Acting and Theatre
The VCA Acting and Theatre program produces some of Australia’s finest practitioners in both traditional and contemporary theatre.
Study Acting and Theatre at the VCA
Our Acting and Theatre program draws together the elements of contemporary theatre practice – writing, theatre making, devised work, actor skills, direction and stagecraft.
At undergraduate level the program is designed to train actors and theatre makers, incorporating voice, movement, performance and stagecraft.
Our graduate students focus on performance writing, theatre direction, theatre making, screen acting and voice acting. Their research contributes to the theory and practice of theatre in Australia.
BFA Acting and BFA Theatre
Our students work creatively and collaboratively to explore contemporary and traditional theatre and performance practice. They investigate their craft intellectually while contributing to the creation of new works for public performance.
Studio practice is the core of the training with an emphasis on collaboration with skilled staff, industry figures and peers.
Acting and Theatre Courses
Undergraduate
Visit the University of Melbourne course site to find out more on undergraduate courses
Graduate
Visit the University of Melbourne course site to find out more on graduate courses
Want to know more?
Get information on the courses you’re interested in, or ask our team a question.

2025 Graduating Season
Take a look at the exciting performances of our graduating Acting and Theatre students.
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Showcase
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A Little Touch of Chaos
-VCA Music Theatre & VCA Design and Production present 'A Little Touch of Chaos'.- Performance
- Graduation Show
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Tales from the Arabian Nights
-VCA Acting & VCA Design and Production present 'Tales from the Arabian Nights'- Performance
- Graduation Show
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we are all animals
-The Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music present 'we are all animals', an interdisciplinary Dance work in collaboration with Design & Production, Music Composition and Music Performance students.- Performance
- Graduation Show
VCA events
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Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Concert Band #3 2026
Wednesday 26 August 2026 7:00pm - 9:00pmThe Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Concert Band returns to the Kenneth Myer Auditorium for its third concert of the year with a program highlighting contemporary wind band music and Australian composers. The ensemble continues its consortium premiere project with Holly Harrison’s latest wo...- Event
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The bride revisited
Thursday 27 August 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pmJoin us for a semi-staged recital interweaving Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben with Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s One Life Stand. Placing two women in dialogue across nearly two centuries, the performance reimagines a familiar song cycle through contemporary perspectives on love, memory, loss, re...- Event
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Networked Flesh
26 August 2026 - 28 August 2026Dancers and digital entities slip between what is and isn’t human. Soft, pink and tender, AI-generated forms emerge through the screen of your device in real time and enter the performance space: like bodily organisms suspended between flesh and code. Using a QR code and your phone, the a...- Event
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Networked Flesh
26 August 2026 - 28 August 2026Dancers and digital entities slip between what is and isn’t human. Soft, pink and tender, AI-generated forms emerge through the screen of your device in real time and enter the performance space: like bodily organisms suspended between flesh and code. Using a QR code and your phone, the a...- Event
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Networked Flesh
26 August 2026 - 28 August 2026Dancers and digital entities slip between what is and isn’t human. Soft, pink and tender, AI-generated forms emerge through the screen of your device in real time and enter the performance space: like bodily organisms suspended between flesh and code. Using a QR code and your phone, the a...- Event
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Networked Flesh
26 August 2026 - 28 August 2026Dancers and digital entities slip between what is and isn’t human. Soft, pink and tender, AI-generated forms emerge through the screen of your device in real time and enter the performance space: like bodily organisms suspended between flesh and code. Using a QR code and your phone, the a...- Event
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Networked Flesh
26 August 2026 - 28 August 2026Dancers and digital entities slip between what is and isn’t human. Soft, pink and tender, AI-generated forms emerge through the screen of your device in real time and enter the performance space: like bodily organisms suspended between flesh and code. Using a QR code and your phone, the a...- Event
View event -
Networked Flesh
26 August 2026 - 28 August 2026Dancers and digital entities slip between what is and isn’t human. Soft, pink and tender, AI-generated forms emerge through the screen of your device in real time and enter the performance space: like bodily organisms suspended between flesh and code. Using a QR code and your phone, the a...- Event
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Melba Hall 13: Wind Symphony
Monday 31 August 2026 1:10pm - 2:00pmThe much-loved Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series returns for Semester 2 2026. Each week will feature a different instrument or area, performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and facilitated by academic staff. Join us for an intimate ...- Event
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Jazz & Improvisation staff and students in concert #2 2026
Tuesday 1 September 2026 7:30pm - 8:30pmThe Jazz & Improvisation department celebrate the rich diversity and brilliance of the Australian jazz and improvised music community in this concert, featuring many of their staff and students performing a wide range of repertoire side by side. This recital is presented as part of the Ha...- Event
