AnOther Home
A creative school holiday program for youth from migrant or refugee backgrounds aged 8-12
Creative Confidence. Cultural Connection. Community Empowerment.
Dates: July 8-11
Location: Woden Library
Cost: Free
Who can join: Children aged 8–12 from migrant or refugee backgrounds
Register an Expression of Interest here!
This free four-day theatre program is designed for migrant and refugee children aged 8–12, offering a fun and inclusive space to explore creativity, build confidence, and connect with their community through drama and performance.
Using theatre as a tool for self-expression, social connection, and skill-building, AnOther Home empowers young people to share their stories and shine on stage. Participants will take part in theatre games, improvisation, and creative storytelling, culminating in a performance for family, friends, and community members.
Led by a passionate and experienced team, the program is tailored to each child’s needs, with transport, translation, and accessibility support available.
Alongside creative development, the program connects families with essential community services, promoting social cohesion and building lasting relationships between artists, families, and organisations.
AnOther Home is a collaborative school holiday initiative led by Rebus Theatre in partnership with Libraries ACT, Multicultural Hub Canberra (MHub), Red Cross ACT, and St Vincent de Paul Society ACT (Vinnies).
Meet the Artists
Chips Jin (They/Them)
Lead Facilitator & Program Manager
Chips is a queer, trans, BIPOC artist and facilitator from a migrant background, with a deep commitment to inclusive, community-based arts practice. For as long as they can remember, Chipz has been driven to theatre with an incredible passion for storytelling. As a trans, queer, BIPOC, differently abled, and trauma responsive artist/practitioner, they are deeply committed to inclusive practice and transformative storytelling. Since 2013, they’ve devised, developed, improvised, prepared, written, produced, directed, and facilitated experiences in the performance arts. Their work spans stage and screen, and includes national touring, historical drama, devised theatre, and film. Chips brings a wealth of experience in theatre facilitation and youth empowerment.
“I’m so incredible passionate about everyone finding their voice and understanding their journey. I’m second generation Australian, with combined NZ and Chinese histories and migrant stories. Having lived in China, New Zealand and Australia I feel like there are a few places I call ‘Home’ around the world. I’m stoked to work in different languages as long as we can share the language of movement”
Atulya Manoj (she/her)
Artist
Atulya is a multidisciplinary artist and theatre-maker with a strong focus on community arts, storytelling, and devised performance. Her work explores themes of identity, belonging, and creative expression, blending traditional and contemporary practices. Atulya has facilitated creative workshops for young people and culturally diverse communities, creating inclusive, collaborative spaces where participants feel empowered to express themselves through drama, movement, and storytelling.
With a background in devised theatre and community engagement, Atulya’s practice is grounded in empathy, play, and co-creation. She believes in the power of the arts to build confidence, spark imagination, and create meaningful connections, especially in communities where creative opportunities may be limited.
Atulya is passionate about creating performance spaces where children can be themselves, take creative risks, and feel proud of who they are. This program strongly aligns with her values, offering a joyful, supportive environment for young people to develop new skills, share their stories, and collaborate with others. As an artist who works extensively with devised performance, Atulya is excited to help young participants shape original work that reflects their ideas and experiences.
Her relationship with her culture is both personal and evolving. Cultural identity informs much of her creative practice—from language and rhythm to rituals and oral traditions. For Atulya, storytelling is a way to honour ancestry, celebrate individuality, and build bridges between generations and lived experiences.
She sees this program as an opportunity to support the next generation of young creatives while strengthening connections between artists, families, and community organisations for future collaboration.
Languages: English, Hindi, and Malayalam.
Marlēné Radice (they/them)
Artist
Marlēné Claudine Radice is an Australian composer who specialises in notated electroacoustic composition by exploring how art and sound compliment one another. Taking recorded sounds away from their original sources, they process and manipulate these into new musical structures. Raw industrial noises, looped voices and hypnotic soundscapes are layered to create a nuanced and original sound.
They have been commissioned as sound designer and composer for Rebus Theatre, Itazura Co, Canberra Youth Theatre, Belconnen Arts Centre, the National Museum of Australia (Songlines of the Western Desert, 2017) and Questacon (StellrScope, 2013). Their work has been performed by the duo Unassisted Fold as a part of HighSCORE Festival 2017 (Italy) and have presented their research on Iannis Xenakis at the 2017 Xenakis Symposium in Leeds.
Reviewers have described their work saying;
“Radice’s incredible looping, surround sound soundscapes, were crucial components of creating this immersive, intense production. Enchanting effects created by the breath, inhaled and exhaled across several microphones, emulated freezing fog and wind.” -Samara Purnell, Canberra City News (MESS, 2020)
“The performances…are aurally enhanced by Marlēné Claudine Radice’s evocative sound design”- Peter Wilkins, Canberra Critics Circle (Utopiate, 2022)
They are currently completing a site specific sound installation project under the mentorship of Madeleine Flynn, supported by Chamber Made (VIC) and will be performing excerpts from this work at NIME, 2025.
Marlēné is a trained physical theatre performer and a passionate advocate for queer youth arts education and inclusive theatre practices. Marlēné is a lead facilitator for Rebus Theatre’s iDrama classes for adults with intellectual disabilities. They have been a facilitator for Rebus’ annual Acting Out: On Screen Queer youth holiday course since 2023. Outside of their work as a composer and teacher Marlēné has worked as a field recorder primarily specialising in archiving Indigenous Australian songlines.
Marlēné has worked as both director, composer, and producer for the site specific works Retrograde (Belconnen Arts Centre, 2021), ROAR! (Wanderlust Gentleman’s Club, 2022), and CRAVE (Wanderlust Gentleman’s Club, 2023). They are currently co-producer and music director for The Shaw Shaw Theatre; a contemporary theatre company they cofounded in 2023 alongside Director, Sammy Moynihan.
Marlēné completed a double degree in Music (Composition) and Arts (Cultural Inquiry/ Gender Studies) at the Australian National University where they studied under Larry Sitsky and Jim Cotter. In 2016 they completed their Honours in Composition at Monash University with Prof Mary Finsterer.
Sandy Ma (she/they)
Artist
Sandy Ma is a Chinese Australian multidisciplinary artist and educator living and working on unceded Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country. In her work, she combines embodiment, sound, and performance to share moments of curious joy. Sandy hopes to create inclusive interdisciplinary learning spaces that centre creative and critical thinking through her work as an artist educator.
“I am a second generation Australian with ancestry is rooted in Central and Northern China. I am happy to share in Chinese Mandarin although please forgive my deteriorating language abilities. My parents immigrated in the 1990s to Darug/Eora Country in Sydney, where I was born and have grown up. I moved to Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country in 2019 and have been living and working here since.
I’m thrilled to be a part of this program to share stories and foster creative community connections and hope to create a safe environment to share in ????.”
Sonam Gyeltshen (he/him)
Photographer
Sonam is another brilliant artist, a second-generation Tibetan videographer and photographer. He was drawn to Rebus Theatre for the chance to meet fellow minority and immigrant creatives. His family’s journey, fleeing Tibet during the Chinese invasion, deeply influences his desire to reflect his heritage in his work. He believes that by collaborating, we can cultivate a truly diverse and inclusive creative industry, both on stage and behind the scenes, welcoming everyone.
