​About

Elbow Room are a Melbourne-based theatre company committed to the rigorous development of the craft of writing and performance making, in order to test and strengthen the relationship between art and society, and the capacity of that relationship to create change. Renowned for their intellectual and artistic integrity and as one of the leading independent theatre companies in Australia, having presented work at Melbourne Theatre Company, Brisbane Powerhouse, La Boite, HotHouse Theatre, Carriageworks, Theatre Works, Brisbane Festival, Junction Arts Festival and Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney Fringe Festivals. Since 2008, Elbow Room has built an identifiable and highly reputable brand. The company has produced 10 original works, devised with highly regarded artistic collaborators. Elbow Room’s work has a distinctive combination of intellectual curiosity and performative wit, and consistently sells strongly, often to capacity. Elbow Room has received 7 awards and 15 nominations from Melbourne Fringe, the Green Room Awards and the Matilda Awards. With 6 of 10 original works having up to 4 re-presentations, and a total of 22 separate presentations around the country, Elbow Room is committed to creating pathways for early career artists, having formally worked with 84 artists employed in over 240 positions. 

​The Team

Emily Tomlins: Co-artistic Director
Emily is a co-founder of the award winning independent theatre company Elbow Room. Her theatre credits include We Get It (Elbow Room/ MTC Neon), The Motion of Light in Water, Now More Than Ever, Fewer Emergencies, As We Mean To Go On, Rule of Three, After All This, a tiny chorus and There (Elbow Room), Cyrano de Bergerac (Sydney Theatre Company), Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness (Sydney Theatre Company/ La Boite), Hamlet (South Australian State Theatre Company/ Queensland Theatre Company), Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset, Puss in Boots, The Woman Before, Far Away (Queensland Theatre Company), Actors at Work (Bell Shakespeare), Julius Caesar, Operator, Creche & Burn, Urban Dingoes (La Boite Theatre), Tangle, We Built This City (Polyglot Theatre US Tour), Trailblazer, Drawbridge, Ants, Separation Street, Cerita Anak (Polyglot), Dream Home (Speakeasy/Collyer), Kindness (Flight Festival/Theatreworks), The One (Fire Curtain Co), M+M (Daniel Schlusser Ensemble), Arden V Arden (The Hayloft Project) and The Plague Dances (Four Larks/Malthouse). Film and TV credits include: Winners and Losers, Dr Blake Mysteries, The Underdog’s Tale and the award winning Dumpy Goes to the Big Smoke. Emily was the recipient of the 2005 MEAA/ Matilda Award for Best Emerging Artist and was part of the Queensland Theatre Company’s Emerging Artist Ensemble in 2006. As Performer and Collaborator she received the Melbourne Fringe Festival Adelaide Fringe Touring Award for There (2008), Melbourne Fringe Festival People's Choice Award for a tiny chorus (2010), Melbourne Fringe Festival Best Performance and Greenroom Independent Theatre Best Ensemble for After All This (2011). Emily was nominated for a Greenroom Award for Best Female Actor for her body of work (2013) and for Dream Home (2015). 

Marcel Dorney: Co-artistic Director
​An award winning playwright and director, Marcel Dorney is a founding member and artistic director of Melbourne based performance company, Elbow Room. His work has been commissioned, developed and produced by QTC, Malthouse Theatre, Merrigong Theatre Company, Hothouse Theatre, La Boite, Griffin Theatre, Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, Artslink, and the Next Wave Festival, and published by Playlab Press. He has been affiliate writer with QTC, La Boite and Griffin Theatre, and received a Lord Mayor’s Fellowship to study in St Petersburg, Russia. He holds a Masters in Performance Creation from the University of Melbourne.

Marcel’s play Fractions (QTC/HotHouse) received the 2010 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award. Elbow Room‘s twelve original works since 2008 include We Get It (Melbourne Theatre Company‘s NEON Festival, 2015), Prehistoric (Brisbane Festival 2014), and After All This (Brisbane Festival 2011). His awards include: Best Director and Best Ensemble (Ind.), 2011 Green Room Awards (After All This); 2012 Gold Matilda (Fractions); Best Writing, 2014 Green Room Awards, (Prehistoric). Both After All This (2011) and Prehistoric (2014) were awarded Best Performance by Melbourne Fringe Festival. Screen credits include Arenamedia’s version of Tim Winton’s ‘Cockleshell’ in the anthology The Turning, directed by Tony Ayres for Matchbox Pictures. 

Samantha Butterworth: Creative Producer
Samantha is an Arts Manager/Producer based in Melbourne. She is currently working as Arts Officer at Darebin City Council and Tour Coordinator with Regional Arts Victoria, with whom she has previously been engaged to produce both 2014 & 2015 Showcase Victoria events in conjunctions with the Victorian Association of Performing Arts Centres. In 2015, she delivered the inaugural Poppy Seed Festival as Producer and spent the first six 2016 laying the groundwork for that year, including the expansion of the Artistic Panel and a new collaboration with Coopers Malthouse. Previously, Samantha has been the Operations Manager for Red Stitch Actors Theatre; served as Administrator for Rollercoaster Theatre Company; and has sat in many roles as a Freelance Producer. She is the Producer of award winning theatre collective, Elbow Room, where she recently negotiated the transfer of their smash hit production We Get It (MTC Neon Festival 2015) to the Brisbane Powerhouse. Samantha also acts as Treasurer with Watch This’ Committee of Management and as Secretary for the Elbow Room Board. In 2017, Samantha is part of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Women in Theatre Program in the position of Producer.