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MCM Philharmonic Orchestra: Beethoven’s 1st and 8th
Wednesday 2 September 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pmLudwig van Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 1 and No. 8 frame an extraordinary journey through his orchestral writing. Composed more than a decade apart, they reveal both his deep respect for the Classical tradition and his unmistakable originality. The First Symphony (1800) pays tribute to the ele...- Event
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Twilight
Friday 4 September 2026 8:00pm - 9:30pmAssociate Professor and Principal Fellow Dr Zachary Dunbar presents a piano recital at Tempo Rubato Brunswick. The recital is built around the theme of twilight. From Adès’ otherworldly Darknesse Visible to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Zachary explores music that captures the nostalgia and s...- Event
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Xerxes
2 September 2026 - 5 September 2026Presented by the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Opera Performance and VCA Design & Production Stage Direction by Jane Davidson Music Direction by Donald Nicolson Handel’s Xerxes (composed in 1738) is where love triangles, mistaken identities and bold disguises collide. Featuring ...- Event
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Southbank Series: In Full Flight
Saturday 5 September 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pmThe second concert in the Southbank Series draws together four composers across three centuries, each with a distinct voice. Program Igor Stravinsky Danses Concertantes Carl Nielsen Flute ConcertoLisa-Maree Amos, Section Principal Flute Paul Stanhope ApolloLudwig van Beethoven Sympho...- Event
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Clarinet Mega Day 2026
Sunday 6 September 2026 9:30am - 7:00pmWe’re inviting clarinet players of all ages and abilities to come experience a day at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music! This jam-packed day will provide participants with the opportunity to engage in masterclasses, rehearsals, panel discussions, meet with like-minded musicians and perform so...- Event
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Melba Hall 14: String Ensemble
Monday 7 September 2026 1:10pm - 2:00pmThe much-loved Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series returns for Semester 2 2026. Each week will feature a different instrument or area, performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and facilitated by academic staff. Join us for an intimate ...- Event
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Lyrebird Brass: the timeless and the new
Tuesday 8 September 2026 7:30pm - 8:30pmJoin us for an extraordinary musical journey bridging centuries and styles. The program opens with elegant compositions by French Baroque master Jean-Philippe Rameau arranged here for brass quintet, followed by From Clans of Land and Sea by ANU Professor Chris Sainsbury, a prominent First Nat...- Event
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Melba Hall 15: Brass Chamber Music
Monday 14 September 2026 1:10pm - 2:00pmThe much-loved Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series returns for Semester 2 2026. Each week will feature a different instrument or area, performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and facilitated by academic staff. Join us for an intimate ...- Event
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Echoes of song
Tuesday 15 September 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pmThis recital explores the cello as a singer without words. From Chopin’s deeply lyrical Etude op. 25 no. 7, originally written for piano, to Schubert’s beloved Arpeggione Sonata, a work renowned for its beautiful song-like qualities, this program highlights the instrument’s unique ability to embo...- Event
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Collisions 2026
5 August 2026 - 16 September 2026Collisions brings together musicians, dancers and artists for a night of cross-disciplinary improvisation and collaboration. Celebrating spontaneity, experimentation and the new - Collisions is a series of interdisciplinary improv nights curated by students from the Conservatorium Jazz and Im...- Event
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Melba Hall 16: Cello Ensemble
Monday 21 September 2026 1:10pm - 2:00pmThe much-loved Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series returns for Semester 2 2026. Each week will feature a different instrument or area, performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and facilitated by academic staff. Join us for an intimate ...- Event
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Bach and Shostakovich
Tuesday 22 September 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pmContrast and transformation: Bach’s Goldberg Variations unfold in a new form, with variations shared between the solo piano original and Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s string trio transcription. This interplay of textures reveals unexpected colours in one of music’s most iconic works. Completing the progra...- Event
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Melba Hall 17: Guitar Showcase
Monday 5 October 2026 1:10pm - 2:00pmThe much-loved Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series returns for Semester 2 2026. Each week will feature a different instrument or area, performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and facilitated by academic staff. Join us for an intimate ...- Event
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Masters & Apprentices: the music of Kris Davis
Tuesday 6 October 2026 7:30pm - 8:30pmThe Jazz & Improvisation department celebrate the music of Canadian jazz pianist and composer, Kris Davis. This special project large ensemble features J&I third-year and Honours students alongside their director Andrea Keller. Previous directors have included Melissa Aldana (Chile/US...- Event
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Melba Hall 18: Chamber Choir
Monday 12 October 2026 1:10pm - 2:00pmThe much-loved Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series returns for Semester 2 2026. Each week will feature a different instrument or area, performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and facilitated by academic staff. Join us for an intimate ...- Event
