Shari Sebbens

Shari Sebbens, an Aboriginal Australian actress and stage director, grew up in Darwin and trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts before studying acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, where she graduated in 2009. Her early screen credits include the short film Violet and the television series Redfern Now. Her breakthrough film role came in The Sapphires (2012), in which she played Kay McCrae, one of four Indigenous vocalists sent from Victoria to Vietnam to perform for American troops. On stage she appeared in A Hoax, Lobby Hero, Radiance, Black is the New White, Our Town and City of Gold. In 2021 she was appointed a resident director at STC, directing The 7 Stages of Grieving and working as dramaturg on The Tempest in 2022. She also directed for Griffin Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company and Malthouse, and hosted the television series The Whole Table.