Ailsa Piper

Acting

Piper worked as an actor in theatre in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne from the early 1980s until 2000. She made her first appearance on TV in 1984 in the made-for-television film Man of Letters, but is best known for playing Ruth Wilkinson in long-running soap opera Neighbours from 1996 until 1999. She reprised the role in a cameo for the series' 20th anniversary special in 2005.^[5]

Piper is also an accomplished narrator of audio books, and continues to work in this field. In 2016, she narrated "Hope Farm" by Peggy Frew and "The Natural Way of Things" by Charlotte Wood. She also performs a monologue based on the influence of poetry in her life and in particular, on her walking. This was first broadcast on ABC Radio's "Poetica" programme, and has since been adapted by Piper for live performance.

Writing and directing

Piper has written for ABC Radio, for the theatre, and for The Age, The Australian, Slow Living magazine and Eureka Street as well as various online journals.

In 2000, she was a co-winner of the Patrick White Playwrights' Award for her drama Small Mercies.^[6] In 2012, Bell Shakespeare produced a version of The Duchess of Malfi, which was co-adapted by Piper.^[7] Piper has directed for Red Stitch, the Melbourne Theatre Company, the VCA, WAAPA and Shy Tiger Productions. Her production of The Night Season was nominated for a Green Room Award for direction.

While working on Neighbours, Piper studied an MA in Creative Writing at University of Melbourne, which prompted her to start writing books. In 2012, her first book, a travel memoir called "Sinning Across Spain" was published by Melbourne University Press.^[8] Her next book, "The Attachment: Letters from a Most Unlikely Friendship", detailing a collection of letters between herself and a Catholic priest, was published by Allen & Unwin in 2017. It was co-authored by Tony Doherty. Her third book, "For Life: A Memoir of Living, Dying – and Flying", published by Allen & Unwin and released in 2024, is a story of recovery from grief and trauma. It took her eight years to write.^[9]

Piper has served on numerous boards, and has five times judged the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards – four times for Drama and once for Fiction. She chaired the judging panel for the 2016 and 2017 NSW Premiers Award for Drama.

Piper is an accomplished moderator and interviewer and regularly hosts conversations at literary festivals or libraries.^{[citation needed]}

Television

Theatre

Audio book narration

Books