Meet the Team

Our Teachers and Facilitators

Mia Boonen, CEO.

Mia Boonen is an educator, theatre maker, writer and performer with a degree in theatre from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). She began as a student at Dramawerkz in 2007 and under the guidance of Dramawerkz’s founder, Lisa Collins, she trained in Drama and Speech with Trinity College, London. Alongside her drama training, she is a qualified sound engineer (Cert III in Music Technical Production) and an experienced educator, with over 8 years of drama teaching experience. In 2021, she led Dramawerkz’s ensemble of youth performers on tour to Shakespeare on the River festival in Stratford. Her directorial credits include ‘Lyrebird’ (2020), ‘Seven’ (2021), Out of Our Minds (2019) and the musical direction of ‘Such Sweet Sorrow’ (2018, dir. Lisa Collins). In her time at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Mia co-devised and performed in ‘Low Hanging Fruit’ (dir. Company 21) and ’Sleep Faster, Show Cat’ (dir. Emma Hall) and B**ch (dir. Water Closet Co). In 2023, Mia was named Young Citizen of the Year for Hobson’s Bay. Alongside her work in theatre, Mia is also the Youth Coordinator at Satellite Foundation: an organisation that provides arts programs and workshops for young people who have a family member with mental health challenges.

Find out more about the classes that Mia teaches by clicking here.

Christopher Rothwell, Director of Music

Christopher Rothwell is a Dramawerkz alumnus with a Grade 8 certificate in Acting with Trinity College, London. He has a double degree in Music and Education at Monash University and outside of Dramawerkz, works as a schoolteacher. With over a decade of performance experience, including regional tours and sold-out concerts, Chris combines his immense musical ability as a singer and pianist with his experience as an actor and love of British panel shows to provide well-rounded and exciting lesson plans for our students.

Find out more about the classes that Chris teaches by clicking here.

Scarlett Rose, Director of Design.

Scarlett Davidson is a Dramawerkz alumnus who has gone on to study Design at Monash University. They have experience both onstage as well as behind the scenes, acting as our in-house photographer and content creator so that the world can see how awesome our shows and classes are. Scarlett combines her skills as a designer with a wealth of knowledge about live performance to help bring young people’s ideas to life in exciting, innovative ways.

What does Scarlett teach? Click here.

Our Board of Directors

  • Maxine Palmerson

  • Alexandra Kotsiofis

  • Zali Stiefel

  • Samira Reason

  • Mia Boonen