Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Saturday 10 December
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
About
Witness an inspiring line-up of young readers and performers, including the winner of the 2022 Plain English Speaking Award and the winner of the Kill Your Darlings School Writing Prize, alongside emerging comedians, actors and poets. We’re bringing you the most vibrant teen voices from a year spent showcasing exceptional new talent, alongside crowd favourites from previous galas. Prepare to be uplifted – the future is in great hands.
Alongside the Gala event, teens have the opportunity to participate in a series of free workshops, designed to build onstage confidence, generate new writing and connect with publication opportunities.
The Wheeler Education Teen Gala and associated workshops are generously supported by George and Rosa Morstyn. The Wheeler Centre’s programming for young audiences is generously supported The Hon. Justice Michelle Gordon AC and The Hon. Kenneth Hayne AC QC.
Want to present in this year's Teen Gala, or know a teen who would? Get in touch with us at Bec.Kavanagh@wheelercentre.com.
The event will be live-streamed on this page and will be viewable from 5pm on 10 December 2022.
Featuring
Anna Blinks-van Broekhoven
Anna Blinks-van Broekhoven is a young disability advocate and mobility aid user, particularly focused on the lack of adequate accessible public transport in Victoria. She has done theatre all her life and otherwise loves painting and spending time with her three cats.
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Poppy Holden
Poppy Holden is a Year 10 student from Melbourne.
She won the Stonnington ‘What’s Your Story?’ competition in 2019 and 2021, and the VATE ‘A Story in Miniature’ in 2022. She has always loved stories - reading them and writing them.
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Alice Horacek
Alice is a 14 year old Melbourne student. She enjoys reading and learning random information. They are very excited to perform!
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Erin Kim
Erin Kim has used story telling as a form of expression about herself and current interests. Seen through her paintings "Belonging" and "Acceptance" which were showcased in Top Arts 2021. Exploring her identity and adolescence ...
Charlie Mackenzie
Charlie Mackenzie is a 15 year old musical theatre performer, she also writes acoustic folk and rock music. Charlie is in love with 80’s music and grew up with artists like Queen, Stevie Wonder, Tears for Fears and Kate Bush however she takes much inspiration from modern artists like Phoebe Bridgers and ‘Djo’.
Her love of music followed her to Australia when she moved from Scotland in 2016, giving her a unique accent.‘The best way to describe music in my life is a gift. It affects me in ways it doesn’t affect people around me. Listening to Kate Bush on the way to school, I feel like I could live in the music. My mind is at ease, I see the colours that the music paints on my eyes and it fills me up. And then, the school bell rings. I am pulled back to reality. It’s strange, but magical’
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Audrey McKenzie
Audrey McKenzie is a 17-year-old year 11 student with a longtime passion for writing and literature. After winning the 2022 Kill Your Darlings School Writing Prize, her love for writing has been reignited and she hopes to one day share her writing with the world. She is very excited to be performing with the Wheeler Centre!
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Arshia Rana
Arshia Rana is a year 11 student, public speaker and debater, and avid reader.
The founder of In My Opinion, Rana aims to teach the youth of today effective communication skills to help drive meaningful change, by creating and sharing public speaking/debating resources on her page and hosting courses.
As a Youth Advisory Board Member at Child Wise, Arshia is incredibly passionate about the rights and safety of indigenous youth and the climate crisis as a childs right crisis.
When she's not working on her many projects, you can find her reading a good book with a cup of hot chocolate!
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Fig Russon-Jorgensen
Fig is a 17-year-old emerging poet and artist. They grew up in rural Victoria, and much of their work is inspired by the bush terrain where they grew up, finding ways to integrate the themes of native Australian flora and fauna ...
Sunday Williams-Starkie
Sunday Williams-Starkie is 16 years old, and loves to sing, write music and stories and perform.
They love to experiment and create, and are incredibly excited to have the opportunity to perform something at the Teen Gala, and hope many people will one day be able to enjoy their words.
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Rufaro Zimbudzi
Rufaro Zimbudzi is a Zimbabwean-Australian singer, actor and writer. Her passion for the creative arts has allowed her to openly express the fusion of cultures she was brought up on in the diaspora, as she strives to be the ...
Red Brazil
I am a 13 year old boy from the Macedon Ranges. I play soccer and guitar and love the Beach Boys. I can’t say I like poetry because I have read all the books and the poets, because I haven’t read any. But what I like is how it can appeal to anyone regardless of experience. I like to have fun with my poems, with rhymes, different language and new topics.
Lee Pennefather
Lee Peenfather is a 15-year-old writer and poet from Melbourne. In 2021, Lee became the overall state champion of the OutLoud Slam Poetry Competition with their poem “What Would You Say,” which explored their experience as a queer gender diverse teen. Lee has gone on to perform in multiple Wheeler Centre events, contributing their work to events such as the 2021 Teen Gala and the NGV “Queer Dreams” event in 2022. They participate enthusiastically in both dance and theatre outside and within school, fostering a love for the performing arts at a young age. A passionate advocate against social issues, Lee has been writing since they were young and feels very privileged to be able to express their creativity publicly.
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