Jenny Kemp is an Australian theatre director and writer. __NOTOC__

Career

The daughter of artist

Roger Kemp Francis Roderick Kemp AO, OBE, (Eaglehawk, 3 July 1908 - Melbourne 14 September 1987), known as Roger, was one of Australia's foremost practitioners of transcendental abstraction. Kemp developed a system of symbols and motifs which were deployed ...

, Kemp trained for one year at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. She next worked in experimental theatre in England before returning to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, where she attended a five-month workshop with Rowena Balos. She next joined Rob Meldrum in the Stasis Group, an alternative theatre company, at The Pram Factory. Kemp directed student productions at the Rusden College of Advanced Education and went on to teach at the Victorian College of the Arts. She has been an honorary research associate at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

and has received an

Australia Council for the Arts The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

fellowship. Her texts are often inspired by the visual art of Belgian painter

Paul Delvaux Paul Delvaux (; 23 September 1897 – 20 July 1994) was a Belgian painter noted for his dream-like scenes of women, classical architecture, trains and train stations, and skeletons, often in combination. He is often considered a surrealist, alt ...

. She has worked with Melbourne Theatre Company, the State Theatre Company of South Australia, Malthouse Theatre, the

Australian Performing Group The Australian Performing Group (APG) was a Melbourne-based experimental theatre repertory ensemble formed in an official capacity in 1970 from the La Mama theatre group. Created to address a dissatisfaction with Australia's theatrical climate, th ...

Playbox Theatre The Playbox Theatre was a theatre located at 53-55 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, Australia, from 1927 to 1984. It became the home of the Playbox Theatre Company, previously Hoopla! and later Malthouse Theatre. History The theatre seating ...

and

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat D ...

. She is writer and artistic director for Black Sequin Productions.

Awards

Kemp has been awarded the

Kenneth Myer Medallion for the Performing Arts Kenneth Baillieu Myer, (1 March 1921 – 30 July 1992) was an American-born Australian patron of the arts, humanities and sciences; diplomat, administrator, businessman and philanthropist. He was a member of the notable Melbourne retailing Myer ...

and

Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

for her work as a director and for her collaboration in dance.

Selected works

* ''Goodnight Sweet Dreams'' (1986) * ''Call of the Wild'' (1989) * ''Remember'' (1992) * '' The Black Sequin Dress'' (1996) * ''Still Angela'' (2002) * ''Kitten'' (2008) * ''Madeleine'' (2010)

References

External links

Jenny Kemp
in AusStage database {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Jenny 1949 births Living people Australian women dramatists and playwrights Australian theatre directors Australian women theatre directors National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni Academic staff of Monash University Artists from Melbourne