A Resident Artist at the Black Swan State Theatre Company of WA, Ian’s theatre and creative development highlights include: Let the Right One In, Our Town (Black Swan), HART (She Said Theatre), Black Writers Lab (Ilbijerri Theatre Company); Blak Cabaret (Malthouse Theatre); The Kid (Melbourne Theatre Company). Film credits include: Where are the Warriors (Wirrim Films); Needle (Nexus 6 Films). 

Ian's passion for making and telling stories flows from his community - the original storytellers of Perth - and telling history from a perspective often silenced.

“I am the product of generations of people who have had to fight bigger fights than me. Inherently everything that I do on stage as a black person is political and it’s cultural because I bring a generation and a past with me that has existed forever.” 

“Thinking about the stories that are of this land and are of these people, and taking them into a building and letting that influence the way that I get to tell stories is huge” he said. 

Raised in Bunbury, Ian moved to Perth to pursue his acting career and graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2008. 

“The City of Perth just has such a vibrant arts community. It provides inspiration everywhere that you look. This was the place where I decided I was going to be an actor. It’s where I trained as an actor. It’s where I started feeling the bug, you know? The passion and the desire to want to keep telling stories.” 

Ian’s latest achievement is winning the 2019 CHASS (Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences) Australia Prize for a Future Leader in Melbourne on 30 October, 2019. 

This year, Ian has performed in Cloudstreet at His Majesty’s Theatre in February and we look forward to the World Premiere of his play York, with co-writer Chris Isaacs in 2021.

He is also curating with Chloe Ogilvie - Maali Festival, a FREE multi-disciplinary arts event, that celebrates First Nations culture and arts during NAIDOC Week, 2021. Keep an eye on the Black Swan Theatre page for the updated event dates and times. 

We look forward to seeing what else is next for our very own Perth prodigy. 

“For me, my whole purpose is to continue trying to empower my community in whatever way I can,” Ian said.