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Canticles, rivers and horns: a homage to Britten
Tuesday 13 October 2026 7:30pm - 8:30pmJoin tenor Michael Petruccelli, pianist Andrea Katz, and horn player Carla Blackwood as they mark the 50th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s passing. This special program pairs Britten’s deeply expressive 20th-century masterpieces with the timeless lyricism of his favorite composer, Franz Sch...- Event
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Melba Hall 19: Chamber Competition Finals
Monday 19 October 2026 1:10pm - 2:00pmThe much-loved Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series returns for Semester 2 2026. Each week will feature a different instrument or area, performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and facilitated by academic staff. Join us for an intimate ...- Event
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Dedications
Tuesday 20 October 2026 7:30pm - 8:30pmThe Sutherland Trio (Caroline Almonte, Molly Kadarauch and Elizabeth Sellars) together with their friends Danielle and Luca Arcaro perform an all-Australian program of works connected to the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music community. Featuring two world premieres, ‘Songs for Manny’ by Ella Mace...- Event
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Keyboard Festival 2026: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Complete Preludes and Fugues Opus 87
31 October 2026 - 1 November 2026The Keyboard Area staff of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music invites pianists and music lovers alike for a rare opportunity to hear the complete 24 Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich at the 2026 Keyboard Festival. Among the most distinguished pianists in Australia, these performan...- Event
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Keyboard Festival 2026: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Complete Preludes and Fugues Opus 87
31 October 2026 - 1 November 2026The Keyboard Area staff of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music invites pianists and music lovers alike for a rare opportunity to hear the complete 24 Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich at the 2026 Keyboard Festival. Among the most distinguished pianists in Australia, these performan...- Event
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Southbank Series: Worlds Within
Saturday 5 December 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pmThe final concert of the 2026 Southbank Series brings the season to a deeply reflective close under the direction of Eivind Aadland, Chief Conductor of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Program Missy Mazzoli: These Worlds in Us for Chamber Orchestra Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen fo...- Event
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Gender Defying Jazz 2026
8 November 2026 - 6 December 2026Gender Defying Jazz (GDJ) is a program run by Andrea Keller, Head of Jazz & Improvisation at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne. Beginning in 2017 and originally called Girls Do Jazz, the name of the program has been changed to Gender Defying Jazz, to more truly re...- Event
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News
University of Melbourne and ILBIJERRI Theatre Company partner to foster First Nations artistic excellence
- Indigenous Arts and Culture
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
- Partnerships
- Wilin Centre For Indigenous Arts And Cultural Development
New round of VCA50 Creative Development Grants supports seven emerging artists
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Prizes and Awards
- Giving
- Visual Art
- Theatre
- Design
- Research
Theatre for young audiences should be seen as critical for children’s cultural agency
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
University of Melbourne confers Honorary Doctorate on First Nations theatre practitioner Rachael Maza AM
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
New adaptation of Rebecca is visually haunting, but misses the core tensions of the original story
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship supports projects exploring truth-telling and celestial knowledge
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
- Indigenous Arts and Culture
Destiny is a fierce new stage show exploring love, loss and rebellion under the shadow of apartheid South Africa
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
Vivid, thrilling and ghastly: new theatrical adaptation of The Birds evokes climate disaster, terrorism and lockdown
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
The subtle theatre of Australia’s election season
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
Unique performance co-created by VCA Theatre students to feature at Alter State festival
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
Magnificent and humbling: Paris opening ceremony was a tribute to witnessing superhuman feats of the extraordinary
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
'I didn’t know theatre for young people could be so radical and innovative': Meet VCA graduate Sophia Derkenne
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
'We need your voice, not the voice you think the world needs': Meet VCA grad Amy Sole
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
VCA graduate Maki Morita on the power of community, creativity and theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
‘There’s always an opportunity somewhere’: Meet VCA alum Jacob Boehme
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
- Writing
Meet Mr Vic NAIDOC 2023
- Theatre
- Wilin Centre For Indigenous Arts And Cultural Development
- Victorian College of the Arts
Won’t somebody please think of the children? Their agency is ignored in the moral panic around drag storytime
Oh naur: Why TikTok is laughing at the Aussie accent
The Grief Trilogy: VCA alum Liv Satchell's plays explore connection in the face of loss
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Alumni
- Writing
- Theatre
PhD student Meta Cohen plays at the intersection of queerness, theatricality and sound
- Research
- Theatre
- Alumni
- Victorian College of the Arts
Head of Theatre, Associate Professor Chris Mead discussed his latest book on ABC Radio National
