Safe, Inclusive and Accommodating
My name is Elise Bagorski, and I'm a stage manager at Second Echo Ensemble.
SEE Stage Manager Elise Bagorski calling The Adventures production at the Sydney Opera House. Photo supplied.
I started out doing a lot of community theatre, mostly focusing on technical production, and stage management. I've started to take a couple of courses to develop that with mentorship at the Theatre Royal, Hobart. And recently I got to jump on board with Second Echo Ensemble to stage manage The Adventure of Peacock, Chicken and the Pony they Rode Upon.
As part of The Adventures, I also got to tour with SEE to Sydney for our opening season, which meant I had the unique opportunity at 21 to call a show at the Sydney Opera House.
“It’s changed everything about how I’m working with my practice.”
I got to see how professional stage managers work and the steps that they take, which is something that we don't get the opportunity to learn down here in Tasmania. It was completely unique, and it's something that I'm carrying forward and teaching other people.
I'm very neurodivergent. I'm on the spectrum. So a lot of the time I mask up very, very heavily and push away everything to work. But here at SEE I feel like I could be more myself. I bring the mask down a little bit, which is really rare. I get to be authentically myself while still learning and developing. In a technical production role, you have to be entirely switched on. But I can still be me and learn and develop and be honest and still thrive, which is really cool.
“It’s what I need to be doing, and I’m going to keep doing that.”
My first day at SEE, I was so nervous because it's all these people I looked up at, and it was a really, really big deal. Like we were going to be touring to Sydney, and that's huge for me. From a community theatre stage manager who is quite young and doesn't have any experience, I came in and there was a schedule on the board, and everyone was lovely and smiley, and it was just magic. I remember leaving that day and messaging my best friend saying, I've found what I want to be doing. I've found the environment I want to work in and the kind of environments that I want to create in my own practice as well.
“Safe, inclusive and accommodating. Accommodating is a huge one. It’s so professional in the way it works at SEE.”
I come from a lower socio-economic environment and a household that isn't focused on the arts at all. Very academic. And then I went to be an artist and jumped into the community theatre scene because there was nothing else I wanted to do. This is my one thing. I've done a lot of retail jobs, but nothing speaks to me the way that the arts does.
“If I couldn’t, if I didn’t have those opportunities, there would be nothing for me to do. I think it would severely impact my mental health because I’d lose my purpose.”
Every Story Counts. This #AusArtDay on 23 October, you can support artists shaping the future of Australian arts. Your donation - big or small - helps Second Echo Ensemble sustain bold, artist-led work that brings together artists with and without disability. Every contribution fuels collaboration, touring, and performances that celebrate visibility, connection, and belonging.
Second Echo Ensemble is proudly supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, the Tasmanian Government via Arts Tasmania, the Department of Social Services, our donors and volunteers. Our internet partner, Aussie Broadband, keeps us connected, while GoTransit Media Group supports the marketing of our 20th Anniversary season.
#EveryStoryCounts #CreativeAustralia
