WMG | Our Judges

Get to know (some of) our esteemed Judges!

We have had many incredible industry professionals judge as part of World Monologue Games.

The judges below are involved in our latest season of WMG. Note that not all judges choose to share their bios.

Click on the images below to see our judges' websites/profiles.

WORLD MONOLOGUE GAMES - JUDGES

Ahmed Samy is an Actor, Producer and Casting Director who was born in Cairo in 1987. As an actor, Samy landed roles in many projects including the film Al Mosafer (The Traveler, 2009), the short film Kol Al Torok To'aid Ela Roma (All Roads Lead to Rome, 2017) and the regional hit, Abo El Arousa (Father of the Bride, 2017). Samy received several awards for theatrical directing, including; the Special Jury Award of 12th Festival dies Jeunes Createurs in 2014.

Amicie de Beauregard started her career in New York where she spent 5 years working for the renowned agency Paladino Casting, working with pre-eminent production companies and directors (Partizan, Iconoclast, Megaforce, Europacorp). Amicie went on to create her own casting agency in Paris in 2016: "Amicie CASTING". She is currently working on commercials, music videos, photoshoots & films with diverse French and foreign production companies. Her sharp eye and attention to detail allow any actor or model to shine at the best of their ability to perform confidently.

Amit Singh Saini is an Australian based actor, model, TV host and a full time engineer. He has worked in many projects such as music videos, feature films, short films, TV commercial, still photos and brand awareness projects.
Amit started his modelling career by participating in Mr Bollywood King Australia pageant, where he won the heart of all crowd by his breathtaking performance and stage presence. After that, Amit went into many other beauty pageants and won tiles such as Mr Diamond Australia, Mr Handsome, top model, most photogenic and Mr British Empire world. Amit aspires to bring a positive change to the world through the medium of art and films.

Avy Kaufman is a casting director who has been nominated for 9 Primetime Emmys and won 3 (among scores of other accolades). Since 1987, she has worked in casting on more than 300 film and television productions. Kaufman has worked with directors including Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee and Wes Craven. Some of her many casting credits include films The Sixth Sense, Brokeback Mountain, Public Enemies and Tár, and the TV series Damages, Succession, Billions and The OA.

Brook C Hall has produced, directed, choreographed and taught acting for stage and screen around the world for more than 25 years. As an actor, he has had the pleasure to work with film directors Martin Scorcese, Ang Lee, Richard Linklater, and Luc Besson, among others. In 2013, he founded and served as artistic director of the LAB SPACE theatre and acting school in Taipei. He currently lives, directs, and teaches in Vienna, Austria.

Donna Morong is a respected casting director with over 30 years experience. She began her career in New York City as a casting associate in theatre. Her film casting in LA began with a search for an Inuit, ultimately working her way up to Senior Vice President of Feature Casting for Walt Disney Pictures. Donna is known for casting films such as: 10 Things I Hate About You, The Princess Diaries, Shanghai Knights and Gone Baby Gone. Recently she has worked internationally casting Quentin Dupieux’s cult hit Rubber. Her ability to spot talent helped launch many successful careers including Heath Ledger, Jennifer Garner, Rachel McAdams, Anne Hathaway, and Brie Larson. She resides in LA with her husband David and three children.

Jane Mpholo holds a Drama and Theatre Arts Degree from the University of The Free State, South Africa. She specializes as a professional actor, playwright, producer, dramaturge, performance arts coach and facilitator. Amongst the many recognitions and awards…her highlights are being chosen as one of top 5 playwrights for NATI Yong Sterre programme; a nomination for Kyknet Best Up and Coming Artist and being in the Mail and Guardian top 100 list for Women Changing South Africa.

Jon-Clare Lee is a graduate of New York Univ. (BFA in Acting and MFA in Film and TV Directing) and the Director of Sydney Talent Company, one of Australia's oldest registered professional talent agencies. In stage direction and playwriting, his works include Shattered Jade, Blood on My Blade, We, In Australia, and Swept Under the Carpet. In film and TV, Mr. Lee has recently co-produced and directed two Australian feature films (Innocent Killer and Greed) which have won numerous international festival awards including Best Feature Film and Best Director. He has served on the judging panel of many prestiguous awards, including the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

Joseph Obel is a graduate of Theatre Arts and Film from Kenyatta University in Kenya. He has taught Acting, Directing, Set Design, Dance Choreography, Spoken Poetry and Scriptwriting at Talanta Institute, and Nairobi Institute of Music and Performing Arts, theatre schools both based in Nairobi, Kenya. Joseph has also participated as one of the writers for the award-winning satirical puppet TV series, The XYZ Show that raises awareness on human rights and governance in Kenya and Africa. When not teaching or writing, Joseph curates artistic events, both live and online to connect with theatre, film, music and art enthusiasts around the world.

