Belvoir has announced that Yuwaalaraay actor, screenwriter, and playwright, Hannah Belanszky as the 2025 Balnaves Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellow.
Hannah’s debut play don’t ask what the bird look like premiered at Queensland Theatre in 2023, and was a finalist for the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting as well as the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award. In 2024, she was commissioned by Australian Theatre for Young People to write Saplings, directed by Abbie-Lee Lewis (2024 Balnaves Associate, Counting and Cracking).
Hannah’s other impressive writing credits include co-writing QUT Acting’s (Tight in the Bud), co-writing Playlab Theatre and Metro Arts (Rising), writing, directing, and performing in her cabaret The Wives of Wolfgang which won Best Cabaret at the Adelaide Fringe weekly awards, with seasons also at Fringe World Perth and Brisbane Powerhouse. Hannah was also selected by Netflix for the Grow Creative writer’s program.
“I want to see black women on stage being complicated and flawed and making mistakes and living in our world, now. And I want to write my truth,” says Hannah. “There is such diversity of voice and experience in our mob that I want to share.”
Hannah will spend the next 18 months as a resident artist at Belvoir, working on her new work CLAIR – about a woman who develops a secret addiction to phone readings with her clairvoyant, John. It explores what we’re yearning to hear, a way we hope to be perceived, a deeper meaning, assurance, or connection we’re searching for to relieve the fear and loneliness that is navigating uncertainty.
“Congratulations to Hannah Belanzsky on being awarded the 2025 Balnaves Fellowship at Belvoir St Theatre!” said Hamish Balnaves, CEO of The Balnaves Foundation.
“Through our partnership with Belvoir, the Foundation is proud to support the next generation of Indigenous theatre makers to create new works that enrich and inspire us through diverse storytelling.”
“We are excited to see what Hannah will be able to achieve in her creative process through the Fellowship.”
For more information about the Balnaves Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship, visit: www.belvoir.com.au for details.
Image: Hannah Belanzsky – photo by Stephen Wilson Barker