Kamarra Bell-Wykes (Yagera/Butchulla) is a playwright, director, dramaturge, devisor, facilitator, performer, creative producer, program curator, community developer and education consultant. Kamarra served as ILBIJERRI Theatre Company’s Education Manager and Creative Director from 2014-2019 and Malthouse Resident Artist 2020-2022. Some of Kamarra’s writing/directing credits include Because the Night (MALTHOUSE), The Score, Scar Trees, Viral, North West of Nowhere, Body Armour, Chopped Liver, Shrunken Iris (ILBIJERRI), Crying Shame (NEXT WAVE) and Mother’s Tongue (YIRRA YAAKIN).
In 2012 Kamarra graduated from the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education with a Bachelor of Teaching and Learning and was awarded honours in Recognising and Responding to Diversity in the Classroom before working as a teacher and youth worker across the Northern Territory. Over the last 5 years Kamarra has been exploring the intersection between First Nations cultural/community and dialogue theatre processes working closely with applied theatre expert Dr Sarah Woodland to develop particpatory social Impact model/ensemble The Score to deliver community/forum workshops, performances and training.
In 2021 Kamarra was awarded the Patrick White Award for her work Whose Gonna Love ‘Em? I am that i AM (FCAC/ ILBIJERRI). In 2020 Kamarra joined forces with Carly Sheppard as Co-Artistic Directors of A DAYLIGHT CONNECTION; a motley crew of independent theatre makers dedicated to smashing performance binaries; their credits include CHASE (Malthouse/Hot House) and A Nightime Travesty (Yirramboi.) Kamarra also directed A Daylight Connection’s double bill presentation of CHASE and Whose Gonna Love ‘Em? I am that I am (Malthouse).
