Travis Ash was born in Brisbane in 1991. He directed his first production (of Romeo and Juliet) at the age of 14 for Brisbane Montessori School. He went on to direct the school’s closing ceremony the following year. He also had an extensive five-year relationship with Brisbane theatre company Grin’n’Tonic (under the mentorship of Dr Bryan Nason OAM) from 2004-2008. During this time he appeared in Macbeth (Young Macduff, 2004), The Tempest (Ferdinand, 2005), Titus Andronicus (Various, 2006), Paradise Regain’s (Reader, 2006), Timon of Athens (Various, 2007), Monkey Magic (Various, 2007), The Winters Tale (Various, 2007), Grin’n’Tonic School Shows (Various, 2008), Shakespeare Selections (Hamlet, 2008) and Romeo and Juliet (Prince, Peter, Apothecary 2008). Throughout his school years Travis also appeared in Romeo and Juliet (Capulet, 2004) and The Importance of Being Earnest (Jack Worthing, 2007). He also trained with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre for two years in Suzuki and Viewpoints while participating in a variety of intensive workshop with international performers like Lauren Ellen of SITI Company, New York. In 2009 Travis moved to Sydney to study composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. His compositions Love Again and Intimate for Two were performed at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2008 and I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness (appearing in Chronology Art’s Stations of Creations Concert) was heard at various venues across Sydney and Canberra in late 2010. In early 2010, Travis and Ivan Cheng initiated KILN, a group formed to develop provocative and exciting new performance. In mid 2010 Travis wrote, directed and performed The Poor Players for KILN 1 (the first in a series of performance nights). Travis looks forward to directing Gesualdo (a music theatre piece for which he wrote the script) in late 2011, with KILN in collaboration with ensemble Volta. In early 2010 Travis assisted in sound design for Single Admissions. During his time in Sydney Travis also appeared in Hippolytos (Hippolytos, 2010) with SUDS, which toured to FAST Festival in Brisbane.