Josh Galitsky is an LA-based devised, interactive and immersive theatre director who creates a safe, imaginative playground to help guide actors, artists & performers through their fear obstacles, with compassion, humor and integrity. His life-affirming process leads the artist to generate and unleash their most interesting, genuine and dynamic work.

E Kalyan Babu, a.k.a Uncle Kay, is the Founder and Artistic Director of ReaderzForge Theatre Arts, a premier children's theatre institute based in Chennai, India. Uncle Kay is a versatile artist - actor, writer, director and multimedia specialist. With an MBA in Finance, he had a successful corporate career for over two decades before deciding to focus on his true calling of teaching and acting, which he had been doing since childhood. He specialises in training children in monologues, storytelling and stage craft. In 2022-23, Uncle Kay directed ReaderzForge's first children's musical - The Grunch.

Luci Lenox is an award-winning casting director based in Spain. She has cast over 100 productions and her client list includes Netflix, Fox, Amazon, BBC, Sky, Hulu, Lionsgate, Paramount, ABC, Disney, NBC and MediaPro. Films she has cast have won over 250 awards at International Film Festivals. She is also an active participant in Actors Beyond Borders to help actors from around the world who are currently refugees. Luci has set up a global networking community, The Actors Home, dedicated to empowering actors to co-create their success stories.

Melissa Abdullah is an Australian based Casting Producer who has extensive experience working in the Australian Unscripted Television scene. Melissa has cast for some of Australia’s most popular shows including The Amazing Race, Holey Moley, Selling Houses Australia and Mastermind. She has also worked on a few American productions including MTV’s Are You The One? and Name That Tune. She is very passionate about elevating the cultural diversity of Australia’s media landscape by inclusive casting.

Nick Field is the Co-Principal of Acting Coach Scotland (ACS) and an Actor and Producer. He is also a monologue audition coach and directs on their full and part-time acting programmes.

Nuel Rivera is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Manila-based performing arts collective, Theatre 2108. A director and award-winning playwright, he is passionate about teaching theater and discovering new talents. No matter the time of day, he'll always say yes to a delicious cup of iced coffee.

Nyaka Chana is a Quintuple-Threat based in Ireland. She is known for the musical parody "An African In Europe". Her credits include, ITV, BBC, E4, Channel 5, Sky 1 and Challenge TV.

Ranga Jayaratne is the founder and artistic director of Cue theatre co. and Cue school of Drama in Sri Lanka. She has directed over 30 full-length plays, musicals, skits and one act plays for children and adults. She takes passion in experimenting with various genres of theatre and has directed plays such as Our Town, The Woman in Black and Eurydice. Ranga holds an LTCL in teaching Speech and Drama from Trinity College UK and has over 20 years of teaching and directing experience. She enjoys working with students from diverse backgrounds.

Stewart Glen cut his professional acting teeth as a monologuist, twice performing Eric Bogosian's Drinking in America in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec where he subsequently performed an original 1-person show, The Zen of Gridlock for the Montreal Fringe Festival. A 30+ year veteran of the stage, Stewart now lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan as a producer, director, actor, and coach. He will be featured in the soon-to-be-released limited series historical docudrama SEQALO: Formosa 1867. He is very excited about seeing all the great work you actors are sharing.

Shauna Griffith landed her first film role at the age of 5 playing a leading role in short film ‘Pluck’. She also played ‘Jenny’ in the RTE Drama ‘Amber’ directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, Chloe in ‘Dreamhouse’ project directed by Jim Sheridan and starring Saoirse Ronan, as well as being cast in the feature Film ‘Life’s a Breeze’, directed by Lance Daly. She has now turned her hand to casting, management & coaching, running Take2 Online Acting School & Take2 Talent Management.

PREVIOUS YEARS' JUDGES

Chipo Basopo is an Art Administrator, Director, Writer, Technical, Performer and Arts Educator. She is a graduate of CHIPAWO youth programme and holds a Diploma in Media Arts [Midlands State University] 2005. Chipo also develops projects to do with gender, children’s rights and child counselling. Working with CHIPAWO World, a resource person in Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. As leader of Girl Power, she has empowered girls in Zimbabwe using the power of the arts. Toured many different countries of the world with CHIPAWO children’s and youth performing groups. Also an accomplished theatre actress who has performed in a number of productions by the New Horizon Theatre Company.

Danielle Brame Whiting is an Australian-based Theatre Teaching Artist on the Central Coast of NSW. Her practice focuses on playwriting, acting, directing and dramaturgy. In addition to running, XtrAct Drama Academy, she is Deputy Artistic Director at youth theatre company, Jopuka Productions, where the focus is on producing original Australian works and supporting emerging youth artists to develop their craft. Her most recent accomplishment is submitting her dissertation for her Masters of Applied Theatre Studies for which she hopes to receive final marks later next month (COVID willing).

