Darren Gilshenan

Darren graduated from the 3 year Acting course at NIDA in 1988. Theatre credits include: Seventeen tours with the Bell Shakespeare Company; shows include The Government Inspector, The Servant of Two Masters, Comedy of Errors, War of The Roses, Henry IV, andMeasure for Measure. Snuggle Pot and Cuddle Pie(Sydney Festival/Company B), Urinetown and Ginger Meggs (Melbourne Theatre Company), Big River (Gordon Frost Entertainment), Moby Dick and Richard III(Queensland Theatre Company), Not Like Beckett(Northern Rivers Performing Arts), Last Cab to Darwin, The Players, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead(Pork Chop Productions), and will shortly appear in Elling for the Sydney Theatre Company.

TV and film credits include: Three years on Full Frontal (Channel 10/ 7 Network), Dossa and Joe the series (ABC/BBC), Derrick (Comedy Channel), Chandon Pictures series one and two (Movie Extra/ABC), Dark City (Director Alex Proyaz), Idiot Box (Director David Caesar), Liebermanns in the Sky (Director Richard Vilensky).

As a Director he has worked for the Bell Shakespeare Company, Spirit Entertainment, NIDA, and Pork Chop Productions. Most recently he directed The Servant of Two Masters for the Coogee Arts Festival and Popular Mechanicals for the NIDA third year actors.

As a teacher his classes include: devising, acting, comedy, Shakespeare, and improvisation. Teaching for NIDA, ATYP, Bell Shakespeare Company, McDonald College, Scots College, Griffin Theatre Company, ED5, Redlands College, and various drama festivals.

Darren has been nominated for various awards including a Sydney Critics Award for Government Inspector, Green Room Awards, a Logie for Outstanding Comedy Show (Derrick – Writer, Director and Actor) and an AFI for Best Comedy. He won the 2004 Helpmann Award for Best Actor in a Play as ‘Truffaldino’ in the Servant of Two Masters.