The Wireless

Dale Menz
Dale's background in producing theatre began with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He has co-written and performed in 3 previous festival shows - Please Do Not Eat The Urinal Cakes, How To Make A Merkin Quilt, and My Milky Bush. Dale studied theatre and film at LaTrobe University and has directed 4 short films between 1999-2005. He has been a performer in film, TV and theatre for the past 15 years and has produced 7 independent theatrical productions over the past 8 years, including the very well received 2003 solo performance about grief and loss on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York titled I Love NY. As the sole producer of The Wireless' 2006 production, Dale will now bring his creative influence and understanding of theatrical comedy to his brother's script for the new season.

Elke Osadnik - AIMEE
Elke is no stranger to comedy - as one of the leads in the 2007 Fringe and 2008 Comedy Festival smash hit Porky Pies, she found a beautifully thought out and extremely comic performance in her role as Kitty. Elke has also appeared in several film and television roles including City Homicide, Neighbours, The Wedge, Skithouse, Eagle & Evans and has an upcoming featured role in the new Sarah Watt feature, My Year Without Sex. Elke is very excited about reprising her role as Aimee in the upcoming festival.

Eddie Stowers - MARTY
NZ born, Samoan actor Eddie Stowers is a Perth-based veteran of stage and screen. Amongst others, he has played Goldberg in Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, Judd in Bouncers, Chief Bromden in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and he won an award in 2007 for Best Musical Performance as Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar. He has also appeared in numerous commercials, short and feature films, the latest being Crush, but has yet to be mistaken for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. As he has a background of many years in improvised comedy and theatre, the opportunity to work with Dale and Paul Menz's cast and crew on The Wireless is one he relishes. Her is particularly looking forward to experiencing the energy and excitement of his first Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

David Dellar - GIBBO
David has worked as a 'jack of all trades' in the world of commercial radio for the better part of the last decade. From being in front of the microphone on-air to behind the scenes as a producer, his understanding of the character, cocky disc jockey Gibbo, comes naturally after years of being around a variety of interesting and eclectic radio station personalities, both on and off air. He looks forward to flexing his formerly dormant acting muscle as SUN FM's very own D-grade celebrity jock, Gibbo, for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Dave Kenyon - IAN
Dave Kenyon has worked in film, theatre and TV over the last eight years. His feature film credits include Blue Notes (dir. Bill Mousoulis), Parallels (dir. Ben Warner) and the controversial film Welcome To Greensborough (dir. Tom McEvoy). He has worked on over thirty short films and last year appeared in the stylised short film, Tail From The Gun Barrel (dir. Josh O'Neil). Dave has also appeared in leading Australian TV shows such as The Secret Life Of Us, Neighbours and the telemovie The King, and can currently be seen on two Hungry Jacks TVCs. Dave's theatre credits include Shining City (dir. Chris Baldock), in which he was awarded a 2007 3CR Curtin Up gong for his performance as Lawrence. He also appeared in Dona Marina And Death In Mexico (dir. Lincoln Gray).

Belinda Di Vito - TRACEY
Belinda is a graduate of the Flinders Drama centre. She has regularly worked in TV and theatre for a number of years including roles in Neighbours, Stingers, and Savvy TV Youth Culture Show. Her theatre credits include leads in Blood Wedding, The Mock Doctor, Top Girls, Three Tall Women, Bash and How I Learned To Drive. Belinda's comic timing and interpretation of the role of Tracey was extraordinary to say the least. The audience loved her, and we welcome her back to the role.

Paul Menz
The family affair continues with Paul providing a funny and poignant script that is currently relevant to the situation faced by many of the regional radio stations in this country. Paul currently works as one of the head copywriters for NOVA FM in Melbourne. His background in the commercial radio environment began at the regional station STAR FM in Albury. Paul wrote the short film The Pseudo Echo, which won Best Film at the Border Film Festival in 2004. Paul is currently looking to publish his first novel, The St. James Hotel.

A new collective (or tribe) of artists looking to create interesting, local, and topical pieces in both theatre and film. The Wireless is the first piece to be created by the collective in response to today's commercial radio climate and to show the way in which a regional radio station's place in its community is valued. With an emphasis on character, diaTRIBE look to recreate familiar environments and experiment with the comic personalities within those environments.