ANOTHER BIO!

KEEP THEM ROLLING IN.

This is a brief biography sent to us by Liz McNamara now Jones:

This is the current Liz

Liz completed a Bachelor of Arts at the ANU in 1965 and a Diploma of Education at Sydney University in 1966.

In 1996 she was awarded a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the ANU.
In 2005 and 2006 she completed a post graduate Diploma in Civil Celebrancy at Monash University.

In 1968 she worked as a Volunteer Graduate in Bogor, Indonesia teaching English in both a university and teachers college.

She then taught humanities in rural NSW and various parts of Melbourne for the next twenty years.  At Brunswick Girls High she founded a small community school for those who had difficulty fitting into the larger school setting.

Liz as Ann Bon 1881

In 1973, Liz commenced working as both an artist and staff member at La Mama Theatre in Carlton.  At the end of 1976 she became Artistic Director and Administrator.  This became her full time occupation in 1987 and she has held this position ever since.

As a performing artist, Liz has worked with the experimental ensemble led by Lloyd Jones continuously since 1973.  She also had major roles in a number of productions directed by Ariette Taylor, Humphrey Bower, Suzanne Chaundy, Lynne Ellis, David Pledger and Margaret Cameron and Emma Valente. Her most recent performances have been in APHIDS’ Care Instructions at the Malthouse and at the Transit Festival in Denmark in 2009 and in Ilbijerri/La Mama production Coranderrk : we will show the country in 2011 at the La Mama Courthouse and 2012 in the Indigenous Arts Festival.

Liz in Special 2011

Liz was awarded the 1994 Kenneth Myer Medallion for the Performing Arts by the Victorian Arts Centre Trust.  In February 2000 she was awarded the Sidney Myer ‘Facilitator’s’ Award.  In February 2001 was awarded The Green Room Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 2002 her name was placed on the Victorian Honor Roll of Women.  In 2008 she won the Dorothy Crawford AWGIE for Contribution to Script Writing.

In 1999 and 2000 she travelled to Europe, UK and USA as a Churchill Fellow to study the relationship between theatre and the community in key cities.

Liz has two children of her own, three step-children and eight grandchildren and is actively involved in their lives as thankfully they all live in Melbourne.  She lives in Williamstown, Victoria with her husband of 36 years Lloyd, and her cat and dog. When not at the theatre she enjoys listening to the radio, reading and swimming.

THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE SENT IN BIOS, BUT WE STILL HAVE TIME AND SPACE FOR MORE!