I’m a director, designer and creative producer - which honestly surprised me, because I was going to be an actor.
📸Clare Hawley
In 1995 I convinced my teacher to let me perform the Mr Bean skit I'd devised at lunch to my Year 1 class. In 2003 my teacher let me direct our Year 8 play, an adaptation of Blackadder's Christmas Carol, which I also designed. So maybe it wasn’t a surprise after all.
Flash forward to now, and I have a Bachelor of Performance from the Australian Academy of Dramatic Art, and a Bachelor of Arts (Performance Studies/English) from the University of Sydney and a Diploma of Marketing from TAFE NSW. I live and work on Gadigal land, and while my repertoire has broadened somewhat from 1980s/90s Rowan Atkinson, I'm still following that passion and creating theatre.
In 2019 I launched Virginia Plain as the production arm of my creative work with the goal of creating theatre that, like its namesake is adventurous, iconoclastic and a little bit glam.
I also have a cat called Margarita, love cooking and shake a damn good cocktail.
So yeah, that’s me.
Victor Kalka, CV
Director
2024, Grain in the Blood, Rob Drummond, Virginia Plain, KXT on Broadway
2023, The Pitchfork Disney Philip Ridley, Virginia Plain, Meraki Arts Bar
2023, Chef, Sabrina Mahfouz, Virginia Plain, KXT Kings Cross Theatre
2022, Radiant Vermin, Philip Ridley, Studio Sputnik, Chippen Street Theatre
2022, The Merry Wives of Windsor, William Shakespeare, New Theatre
2022, Chef, Sabrina Mahfouz, Virginia Plain, KXT Kings Cross Theatre
2021, TWELFTH NIGHT (heads or tails), William Shakespeare, Virginia Plain, New Theatre
2019, A Delicate Balance, Edward Albee, Sydney Classic Theatre Company, Chippen Street Theatre
2019, The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov, in a new version by Victor Kalka, Virginia Plain, Chippen Street Theatre
2018, Constellations, Nick Payne, Chippen Street Theatre
2018, Håmlet: a new Australian play, Antionette Barboutis, ban shakespeare/Bondi Feast, Bondi Pavilion
2017, Brothers Karamazov, Richard Crane after Dostoyevsky, Arrive. Devise. Repeat., PACT
2017, Bitch Boxer, Charlotte Josephine, Sydney Fringe Festival, Emerging Artist's Share-ouse
2016, Red Cross, Sam Shepard, Arrive. Devise. Repeat, Sydney Fringe Festival Off Broadway Festival Hub
2016, Grounded, George Brant, Robot Sparrow Theatre, Sydney Fringe Festival, Off Broadway Festival Hub
2016, The Seagull, Anton Chekhov in a version by Martin Crimp, SUDS, Cellar Theatre
2015, Tender Indifference, Arrive. Devise. Repeat, Sydney Fringe Festival, PACT
2014, Assistant Director, Four Dogs and a Bone, John Patrick Shanley, Brief Candle, Old Fitz, dir. Kate Gaul
2012, Debris, Denis Kelly, Mischief in the Woods, Sydney Fringe Festival
2012, The Clifftop, David Potter, SUDS, Cellar Theatre
2012, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare, SUDS, Cellar Theatre
2011, Titus, William Shakespeare, SUDS, Cellar Theatre (NSW) & The Loft (QLD)
2009/10, Cowboy Mouth, Sam Shepard, OneFest & Backspace Theatre
2009, The Merry Wives of Windsor, William Shakespeare, PLoT, Studio Theatre
2009, The Proposal, Anton Chekhov, PLoT, Studio Theatre,
2008, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde, PLoT, Studio Theatre
Designer
2023, Lighting Designer, Plenty of Fish in the Sea, Clockfire Theatre Co., created by Madeleine Baghurst and Emily Ayoub
2021, Lighting Designer, Betty is a Butcher, Siren Theatre Co., dir. Kate Gaul
2021, Set Designer, Fuente Ovejuna!, Dream Plane Productions, dir. Angus Evans
2020, Set Designer, Picnic at Hanging Rock, New Theatre, dir. Sahn Millington
2019, Lighting Design, Cut, Excelsia College, dir. Francesca Savige
2019, Set and Lighting Design, Wit, Clock and Spiel Productions, dir. Helen Tonkin
2019, Production Design, A Deal, Flying House Assembly, dir. Shiya Lu
2019, Set and Lighting Design, The Cherry Orchard, Virginia Plain, dir. Victor Kalka
2019, Set and Costume Design, Ditch, Dream Plane Productions, dir. Kim Hardwick
2019, Production and Lighting Design, Once in Royal David’s City, The New Theatre, dir. Patrick Howard
