Alison Walls (SGCNZ NSSP 1997)

Alison Walls is an actor, director, author and occasional puppeteer. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in theatre at The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York. She holds an MFA in acting from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in French from Victoria University of Wellington. Alison first encountered SGCNZ at Wellington East Girls’ College through the SGCNZ Sheilah Winn Festival of Shakespeare in Schools (now UOSWSF). In 1997 she was fortunate enough to be selected for the SGCNZ National Shakespeare Schools Production. She maintained her connection to SGCNZ, serving as a regional judge in 2013 and through her role as the Wellington Summer Shakespeare administrator/producer 2009-2012. She also performed the dual role of Catherine and Chorus for the Wellington Summer Shakespeare 2009 production, Henry V, and directed their 2013 production of Antony and Cleopatra.

Favourite creative projects include: Antony and Cleopatra (Wellington Summer Shakespeare, director), Fuddy Meers (BATS Theatre, director), The Kitchen at the End of the World (Circa Theatre/Greytown Arts Festival), When the Rain Stops Falling (Circa Theatre), Dog Sees God (BATS Theatre), Henry V (Wellington Summer Shakespeare), Lessen (Bailiwick Repertory Theatre), As You Like It (Communicable Arts); film: Bone Creek (Carolina Collaborations), and multiple independent shorts; TV: Passion in Paradise (TVNZ). Alison’s scholarly publications include a monograph on 19th century French literature with Peter Lang, as well as articles in The New Zealand Journal of French Studies, Language and Literature, Studies in Musical Theatre and The Tennessee Williams Annual Review. An essay in The Routledge Companion to African American Theatre and Performances is forthcoming in 2018. She is a proud member of New York non-profit theatre company, The Upstart Creatures.