C R E A T I V E
Writer + Director
stage | screen
Chenoa Deemal is a proud Thiithaarr Warra (Guugu Yimithirr), Kaanju and Ayapathu woman from Cape York in Far North QLD. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) from Queensland University of Technology, and an Advanced Diploma of the Performing Arts from the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA) in Australia. Chenoa is an award-winning actress and creative, receiving the Matilda Award for Best Performance in a Leading Role – Mainstage Production for her performance in Is That You, Ruthie, directed by Leah Purcell.
Chenoa’s recent creative credits include The Sapphires at Queensland Theatre as Assistant Director. She co-wrote The Bogong’s Song for Bangarra and was commissioned by NSW Education Department to devise curriculum content for years 11-12 drama studies. Chenoa has contributed to a vast range of creative projects in Australia and continues to be an invaluable contributor to new work.
Chenoa received a Matilda Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Queensland Theatre’s The Longest Minute. The production went on to tour regional Queensland. Chenoa also appeared in the world premiere production of David Williamson’s Sorting Out Rachel at Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre in 2018. Her stand-out one-woman performance in the Queensland Theatre/Grin & Tonic co-production The Seven Stages of Grieving garnered huge critical acclaim; the production has been performed in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland as well as visiting London for the 2017 Border Crossings’ Origins Festival and in 2019 was performed in Los Angeles, CA.
Other theatre credits include Black Woman of Gippsland in the leading role, Jacinta - for The Melbourne Theatre Company, TIDDAS (Laboite Theatre), Pride and Prejudice (Queensland Theatre), Caesar (LaBoite), Rising (Playlab), Black Cockatoo (Ensemble Theatre), Rainbow’s End (Riverside Theatres – Australian tour), An Octoroon, Mother Courage and Her Children, St Mary’s in Exile (Queensland Theatre), The Voice in the Walls (Imaginary Theatre), Mr Takahashi & Other Falling Secrets (Corrugated Iron) and A Man with Five Children (Darlinghurst Theatre). Chenoa’s screen credits include the ABC television series’ Troppo and Summer Love, Safe Home (SBS) and Goolagong (Werner Productions, ABC).
..an ingenious new production developed by Yolande Brown and Chenoa Deemal
- The Bogong’s Song
★★★★★ - What’s the Show
Director, co-writer and choreographer Yolande Brown, together with co-writer Chenoa Deemal, has created an immersive, luminous work that draws young audiences gently into the Dreaming, a world of wonder, wisdom and laughter.
- The Bogong’s Song
Dance Australia
Deemal is terrific as the dogged but circumspect Jacinta, determined to uncover truths she already senses in her body. There is a weariness threaded through her tenacity that speaks powerfully of generational trauma and the burden of ambition.
- The Black Woman of Gippsland
The Guardian
…played with nuance and intensity by Chenoa Deemal
- The Black Woman of Gippsland
★★★★ - Arts Hub
It is dramatic and beautiful and Chenoa Deemal brings a luminous intensity to the role.
- The Seven Stages of Grieving
Weekend Notes