Brittanie Shipway is a Gumbaynggirr and Turkish storyteller, whose creative practise encompasses singing, acting, writing and dramaturgy.

 

She wrote and starred in her debut play A Letter For Molly at the Ensemble Theatre, under the directorial helm of Ursula Yovich. A Letter For Molly  was a semi-finalist piece in the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award and nominated for Broadway World Awards 'Best Play'.

Her next play Senser, premiered at Theatre Works, directed by Miranda Middleton and featuring original music by composer Jess Newman and Brittanie Shipway. 

Brittanie won the APRA AMCOS Professional Development Awards (Music Theatre) and the prestigious Dreaming Award from Creative Australia for  her musical Yellow Rock. 

Brittanie has also written for ABC Radio and SBS Voices. As a dramaturg, Brittanie has worked on Laura Murphy's musical Zombie! (Critics' Choice Award for Best Musical - Time Out) at The Hayes and Hannah Reilly's new musical The Deb which opened at ATYP's new Rebel Theatre in 2022. She has been director and dramaturg on several musical theatre developments, including Cassie Hamilton's A Transgender Woman On The Internet, Crying at Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

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Her foray into directing has delightfully snowballed in 2025, kicking off with a national tour of Waltzing The Wilarra by David Milroy, before directing the Tony Award winning musical Once On This Island at The Hayes Theatre Co. She will be directing The Witches of Eastwick with Neglected musicals at The Hayes Theatre Co later in the year.

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As a performer, Brittanie has made her mark at the Sydney Opera House as Hermia in Bell Shakespeare's worldwide premiere of The Lovers. She recently starred as Margaret Whitlam in the new Australian musical The Dismissal, as well as a national tour of Rolling Thunder Vietnam with the John Farnham band. She has also performed alongside Natalie Bassingthwaite and Paulini as the Arbiter in Chess, Kay in a national tour of The Sapphires,  The Witch in Big Fish, Claire in Ordinary Days, Lauren in Kinky Boots, Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar, Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Bianca in Othello and various roles in Sport for Jove’s epic Rose Riot, to name a few.  

 

Brittanie is passionate about diverse stories being told on Australian stages, and has worked closely with Theatre Works to create a playwriting program First Stories to empower First Nations storytellers. She hopes to leave behind a legacy that encourages artists to breathe voice into their own stories, and forge their own path in the creative industry.