Evangelina’s production company, Potentially Playing Productions, won the award for “Most Original Concept” and was nominated for “Best Design” for Nelson Fringe 2020. Most recently, in November 2023, Evangelina’s new work Naturally Curious had a very successful two-week premiere season at BATS Theatre with the support of CNZ funding, Wellington City Council and Performing Arts Foundation.

Kate Spencer aka Creatif Kate

Creatif Kate (she/her) is well-known on the poetry, comedy, and cabaret circuits of Wellington.

She’s a poet, producer, performer, photographer, preacher – basically, if it starts with ‘p’ she’s in. She’s filthy, flirty, and funny; sexy, saucy, and sensational; raunchy, ridiculous and ravishing. You won’t believe what comes out of her lips.

Kate’s debut solo show “Squirt” won a tour ready award in 2019 and the sequel “Squirt 2: Cum Again?!” won a marketing award in 2022. She was nominated multiple times at the 2021, 2022, & 2023 Wellington Comedy Awards winning “Most Innovative” in 2021 & 2023 and “Best Regular Show” for Femmes & Thems in 2022 and 2023.

In 2023, Kate was awarded an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Award for her services to the arts. She identifies as a queer, disabled, intersectional feminist and strives to create safe spaces, especially for marginalised communities.

Kate is founder and former Co-Director (dictator?!) of DAT Fest, the Disabled Artists’ Theatre Festival https://www.daftnz.com/

Hannah Darling

Hannah Darling (she/her) is an award-winning Drag King with over seven years’ experience in performing and producing Drag and Cabaret shows. Hannah has experience running several successful small businesses and as Willy SmacknTush she has achieved key accolades including 2019 Winner of Mx Capital Drag, Adelaide Tour Ready Award winner at the 2023 Fringe Festival, as well as participating in Warner Brothers reality TV show House of Drag (aired on TVNZ in 2020).

Willy has a loyal Wellington fanbase and is well known in the community for their drag, activism, and producing. Their website is coming soon: www.willysmackntush.com

Ania Upstill

Ania (they/them) is a queer and trans performer, theatre maker, teaching artist and award-winning clown. A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre (Professional Training Program), Ania’s recent work celebrates LGBTQIA+ artists with a focus on gender diversity.

Ania most recently performed in War and Play at the inaugural PhysFestNYC in January 2024 (originally a production in National Queer Theater's Criminal Queerness Festival 2023). Other recent credits include The Tea, in immersive show in drag at Philly Fringe 2023; Antonio!, a musical about Shakespeare’s queerest character, at The Tank and Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023;  Today’s Mess, a clown show about diversity, at Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theater; Too Much Hair, a gender euphoric musical cabaret; Exotic Blooms, a drag installation in the Auckland Botanic Gardens; queer ballet Sapphic Late; and Into the Bush, a queer circus-theatre project.

Ania is also an educator and works for Lincoln Center Theater, New-York Theater Workshop, Theater of the Oppressed NYC and more. They are a co-founder of gender diversity educational company GenderWise and are on the Gender Studies faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Their website is www.aniaupstill.com.

El Yule

El Yule (she/they) has over a decade of experience performing and producing events in Pōneke – from dance and theatre to comedy and drag. They now work in the mental health sector and are passionate about prioritising hauora both on and off-stage, with a particular emphasis on neurodivergence and accessibility.