Deidre Rubenstein

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Deidre Rubenstein (b. 1948)[1] is an Australian television and theatre actress, well known for her performance in Australian soap operas.

Rubenstein graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1967[2] and has worked extensively in live theatre, television, films and as a narrator of audio books. She has produced a significant body of work as a narrator of audio books and has won several awards in this field.[3]

Contents

[edit] Television Work

Rubenstein has worked in television comedies, drama, mini-series and TV movies.[4] In 1970 she appeared in an episode of Homicide, soon followed by work in Prisoner (1979 – 1980) as the terrorist Janet Dominguez.

In 2004 Rubenstein was cast as the scheming Svetlanka Ristic in the Australian television soap, Neighbours.[4]

[edit] Films

  • Josh Jarman (2004), directed by Pip Mushin
  • Siam Sunset (1999), directed by John Polson
  • The Inner Sanctuary (1996), directed by Chris Clarke
  • The Girl who Came Late (1991), directed by Kathy Mueller

[edit] Theatre

Rubenstein's career in the theatre includes work with several major Australian companies, including the Nimrod Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company.[5]

In 1995 she had a solo show called, What's a Girl to Do?,[6] where she performed poems written by contemporary Australian women poets.[7] This show inspired her to to do another solo show using work commissioned for her, work that was written to be performed live. She was awarded a Victorian Government Women Artist's Grant and commission contemporary writers to produce the performance pieces that were later and produced in a book called, Confidentially yours. The first performance was in the Playhouse Threatre Centre, C.U.B Malthouse, Melbourne on 11 February 1998. It was later performed by Rubenstein at The Stables Theatre in Sydney and at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival.[8]

The writers commissioned to produce the work that became Confidentially Yours were, Janis Balodis, Andrew Bowell, Nick Enright, Michael Gurr, Daniel Keene, Joanna Murray-Smith and Debra Oswald. Andrew Bowell wrote a pair of storied for the show that he later used in the script for the film Lantana.

In 2005 Rubenstein performed in Menopause the Musical, a comedy breaking down the taboos about "The Change".[9] With Caroline Gillmer, Susan-Ann Walker and Jane Clifton, Rubenstein, as "The Dubbo Housewife", explored the stereotypes and madness of that time in a woman's life.

[edit] Awards and Nominations

  • 1996 - a recipient of the inaugural Women Artists Grants, a Victorian Government initiative to encourage emerging women artists living and working in Victoria.[10]
  • 1998 - TDK Australian Audio Book Awards Narrator Award for Unabridged Fiction:[11] Dreamtime Alice by Mandy Sayer
  • 2001 - Vision Australia Library Awards, joint winner of the Adult Narrator of the Year Award [12] with James Wright reading of The Architect by Jillian Watkinson.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Rubenstein (ed.), Deirdre (1998). Confidentially yours. Melbourne: Currency Press, Sydney, in Association with Playbox Theatre Centre, Monash University. ISBN 0868195537. 

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Australian Library Collection. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
  2. ^ NIDA Graduates. NIDA. Retrieved on 2007-08-06.
  3. ^ "Bibliography in Louis Braille Audio Books", June 30, 2007. 
  4. ^ a b "IMDb Filmography", June 30, 2007. 
  5. ^ "Deirdre Rubenstein as "The Dubbo Housewife"", February 2, 2005. 
  6. ^ What's a Girl To Do? By Deidre Rubenstein. Playbox theatre Center General Information. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
  7. ^ Rubenstein (ed.), Deirdre (1998). Confidentially yours. Melbourne: Currency Press, Sydney, in Association with Playbox Theatre Centre, Monash University, p. iv. ISBN 0868195537. 
  8. ^ Rubenstein (1998). p.iv
  9. ^ "Flushed with Success", January 31, 2005. 
  10. ^ "News Release: Women Artists Honoured", May 6, 1997. 
  11. ^ "Medial Release: TDK Australian Audio Book Awards celebrate 10 years of excellence", November 11, 1998. 
  12. ^ "Louis Braille Audio Award List", June 30, 2007.