Upon graduation from The University of Western Sydney, Theatre Theory and Practice Degree (1996) Shondelle Pratt began work with Theatre in Education Company, Destination Education, where she toured both Australia and New Zealand delivering science and technology shows for primary and high school students. From there her passion to coach and instruct the next generation of performers resulted in completing a Diploma of Education and working as a Drama/ English/ Dance teacher for both primary and high school across the Met West Region of NSW including Westmead Children’s Hospital. This love of working with children and developing individualised programs of learning led to her working with Disney and the Really Useful Company as a classroom tutor for the touring companies of Mary Poppins, The Lion King and Love Never Dies. ACTING In 2005, Shondelle’s passion for acting led her to complete a Diploma in Acting from Ensemble Studios. She continued to work as a choreographer, resident teaching artist, and performer across television, film, cabaret and theatre. Her acting roles included ABC’s Crownies, Southern Star’s Deadly Women for Beyond International, the Channel 9 children’s show Magical Tales as well as the feature film Half Dead co-starring Peter Phelps and John Rhys Davies. She was also the co-writer, performer and producer of the award-winning web series, Bent 101 screened on Channel 7. In 2021 Shondelle worked with Aquarius films on their children's series- Born to Spy. Other theatre roles include the character of Snoopy in Snoopy the Musical, Bear Hunt and Showtime at Ensemble Theatre. In 2015, Shondelle performed in Squabbalogic’s sold-out production of The Man of La Mancha, along with industry legend Tony Sheldon. The live cast recording of this sell-out production is available through Squabbalogic. In 2016 she was invited to workshop and perform in the national tour of Diary of a Wombat with Monkey Baa Theatre Company. This resulted in an invitation to perform the show in Philadelphia at IPAY in 2017. CHOREOGRAPHY As a choreographer, Shondelle has worked over 30 years with theatre companies such as Pacific Opera, Ensemble Theatre, Squabbalogic, PACT, CDP and Mad March Hare Theatre Company, across multiple genres. Her work extends from Children’s theatre such as Bear Hunt for the Ensemble Theatre and The Australian tour of Mr Stink with CDP to Musical Theatre including A Year with Frog and Toad, which won the Glugg Award for Best Children’s Musical. She also choreographed the Australian Premieres of Carrie The Musical and Grey Gardens with director Jay James-Moody. Shondelle also has a passion for new Australian work. She choreographed the Australian premieres of playwright David Williamson’s, Managing Carmen and John Misto’s play Dark Voyager. In 2014 Shondelle was invited to workshop and perform with dance company, Force Majeure on their Sydney Festival show Nothing to Lose. She also worked with Marika Aubrey in her headlining cabaret act at Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Last of the Red Hot Mama’s and in 2019 choreographed Libby Wood and Maeve Marsden’s sell out show, Fat Musicals , directed by Anthea Williams, which went on to tour Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Kiki Comedy Festival and Malthouse Theatre. In 2022, She also choreographed A Christmas Carol for the Ensemble Theatre. INTIMACY DIRECTOR AND COORDINATOR As an internationally accredited intimacy director, coordinator and pedagog, Shondelle has worked with students at NIDA, VCA, Actors Centre Australia, AFTRS and JMC Academy. She shaped Metamorphosis for Clock and Spiel Theatre Company, Bengal Tiger at The Bagdad Zoo for Mad March Hare Theatre Company, which received an honourable mention in the 2017 Sydney Theatre Awards and The Chairs with Sara Biglafashir as part of the VCA directors’ showcase. Shondelle has collaborated with companies such as Mad March Hare in their work, Dark Vanilla Jungle, You Got Older and The Cripple of Inishmaan, which was nominated for a Glugg in 2020 as well as director Giles Gartrell-Mills in Where Do Little Birds Go? The Village Bike with director Rachel Chant and The Effect with director Andrew Henry. Shondelle has worked with Opera Australia's National Tour in West Side Story, How I Learned to Drive at NIDA, Albion with New Ghost Theatre which won Best Direction at The Sydney Theatre Awards in 2023. Shondelle's work last year travelled across: How To Defend Yourself at Redline, Daddy Developed a Pill for MIdsumma Festival and A Broadcast Coup at the Ensemble Theatre, Turn of The Screw by Tooth and Sinew, Jellyfish at New Theatre, Come Again with Purple Tape Productions and The Writer with 3rd year NIDA Students and director Zoe Hollyoak. Last year She worked with Rosa Campagnaro and Rebecca McNamee in their graduation shows, The Attempted Rape of Susannah or The Marriage of Figaro and Abigail Williams. Both shows were part of NIDA's Festival of Emerging Artists in 2023. This year her work can be seen in Frame Narrative, directed by Lucy Clements and Your Name directed by Lily Hayman. Shondelle also works in television and film as an IC, script consultant and accessibility coordinator. She has consulted with Modibodi on their new TikTok series, I'm Dying Inside with The Finch Company, Longneck Films feature Cooee and TikTok series, The Awakening . DIRECTOR AND Associate Director Shondelle has also assistant directed Spark Youth Theatre Company’s ground-breaking show Political Children, directed by Felicity Nicols, Wolf Lullaby with director Emma Louise and Falsetto’s with Stephen Colyer. In 2016 Shondelle directed the Babies Proms at The Sydney Opera House with the shows Vivaldi- The Four Seasons and Twas The Night Before Christmas. In 2017 She was invited to complete a Masters in Directing for Performance at the Victorian College of Arts. A highlight of her studies involved being invited to tour Alaska as a directing fellow with internationally renowned theatre company, Ping Chong and Company and their show ALAXSXA/ALASKA; a historical, political and social reflection from the perspectives of both the indigenous communities of Alaska and immigrants to the community. in 2019, Shondelle went on to work with David Venn Productions as resident director of the Melbourne Season of Bring it On the Musical, directed by Alistair Smith and choreographed by Mikey Ralph. After this she took part in a 6-month drama residency at The Aurora School, a community for deaf and deaf blind children under 5 years old with a focus on inclusive, accessible theatre practice. With the permission of Em’s Entertainment, she adapted the show Wombats Wild Weekend written by Wayne Tunks and created an immersive children’s musical, co-composing, directing and choreographing the show for neurodiverse children and their families. 2020 saw Shondelle awarded the Mike Walsh Fellowship for her research into inclusive accessible practice in theatre for young children. She traveled to the UK to work in a residency with Bamboozle Theatre Company and directors Christopher Davies and Sue Pycroft. A company specialising in theatre for children with special needs. Shondelle is currently living on the land of the Dharawal people in Sydney Australia and is represented by Working Management. |
Shondelle Pratt MEAA Member Director / Choreographer/ Intimacy Director / Educator / Actor Social Media: Linkedin Facebook Instagram Industry Profiles: IMDB Showcast AUSTRALIA Agency: Working Management Email: [email protected] Phone: +61 3 85989530 WWW: Working Management For all other inquiries, please use the Contact page. |