Shakespeare South Studio —Creative Practice Lab
Alys Daroy
Alys Daroy, Terry Mendoza Photography
Julius Santiago Photography
Alys Daroy with Michaela Burger for Shakespeare South. Natalia Petrenko Photography
Alys Daroy, Terry Mendoza Photography
Shakespeare South Studio was founded by Alys Daroy and grew from her combined academic and theatrical practice. The Studio provides a collaborative laboratory for experimental creative research in ecological performance, Shakespeare and interdisciplinary arts practice.
Alys holds a PhD from Monash University and the University of Warwick, specialising in Shakespeare, biophilic design, ecocriticism and ecoperformance. She is co-author, with Paul Prescott, of Shakespeare, Ecology and Adaptation for the Arden Shakespeare series (2025), and, with Joshua Zeunert, of Sydney’s Food Landscapes: Agriculture, Planning, Sustainability (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025).
Her recent creative research has been presented at the European Cultural Centre during the Venice Biennale, FORM Gallery WA, the Conservatorio di Verona and Phoenix Arts Sydney, among other venues. Her scholarly work has appeared in Stanislavski Studies, Performance Research, RiDE, EJES and other publications, with chapters in collections including Critical Approaches to the Australian Blue Humanities and Woke Shakespeare.
Her current research develops biophilic approaches to Shakespearean ecocriticism, adaptation and ecological performance, bringing scholarship into dialogue with creative practice. Visiting fellowships include the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham and Shakespeare’s Globe, where she has also worked as a Sustainability Consultant.
Alys is Academic Chair of Theatre and Creative Production and Lecturer in English and Theatre at Murdoch University. She is also an External Researcher with the Centre for People, Place and Planet at Edith Cowan University and GLOKNOS: Centre for Global Knowledge Systems, established at the University of Cambridge.
Her awards include the S. Ernest Sprott Fellowship from the University of Melbourne Faculty of Arts (2025), the Murdoch University School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Research Excellence Award (2025), and the Murdoch University Vice Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award (2026).
Born in Australia, Alys is an Australian and Latvian citizen with UK residency and works across Australia, the UK and Europe.
Before entering academia, Alys worked professionally as an actor in London and Sydney across theatre, television, radio and audio performance, with credits including the BBC, Seven Network, Discovery USA, Audible and PlayLab.
Her Shakespeare and classical theatre work has included Shakespeare’s Globe, Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare by the Sea, RSC Open Stages, Bard City, Heartstring and Theatre Royal Stratford East. She received a UK National Theatre and Sunday Times Ian Charleson Award Commendation for Classical Acting.
Reviews
“Five stars: A stand out performance by Alys Daroy.” — Time Out London
“Alys Daroy, in the title role of Emma Bovary, delivers a performance of pellucid beauty mirroring her own. Miraculously drawing one into her innermost desires and vulnerability, this intricate, intimate, magnetic performance is a revelation, and lives on in the memory. She even draws humour, born of the anomalies of Bovary’s own personality, which pours from Daroy’s insight.” — Chicago Critic
“Absolutely riveting ... the seeds of her eventual madness showed themselves in early decisions made. From her first entrance to her last, there was not a moment missed ... the most convincing Ophelia I have ever seen.” — Andrew Muir, Shakespeare in Cambridge
“From her performance as Anna Karenina, Alys Daroy is obviously destined to be one of the leading stage actresses of her generation.” — Sky TV, Take 101
“Alys Daroy is gutsy and passionate ... a stand out as Margarita in Bulgakov’s masterpiece.” — Camden Journal
“Alys Daroy is a fabulous Queen, utterly plausible.” — Chris Boyd, The Australian
“Alys Daroy slithered, simpered and snarled about the stage like a nasty femme fatale akin to the prowess of Cate Blanchett. Her Queen combined regal pomposity with visceral nastiness, demonstrating adroit acting talent. Her career trajectory should be one to monitor: I found her mesmerising. Her work was intelligent and commanding.” — Toorak Times
Education
PhD
PhD (English and Theatre), Monash-Warwick Alliance
BPA (Acting)
Australian Academy of Dramatic Art (now the Australian Institute of Music)
BA (Hons. 1)
First Class Honours (English Literature). University of Adelaide.
BA; BA (Journ.)
Bachelor of Arts (English), University of Adelaide; Bachelor of Arts (Journalism), University of South Australia
Selected Recent Awards
2026
Murdoch University Vice Chancellor's Research Excellence Award
2025
Murdoch University School of HASS Research Excellence Award
2025
S. Ernest Sprott Fellowship Award, University of Melbourne (Faculty of Arts)
Selected Recent Exhibited Work
2026
Il Vento (with Shakespeare South, Leo Murray, Joshua Zeunert, Federico Zandonà and the Conservatorio di Verona), World Shakespeare Congress
2025
InGrained (with Joshua Zeunert, Leo Murray and Dannon Wu), Transversal (Curators: Andrea Rassell and Cassandra Tytler), Form Gallery WA
2023
Anthropoiesis (with Joshua Zeunert and Leo Murray), European Cultural Centre Venice Biennial, Palazzo Bembo for the Venice Biennale
Books
2027
Forthcoming: Biophilic Shakespeare: Rewilding Ecocriticism and Ecoperformance, Routledge, 2027
2025
(with Paul Prescott) Shakespeare, Ecology and Adaptation: A Practical Guide, Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2025
2025
(with Joshua Zeunert) Sydney's Food Landscapes: Agriculture, Planning, Sustainability, Palgrave Macmillan, 2025
Selected Recent Journal Articles
2026
Alys Daroy and Joshua Zeunert. 2026. "Cabinets of Wonder and of Woe: Printed Books of Nature in the English Renaissance, European Journal of English Studies (details forthcoming)
2025
Joshua Zeunert and Alys Daroy. 2025. “Counter Imaging Australia’s Industrial Agricultural Landscapes: Methods for Digital Sustainability Communication”. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy. 1–19. DOI: 10.1080/15487733.2025.2514972
2025
Alys Daroy, Leo Murray, Kathryn Trees and Joshua Zeunert. 2025. “Anthropoiesis: Slow Listening to Scalar Extremes at the Venice Biennial”. Performance Research, 26 (9): 90–98. DOI.10.1080/13528165.2024.2452799.
2025
Alys Daroy. 2025. “From Stanislavsky’s System to Ecosystem: Biophilic Landscape Mapping as a Tool for Actors’ Eco-Embodiment”. Stanislavski Studies. DOI: 10.1080/20567790.2025.2461511.
2024
Alys Daroy and Joshua Zeunert. 2024. “Solidarity as Spectacle: Resistance, Resilience and Renewal in the Latvian Song and Dance Celebration”. RiDE: Research in Drama Education, 29 (3): 422–438. DOI:10.1080/13569783.2024.2369609.