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Staff stories
From Melbourne to London with promiscuous/cities
- Theatre
- Staff stories
- International
Palawa and Wiradjuri theatremaker Nicola Ingram on why she makes theatre
- Wilin Centre For Indigenous Arts And Cultural Development
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Wilin 20th
'Good art can re-wire our brains': Meet Dr Kat Henry, Theatre lecturer at the University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Staff stories
- Victorian College of the Arts
Art, identity, and 'in time': Meet Alkisti Pitsaki, Master of Theatre (Directing) graduate
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Alumni
Meet Chris Mead, Head of Theatre at the University of Melbourne
- Acting
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Raimondo Cortese, course coordinator of the Master of Theatre (Writing) at the University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Writing
- Victorian College of the Arts
Feral queerness – an interview with Associate Professor Alyson Campbell
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Research
- Theatre
Dr Sarah Woodland: 'Social justice is a connective tissue in my applied theatre work'
- Research
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
Portland House Foundation Harry Hains Memorial Scholarship provides new opportunities in Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts
- Giving
- Prizes and Awards
- Film and Television
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Andrew Upton at the VCA: 'The blank page is humiliating, shaming, disgraceful, terrifying'
- Alumni
- Theatre
- Writing
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Alyson Campbell, Associate Professor in Theatre at the University of Melbourne
- Staff stories
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Jane Schon, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre) student at the University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Steph Kehoe, Course Coordinator of the BFA (Theatre) at the University of Melbourne
- Staff stories
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Henry Kelly, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre) graduate at the University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Alumni
Meet Morgan Rose, graduate of the Master of Theatre (Writing) at the University of Melbourne
- Alumni
- Theatre
- Writing
- Victorian College of the Arts
Dear Australia – new Australian performance writing
- Alumni
- Theatre
- Writing
- Victorian College of the Arts
Protect your voice on Zoom, with vocal coach Amy Hume
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
Alumni collaborate on Asia TOPA's The Seen and Unseen
- Alumni
- Design
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Robert Walton on Child of Now and bringing your heart to work
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Theatre
- Research
Chris Kohn, VCA lecturer: putting diversity centre stage
- Research
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Richard Frankland says 2002 play about deaths in custody is sadly still relevant
- Wilin Centre For Indigenous Arts And Cultural Development
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Five Questions for Caitlin Overton, Master of Theatre (Directing) student
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Claire Bird, Theatre student at the University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
What's a girl? Just ask Ellen Grimshaw
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
New graduate-level voice training for stage and screen at the University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Kliment Poposki, Master of Dramaturgy, University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Alumni
Capital D Disability in Theatre with Julie McNamara at the University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Winging It – a web series produced by the University of Melbourne
- Film and Television
- Writing
- Interactive Composition
- Theatre
- Acting
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Tom Richards, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) graduate, University of Melbourne
- Acting
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Meet Sarah Vickery, Master of Directing for Performance student, University of Melbourne
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Acting it Out: a new VCA Theatre initiative to increase diversity
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Alumni
Hollywood actor Jane BadlerHains: from V to the VCA
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Acting
Hell’s Canyon playwright Emily Sheehan and actor Conor Leach in conversation
- Writing
- Theatre
- Alumni
- Acting
- Victorian College of the Arts
How to throw a stage punch (and keep your teeth)
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Staging change: supporting diversity in Australian theatre
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
The theatre of fake news: Polygraph speaks truth to a post-truth era
- Production
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Five questions for Chris Kohn, Coordinator of the Master of Directing for Performance
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Staff stories
Meet Kim Ho, Master of Writing for Performance student
- Writing
- Theatre
- Alumni
- Victorian College of the Arts
Patrick White Playwrights’ Award recipient Kim Ho: putting cross-cultural stories centre stage
- Writing
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
The Crucible: outworn or reborn?
- Theatre
- Acting
- Music Performance
- Victorian College of the Arts
How I launched a web series concept then lost control
- Film and Television
- Interactive Composition
- Production
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Vanitas has been nominated for a Webby – vote now
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
- Prizes and Awards
Comedian Louisa Wall: ‘You don’t need people to want you’
- Alumni
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Frances and the Inclusion Rider? We need equitable access to arts training
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
Listen: For the love of the stage, featuring Rinske Ginsberg
- Acting
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts
AntigoneX: Greek tragedy, with beach balls
- Alumni
- Research
- Theatre
- Victorian College of the Arts