ELENA CARAPETIS

Elena is an acting graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and the former Resident Artist at State Theatre Company South Australia (2017 to 2019). Her credits for STCSA include Dance Nation, A View From the Bridge, After Dinner, Macbeth, Uncle Vanya, The Comedy of Errors, Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll, Othello, Features Of Blown Youth, Hot Fudge, Central Park West, Rumpelstiltskin, Gorgon, A Doll’s House, Sista Girl and The
Gods of Strangers (writing).

She’s also performed in work for Bell Shakespeare, Windmill Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Vitalstatistix, Brink Productions, Flying Penguin, Malthouse, The Misery Children, Theatre Republic and Belvoir. She was the recipient of a Sydney Theatre Award for her performance in Lachlan Philpott’s Truck Stop at the Q Theatre.
Screen acting credits include After Taste, The Hunting, Blue Heelers, Water Rats, All Saints, Murder Call, Children’s Hospital, Heartbreak High, Marking Time (Television), Dead Europe, Burning Man, One Eyed Girl, Look Both Ways and Bad Blood (Film).

Her first play The Good Son premiered with a sellout season and earned her a 2015 Adelaide Critics Circle Award as the writer. Her second play Helen Back was shortlisted for the Adelaide Festival Jill Blewett Award for Playwriting. Elena was commissioned by State Theatre Company South Australia to write a play for their 2016 education program. The result was Ruby Award-winning Gorgon. Elena joined the company full-time as Resident Artist following this and also had her plays Sista Girl (co-written by Alexis West), A Doll’s House and the trilingual work The Gods of Strangers performed as part of STCSA seasons.

She was one of the playwrights invited to write for the online series Dear Australia in 2020 (for Playwriting Australia and Australian Plays) and performed her own piece titled ‘On Xenia’, and wrote the monologue ‘Olivier’ for STCSA / ActNow’s online project Decameron 2.0.

In 2019 Elena made her main-stage directing debut for STCSA with End Of The Rainbow starring Helen Dallimore. For the 2021 Adelaide Fringe she directed and dramaturged Unsung performed by Amelia Ryan and Libby O’Donovan and Euromash by Johanna Allen. She was also dramaturg on Ezra Juanta’s one-man show Blood, Sweat and Karaoke. She is
currently preparing to direct The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race as part of State Theatre Company’s 2021 main-stage season.

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Elena is the daughter of Greek and Cypriot migrants and currently lives on Kaurna land.