Shari Sebbens facts for kids

Shari Sebbens is an Aboriginal Australian actress and stage director. She is well-known for her first movie role in The Sapphires (2012). She has also performed in many plays and TV shows.

After working for two years as a director at the Sydney Theatre Company (STC), she will direct plays for STC and Griffin in Sydney in 2023. She will also direct plays for Melbourne Theatre Company and Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne. Shari is also on the board of Back to Back Theatre.

Early Life and Education

Shari Sebbens was born and grew up in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. She is one of six children. Her father is from Sydney and has English family roots. Her mother, Annarella, is an Aboriginal Australian education worker from Broome, Western Australia. She comes from the Jabirr Jabirr and Bardi groups. Shari calls Australian music writer Jimmy Chi her uncle, even though they are not blood relatives. She is also the cousin of writer and film director Mitch Torres.

When she was a child, Shari wanted to be a palaeontologist (someone who studies fossils) or an astronaut. But at age thirteen, she watched the movie Radiance (1998). In it, she saw Indigenous actress Deborah Mailman, who would later be her co-star in The Sapphires. This movie inspired Shari to become an actress.

Shari finished high school at Darwin High School in 2001. After two and a half years in Nhulunbuy, when she was 19, she joined "SPARK." This was a theatre program that helped young artists, set up by the Australia Council for the Arts. At 20, she was accepted into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). There, she completed a one-year course in Aboriginal Theatre. After WAAPA, Shari got into the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. She studied acting full-time for three years and finished in 2009.

Acting and Directing Career

Screen Roles

In 2010, Shari Sebbens played Anna in a short film called Violet. By May 2012, she got a role in Redfern Now. This TV series was about "six city families whose lives change because of a small event."

Shari also got a role in The Sapphires (2012). This movie was based on a stage play by Tony Briggs. It was directed by Wayne Blair. Other stars included Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, and Miranda Tapsell. Shari played Kay McCrae, one of four Indigenous Australian singers. These singers traveled from Victoria to Vietnam to perform for American soldiers. The cast went to the movie's first showing at the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival in France in May 2012.

As of October 2022, Shari Sebbens has two new acting projects coming up for TV or movies. On August 19, 2024, it was announced that Shari would be part of the cast for the Australian version of The Office.

Theatre Performances and Direction

In 2012, Shari played Miri Smith and Currah in A Hoax with Griffin Theatre. In 2014, she was Dawn in Lobby Hero at Tap Gallery. In 2015, she played Mae in Radiance at Belvoir. In 2017, she was Charlotte Gibbons in STC's play Black is the New White in Sydney.

In 2019, she played Julia Hersey in Our Town by Black Swan State Theatre Company in Perth. In the same year, she played Carina in Meyne Wyatt's City of Gold. This was her last stage role for at least three years. She later directed this play herself in 2021.

In 2021, Shari Sebbens became one of the STC's resident directors. She was an assistant director for Wesley Enoch on STC's play Appropriate in March–April 2021.

Also in 2021, she directed STC's touring play The 7 Stages of Grieving by Enoch. Elaine Crombie starred in it. The play was supposed to happen in 2020 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. It was staged in Sydney, Adelaide, and Canberra in mid-2021. A new ending was added to the play. It encouraged the audience to take "seven actions of healing."

Shari is also a dramaturg (a person who helps with the play's story) for STC's 2022 play of Shakespeare's The Tempest. This play stars Richard Roxburgh and is directed by Kip Williams.

In 2023, she will direct plays for STC and Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney. She will also direct for Melbourne Theatre Company and Malthouse in Melbourne.

Other Activities

Shari Sebbens was a judge for the Patrick White Playwrights Award at STC in 2018.

After becoming STC's resident director, she hosted the TV series The Whole Table. This show was made by STC and NITV and aired in January–February 2021. She discussed topics with other experts like Wesley Enoch and Nakkiah Lui. Guests included famous people like Taika Waititi and Miranda Tapsell.

Awards and Recognition

• 2012: Nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Newcomer, for A Hoax
• 2013: Won a Logie Award for Most Outstanding New Talent at the Logie Awards of 2013, for Redfern Now
• 2019–2020: Named a Richard Wherrett Fellow
• 2023: Won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Direction of a Mainstage Production, for Fences

Filmography

Films

Television

Theatre (selection)

See also

In Spanish: Shari Sebbens para niños