Spinning Plates Co.

About Us

Spinning Plates Co. is a multi award-winning independent artist collective forged in Naarm/Melbourne and joined together by a love of creating. Formed in 2018 after many years of collaboration, James Cerché and Jessica Stanley began Spinning Plates so that they could produce and perform in their own work, with a focus on strong writing and offbeat storytelling. Most recently their 2023 production of The Crocodile won three Green Room Awards in 2024 (Best Direction, Best Costume & Set Design, Best Actor), with a further nomination for their original work Shut Up I’m a Vampire (Best Original Sound Design & Composition) in 2023.

With a solid foundation of training and technique, having studied extensively at the Howard Fine Acting Studio and Monash University, Spinning Plates has had a warm introduction to Melbourne’s independent theatre scene, with shows such as Ross & Rachel (Theatre Works, 2018) and You Are The Blood (Meat Market, 2019). In 2020, their digital play, JSMR (Trades Hall), won the Art Unbound Award at Melbourne Fringe. Their 2022 production, Shut Up I’m a Vampire, received a Green Room Award nomination for Best Sound Design & Composition for James. Their February 2023 production, The Crocodile, was a sellout hit, received rave reviews, three Green Room Awards, was a part of the VCE Playlist, and enjoyed a return season in September of the same year.

Spinning Plates is interested in presenting work that will continually develop, expand and challenge their craft, whilst always paying homage to technique and heart. Having enjoyed more than a decade of acting across Melbourne’s theatre scene and film scene, Jess and James hope to continue making exciting and fascinating work for many years to come.

GREEN THEATRE

Spinning Plates is committed to making green theatre wherever possible. We do this by encouraging secondhand and recyclable materials to be used in our shows, and by storing our sets, props and costumes for future use or repurposing. Even the wood used to construct past theatre sets we keep so it may be dismantled and rebuilt into something new for the next show. Where possible, we lend costumes and props to other companies (such as Opera Australia and Little Ones Theatre) and borrow as we need too (from companies such as MTC and Red Stitch), believing that these beautiful designs deserve more than one life.

The set and props of The Crocodile were almost entirely constructed from repurposed cardboard and papier mâché, while the costumes were constructed from op shop clothing and old curtains and bedsheets.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATES & STUDENTS

We aim to bring secondments on board all of our productions so that young designers and theatre makers may have a chance to learn from industry professionals. We also hope to include as many of our productions on the VCE Playlist for Theatre Studies or Drama as possible, knowing how formative our own theatre experiences were to us as high school students.