The Luminary Series

Zahra Newman and Donna Abela


Listen Later

Zahra Newman and Donna Abela discuss theatre in a “post-COVID” world and systemic racism in the rehearsal room.

A graduate of VCA, Zahra Newman has built an extensive list of theatre, television and film credits. In 2016 she was awarded an AACTA for Best New Talent, and received a 2017 Sydney Theatre Award for her performance as ‘Nabulungi’ in The Book of Mormon. Other industry recognitions include a Green Room Award, CGA Award and multiple Helpmann nominations. Theatre credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Love and Information for Sydney Theatre Company, Random, The Blind Giant is Dancing, Ivanov, The Government Inspector, Private Lives for Belvoir, Miss Julie, The Effect, The Mountain Top, The Cherry Orchard, Menagerie, Clybourne Park, The Drowsy Chaperone and Richard III for Melbourne Theatre Company and the critically acclaimed Wake in Fright for Malthouse/Sydney Opera House, which she also co-created.

Donna Abela is an award-winning playwright. Jump For Jordan won the 2015 AWGIE Award for Stage and the 2013 Griffin Playwriting Award, and is on the 2019-2022 HSC Drama Syllabus. Her body of work includes plays which have won AWGIE awards for radio (Spirit, Aurora’s Lament, Mrs Macquarie’s Cello), the Human Rights Award for Drama (Highest Mountain Fastest River), and were nominated for NSW Premiers Literary Awards (Tales From the Arabian Night, Jump For Jordan). For Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image, she wrote two large scale adaptations: Monkey … Journey to the West (2014 Brisbane Festival, 2015 Melbourne Festival, 2015 Sydney Opera House program) and Tales from the Arabian Nights, a widely produced play on refugee themes which was published by Currency Press in 2019.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Luminary SeriesBy Darlinghurst Theatre Company