About Us.
Spinning Plates Co. is a multi award-winning independent artist collective forged in 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 their own work, with a focus on strong writing and offbeat storytelling. Most recently they won three Green Room Awards for their production of The Crocodile (Best Direction, Best Costume & Set Design, Best Actor) in 2024, with a further nomination for their original work Shut Up I’m a Vampire (Best Original Sound Design & Composition) in 2023. in 2021, their original production JSMR won the Art Unbound Award.
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. Their debut play, Ross & Rachel by James Fritz (Theatre Works, 2018) received wide critical acclaim, as did their follow up production, You Are The Blood (Meat Market, 2019). In 2020, their digital play, JSMR, won the Art Unbound Award at Melbourne Fringe, and Jess took out a Best Actor award for her short film, Jafar. 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 and three Green Room Award wins, and was a part of the VCE Playlist, resulting in a return season in September of the same year.
Spinning Plates is interested in presenting work that will continually develop, expand and challenge our craft, whilst always paying homage to technique and heart. Sometimes we make theatre. Sometimes we make film. Having enjoyed more than a decade of acting across Melbourne’s theatre scene and occasionally popping up in Australian film and TV, including Bloom, Glitch, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, and Judy & Punch, Jess and James hope to continue making exciting and fascinating work for many years to come.
We acknowledge the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the Elders, past and present.