Helen Buday

Helen grew up in Melbourne and began dance classes (tap, jazz and classical) at the age of 8. She attended the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music majoring in voice (mezzo soprano) and graduated from NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) in 1983. Her film roles include Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (Savannah Nix), For Love Alone, Dingo and Alexandra's Project for which she won Best Actress at the Valladolid International Film Festival in 2003. Her work in theatre is extensive with a breadth of range that encompasses the classics as well as contemporary writing and new works in development. She has worked for all the subsidised theatre companies in Australia as well as the supportive companies including Anthill in Melbourne, The Blue Room in Perth and the Q Theatre in Penrith. Her roles include Nora in The Doll's House and Jenny in Threepenny Opera for Belvoir Street Theatre, fifteen plays for Sydney Theatre Company including Marjorie Pinchwife in the Country Wife, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Helena in Midsummer Night's Dream and Lady Macbeth. She has also played in numerous musical theatre productions including Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady for MTC and the VSO, Sally Bowles in Cabaret for STC of SA and Mrs Housemann in the original staged version of Dirty Dancing which toured Australia and New Zealand. She also directs an Australian film festival in south west France and lives between Australia and France.