Elyse O'Shaughnessey is currently the Artistic Director of Orange Theatre Company (OTC), the owner of JEM Performing Arts, and an HR Manager / business development leader at INCasting. Five years ago, Elyse moved from New York City to the Netherlands. While in NYC, Elyse graduated from the American Musical Dramatic Academy (AMDA) and went on to become a casting director, producer, stage manager, and actress. Elyse currently runs the OTC Youth Theatre and teaches drama in several international schools. She has directed several productions including OTC’s productions The B Word in 2018 and The Last Five Years.

Esmeralda Havenga says, "I am passionate about the performing arts. I educate artists from a young age and help them develop in different art forms to reach their full potential. I teach full time Drama at Creare Training Centre in Bloemfontein, South Africa (Acting, Clowning, Mime, Puppets, Writing, scriptwriting, Directing, Radio Drama, Staging, Speech Training). I do freelance work as well where I assist with a variety things such as stage management, research, auditions, scriptwriting, script analysis and lighting design."

James Lingwood has written, produced and directed many international film and television projects. Recent productions have been awarded over sixty international film & television prizes. James has been granted membership to the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers, USA whose membership consists of some of the world’s top film & television producers in over 60 countries. Last year in Dublin, James was awarded the prestigious Walter Klein Trophy for Most inspirational film at the International Quorum Conference. James is also a Member of the Australian Directors Guild, the Australian Writers Guild and an Executive Member of the National Chinese Documentary Film Academy.

Katherine Hennessey is a Research Fellow with the National Endowment for the Humanities, and an Assistant Professor of English at the American University of Kuwait. She is the author of Shakespeare on the Arabian Peninsula (2018), co-director of the short film Shakespeare in Yemen (2018), and translator of works of Arab theatre, most recently Wajdi al-Ahdal’s The Colonel’s Wedding (2019). Her forthcoming book is entitled Theatre on the Arabian Peninsula.

Matt Young is a Brisbane based actor and acting coach and a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community. He founded Tukuna Acting Club in Suva, Fiji in 2015 and continues to coach a diverse range of actors in person and online. His film/tv credits include HBO’s The Pacific, TBS’/HBO Max’s Wrecked, Hallmark’s A Summer to Remember and Pearl in Paradise and feature film The Other Side of Heaven 2. He also served as Fiji casting director for Netflix’s #blackAF. Matt recently completed a successful season of the Mel Brook’s musical The Producers in the role of Max Bialystock.

Marianna Psaltis is an Australian-Greek arts industry professional and qualified teacher who has over 15 years of professional practice, with degrees from Griffith University and diplomas from Trinity College, London. Marianna has received many acting, teaching and directing awards. Her students and graduates are constantly recognised in the industry for their outstanding contributions to theatre and film as well as their academic excellence by examination bodies. She trains young actors at her Brisbane based studio and specialises in industry training, speech and drama and teaching students with diverse abilities.

Mike Savuica graduated with a BA in acting from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) in London. He is now doing an MA in Theater Directing at NIPAI (Berlin). He has directed one feature film, one documentary, three commercials and six theatre performances. Out of all those, two of them have been international productions.

Nea Dune is an award-winning Croatian creatrice, fulltime actress and model, certified HMUA with a PhD based in Los Angeles since 2015. Currently with 2 directorial projects in film festival circuit, she is set to star in 11 productions and offers her expertise as a coach for extraordinary ability foreigners to the USA (O1).

Paddy Cooper is the Artistic Director of Dark Unicorn Productions Ltd, based in London and Sussex, UK. He also works independently as an actor and director. Can currently be seen and heard on YouTube and all major podcast outlets as the host of arts interview series “Dark Unicorn in Conversation”.

Dr Sally Richards is a director, teacher and producer with a PhD in Theatre from Victoria University of Wellington, a Master of Theatre Arts in Directing from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School and Victoria University, and a Bachelor of Theatre with Honours from James Cook University of North Queensland. In 2019 she created and curated the acclaimed TAHI - New Zealand Festival of Solo Performance, winner of Most Promising Newcomer at the Wellington Theatre Awards. Sally's research interests include the directing of solo performance, pedagogy of theatre, diasporic narratives and theatre for social change.

Tim Charles has worked extensively across Ireland`s booming Film and Television scene, gaining experience both on and off screen. Theatre is Tim`s biggest passion, performing Stand-up Comedy for the past ten years. Last year Tim used his experience to teach Ireland`s youngest and brightest as the head of Take2, Ireland`s longest running Drama School. Tim`s approach helps students achieve ultimate inner confidence and unlock their creativity in all aspects of their life.

Wendy Samantha is a passionate performing arts teacher who has directed countless musicals, plays and performances. Her teaching work and philosophy has been published in education journals and featured in training programs and interviews, and her students are highly acclaimed for their performances winning state wide competitions, completing Trinity College of London examinations with high distinctions, featuring in VCE’s Top Arts and Top Acts Melbourne, and starring in professional television shows, commercials and musical productions.