2019, Set and Costume Designer, Nosferatu: A Fractured Symphony, Montague Basement, dir. Saro Lusty-Cavillari
2018, Costume Associate, Ear to the Edge of Time, Sport for Jove, dir. Nadia Tass
2018, Set and Costume Designer, The Street of Crocodiles, AFTT, dir. Anthony Skuse
2018, Set and Costume Designer, Image of an Unknown Young Woman, AFTT, dir. Kim Hardwick
2018, Production Designer, Wyrd: Season of the Witch, Ninefold Ensemble, dir. Shy Magsalin
2017, Production Designer, A Westerner's Guide to the Opium Wars, Thirty Five Square, dir. Kevin Ng
2017, Production Designer, Brothers Karamazov
2016, Production Design, Red Cross
2016, Production Design, Grounded
2016, Art Director, Fragments, AFTRS Short Film, dir. Kim Hardwick
2016, Art Dept. Assistant, Let’s Activate! TV Pilot, Lucas Bradley Productions
2016, Set and Costume, A View of Concrete, SUDS, dir. Tabitha Woo
2016, Set and Costume, Antigone, Ninefold Ensemble, dir. Shy Magsalin
2015, Set Design, Last Drinks/Two Mouths Four Hands, Brave New Word, dir. Luke Holmes & Bokkie Robertson
2015, Set and Costume, Metafour: Four Short plays by Samuel Beckett, Glorious Thing Theatre Co., dir. Erica Brennan
2015, Set, Coming to See Aunt Sophie, Encounters@Shalom, dir. Moira Blumenthal
2015, Props, Freak Winds, The Old Fitz Theatre, dir. Marshall Napier
2014, Set & Props, Eat Me, AIM – Dramatic Art, dir. Sarah Watson
2014, Set & Props, Casualty of Birth, AIM – Dramatic Art, dir. Nathan Wilson
2014, Set & Props, Her Naked Skin, AIM – Dramatic Arts, dir. Peta Downes
2012, Set & Costume, Debris, Sydney Fringe Festival, TAP Gallery
2012, Lighting, Nocturne, MADSOC, Seymor Centre, dir. Shu Yueng
2011, Set, Something Just Happened, SUDS, PACT, dir. Harriet Gillies
2010/09, Set & Costume, Cowboy Mouth, OneFest & Backspace Theatre
2008, Set, The Importance of Being Earnest, PLoT, Studio Theatre
Actor
2017, Deviser/Performer, Götterdämmerung (twilight of the gods), Arrive. Devise. Repeat., KXT bAKEHOUSE
2016, Deviser/Performer, Götterdämmerung, Arrive. Devise. Repeat.
2015, Deviser/Performer, Tender Indifference, Arrive. Devise. Repeat.
2015, George Tesman, Hedda after Hedda Gabler, Robot Sparrow, dir. Zach Beavon-Colin
2014, Ana/Jamie Parker, MP, Eat Me, AIM – Dramatic Arts, dir. Sarah Watson
2014, Edward Gray/Dr Klein, Her Naked Skin, AIM – Dramatic Arts, dir. Peta Downes
2014, Jason, Medea, AIM – Dramatic Arts, dir. Kate Gaul
2013, Jim Brown, Embers, AIM – Dramatic Arts, dir. Luke Rogers
2011, Mr Bentley, The Other One, SUDS, dir. Finn Davis
2011, Francis, A Nuclear Christmas, dir. Heath Ivey-Law
2010, Stephano, The Tempest, PLoT, dir. Tai Gardner
2009, Adon Mede, Clinic of Unhappiness and Negative Therapy, Directions, dir. Heath Ivey-Law
2009, Osric, Hamlet, Old Nick, dir. John Clark
2008, Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Directions, dir. Heath Ivey-Law
Production
2021, Producer, Twelfth Night (heads or tails), Virginia Plain
2019, Producer, A Delicate Balance, Sydney Classic Theatre Company
2019, Producer, The Cherry Orchard, Virginia Plain
2018, Producer, Constellations, Chippen Street Theatre
2017, Producer, Red Cross, Arrive. Devise. Repeat.
2017, Producer, Brothers Karamazov, Arrive. Devise. Repeat.
2017, Producer, Götterdämmerung, Arrive. Devise. Repeat./KXT
2016, Producer, Black Hands/Dead Section, SUDS, dir. Margot Beavon-Collin
2016, Associate Producer, Tiny Remarkable Bramble, Impending Room/KXT/bAKEHOUSE, dir. Cathy Hunt
2015, Production Manager/SM, Awkward Conversations With Animals I’ve Fucked, Unhappen (NSW)/Loud Mouth Theatre Co. (TAS), dir. Jimmy Dalton
Training
2016, Physical Actor Training, Tina Mitchell
2015-16, Suzuki Training, Ninefold Ensemble, Shy Magsalin
2014, Physical Actor Training, Tina Mitchell and Shane Anthony
2013-14, Bachelor of Performance, AIM – Dramatic Arts
2012, Active Analysis Introduction, Paige Ratray, University of Sydney
2011, Shakespeare’s Clowns, Ira Seidenstien
2010, Actor and the Ensemble, Jeremy James, Salamanca Arts Centre
2008, Linklater Voice Progression, Rob Pensalfini, Salamanca Arts Centre
Awards
2009, Best Production, Cowboy Mouth, OneFest
2009, Best Director, Cowboy Mouth, OneFest