People
Rachael Maza
Dance Artist (Alumni)
Rachael Maza is Yidinji from North Queensland, Meriam from the Torres Strait Island of Mer (Murray), and Dutch on her mother’s side. Currently the Artistic Director of Ilbijerri Theatre Company, Rachael worked with Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1994, playing a lead role in the production NINNI. Rachael brings with her a wealth of acting, directing and dramaturgical experience, a significant profile, and a passionate vision for Indigenous theatre.
People
Heritage
Rachael Maza is Yidinji from North Queensland, Meriam from the Torres Strait Island of Mer (Murray), and Dutch on her mother’s side.
People
Bio
Rachael Maza is Yidinji from North Queensland, Meriam from the Torres Strait Island of Mer (Murray), and Dutch on her mother’s side. Rachael worked with Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1994, playing a lead role in the production NINNI.
Rachael is Artistic Director of Ilbijerri Theatre Company and brings with her a wealth of acting, directing and dramaturgical experience, a significant profile, and a passionate vision for Indigenous theatre.
Rachael Maza is one of the most recognisable faces of the Australian film, television and theatre industry, with performance credits including the Australian Film Institute Award-winning Radiance, and the stage production of The Sapphires.
A Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts graduate, Rachael’s outstanding performances have been acknowledged with a Green Room Award and a Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Award. Rachael has also worked as a presenter for ABC Message Stick and as an acting coach on films such as the multi-award-winning Rabbit Proof Fence.
Rachael first worked with Ilbijerri Theatre Company in 1992, as Director of Stolen, and in 2008 joined the company as Artistic Director. Since then she has directed works including Sisters of Gelam (2009), Jack Charles V The Crown (2010), Foley (2011), Beautiful One Day (2012) and Which Way Home (2016).
Rachael currently sits on the board of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is a member of the Circus Oz Indigenous Advisory Panel, the Australian Opera Indigenous Advisory Panel and the Green Room Awards Theatre Company Panel.
Rachael’s considerable contribution to the cultural landscape has been recognised through multiple awards, including the Touring Legend Drover Award, 2017, the inaugural Alumni Graduate Award from Edith Cowan University (2019), and the Australia Council of the Arts Award for Theatre (2019), as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts from Edith Cowan University (2019).