Melanie Beddie is an Australian actor, director,

dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

and acting teacher. She is founder and director of Branch Theatre Company.

Early life and education

Beddie completed a BA in English and Philosophy at

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

from 1981 to 1984. It was here, through an association with Sydney University Dramatic Society (SUDS) and she acted in and directed numerous productions with the society. She was President of SUDS in 1984. She moved from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to train as an actor at the Victorian College of Arts (VCA) School of Drama from 1985 to 1987. She later completed a PhD on actor training at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

Career

Beddie started her career with

Arena Theatre Company Arena Theatre Company is an Australian theatre company and a long-running producers of Theatre For Young Audiences. It was established as a professional company in 1968 as the Children's Arena Theatre and focused primarily on schools performance ...

, and continued to work nationally as an actor across a wide range of professional companies such as

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

(MTC), Playbox, Going Through Stages,

HotHouse Theatre HotHouse Theatre is a professional theatre company based in the Albury-Wodonga region on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia. It evolved from the Murray River Performing Group which was established in 1979. HotHouse Theatre is ...

, and Playworks and at the Australian National Playwrights Conferences. Beddie co-founded, with a group of other artists, an independent theatre company, the $5 Theatre Company, as funding became scarcer in the 1990s. They had a strong political motive in making theatre affordable, and played to full houses, showing that people did want to attend theatre. Appointed as a dramaturg, she helped develop the concept and practice of dramaturgy, which she says is "mostly about asking questions" – finding out what the kernel of the production is and helping to hone it towards that. She worked with

Andrew Bovell Andrew Bovell (born 1962) is an Australian writer for theatre, film and television. Life Bovell was born on 23 November 1962 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and completed his secondary school education in Perth. He graduated from the Universi ...

and others at $5 Theatre. In 1994 she appeared in ''Remember Ronald Ryan'', and in 2000 directed ''Violet Inc.'' at the

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD ...

. Beddie founded the Branch Theatre Company in 1998, still operational in 2018, which she uses for her own experimentation now and then.) She was resident dramaturg at the MTC from 1998 to 1999. She has directed productions at MTC, Playbox, HotHouse,

La Mama La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

, Playworks, and Hit Productions, as well as in smaller companies and in drama schools. In the 2000s, she learnt to extend the boundaries of dramaturgy. She has also taught at VCA. She co-founded Australian Women Directors Alliance (AWDA) in the 2000s, which advocated for more roles for women in theatre, particularly through the

, achieving a lot through "public shaming" of theatre boards. AWDA is still in existence . In February 2018 she directed ''Crazy Brave'' by

Michael Gurr Michael Gurr (29 October 1961 – 2 May 2017) was an Australian actor, playwright, author, speech writer and screenwriter. Early life Gurr was born in East Malvern, in Melbourne where his father was a kidney doctor at the Alfred Hospital and his ...

at La Mama. She has also appeared in a few short films and several television series, including ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'', ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for twelve years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted th ...

'' and ''

Halifax f.p. ''Halifax f.p.'' is an Australian television crime series produced by Nine Network from 1994 to 2002. The series stars Rebecca Gibney as Doctor Jane Halifax, a forensic psychiatrist (f.p.) investigating cases involving the mental state of suspe ...

''. She has published several papers on actor training and related topics, is teaches at the drama school at

Federation University Australia Federation University Australia (FedUni) is a public university based in Victoria, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the School of Mines Ballarat, established in 1870 as the fourth tertiary institution in Australia, which evolved to f ...

(since at least 2018).

Filmography

Television appearances

Film appearances

Recognition and awards

* Recipient of the inaugural Dramaturgy Fellowship from the

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and 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 announ ...

* Gloria Award from NIDA * Director's Choice Award for ''Infectious'', a cross-art form cabaret *

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...

for Best Director for ''Traitors'' by Stephen Sewell * 2001: Director of an award-winning production of ''Raindancers'' at MTC * 2009: Co-director, with

Rachael Maza Rachael Zoa Maza , also credited as Rachael Maza Long, is an Indigenous Australian television and film actress, and stage director. She is known for her role in the 1998 film ''Radiance'', and worked with Company B and Wesley Enoch in Sydney fo ...

, ''Sisters of Gelam'', nominated for a

Deadly Award The Deadly Awards, formally titled National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Arts and Community Awards and commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ac ...

References

External links

*
Branch Theatre Co.
on Facebook {{DEFAULTSORT:Beddie, Melaine Australian stage actresses Australian theatre directors Australian women theatre directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people)