THE WENDY TAPES
Performing Lines is proud to announce the launch of The Wendy Tapes, a four-part interview series honouring the extraordinary life and legacy of Australian performing arts pioneer Wendy Blacklock AM.
Through intimate interviews, personal reflections and archival material, The Wendy Tapes offers a rare and deeply human portrait of a producer whose vision and tenacity helped shape the national performing arts landscape. As the founder of Performing Lines, Wendy Blacklock was instrumental in building pathways for independent artists, fostering innovation, and championing stories from across Australia to reach audiences locally and internationally.
The four interviews are conducted by artists, colleagues and friends with whom Wendy worked across more than three decades producing, founding and leading Performing Lines.
MORE INFORMATION:
Episode 1:
Wesley Enoch AM interviews Wendy Blacklock
Episode 2:
Kate Champion interviews Wendy Blacklock
Episode 3:
Annette Downs interviews Wendy Blacklock
Episode 4:
Ian Temby AO KC interviews Wendy Blacklock
Wendy Blacklock AM – Biography
Wendy Blacklock AM (born 20 January 1932, Sydney, Australia) is one of Australia’s most influential figures in the performing arts, recognised for her extensive career as an actress and theatre producer, and for her pioneering role in shaping Australia’s contemporary performing arts landscape.
Wendy began her career in theatre in the late 1940s, training at the Conservatorium of Sydney and the Rathbone Academy of Dramatic Art. She joined the Independent Theatre in 1947 and, like many Australian performers of her generation, travelled to the United Kingdom in the early 1950s to further her practice, performing in repertory theatre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne before returning to Australia in the early 1960s.
Across subsequent decades, Wendy established herself as a versatile performer, working across theatre, radio and television. She toured extensively and collaborated with leading companies including J.C. Williamson, contributing to the development of Australian theatre during a period of significant cultural growth.
She became nationally known to television audiences for her role as Edith “Edie” MacDonald in the 1970s series Number 96, one of Australia’s most popular television programs of the time.
In the early 1980s, Wendy transitioned from performing to producing, marking a significant shift in her career and influence. In 1982 she established the Australian Content Department within the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, an initiative designed to support and tour independent artists and small companies making new Australian theatre. Under her leadership, this program produced and toured more than 40 works across Australia and internationally.
In 1990, the Australian Content Department evolved into Performing Lines Ltd., a company Wendy led as General Manager. Through this role, she played a pivotal part in developing opportunities for independent artists and expanding the reach of Australian theatre nationally and internationally.
Wendy’s contributions to the performing arts sector have been widely recognised. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1992 for her service to the industry and has received multiple honours, including the James Cassius Williamson Award and recognition on the New South Wales Women’s Honour Roll.
Over a career spanning more than six decades, Wendy has been acknowledged as a central figure in Australian theatre, combining artistic practice with strategic leadership to nurture generations of artists and contribute to the development of a distinctly Australian cultural voice.
MEET THE INTERVIEWERS
WESLEY ENOCH AM
Professor Wesley Enoch AM is a leading Australian playwright and director whose work has shaped contemporary theatre for more than three decades. A proud Quandamooka man from Minjerribah, he has led some of the country’s most significant cultural institutions, including serving as Artistic Director of the Queensland Theatre and Sydney Festival. He is the Chair of Creative Australia, Deputy-chair of Annamila First Nations Foundation, and Deputy Vice Chancellor Indigenous Australians at QUT.
Renowned for bold storytelling and a deep commitment to First Nations voices, Professor Enoch’s career spans acclaimed stage productions, opera, festivals and major civic events, with a practice grounded in truth-telling, cultural leadership and artistic excellence.
KATE CHAMPION
Kate has decades of experience working in theatre, dance-theatre, opera, musical-theatre, film and circus – in genres ranging from devised original work, new Australian plays, classics, comedy, multi-art form work, interactive and physical theatre. Kate was the founding artistic director of Force Majeure, an influential dance theatre company based in Sydney, premiering five original main stage works for major festivals and touring regionally, nationally, and internationally, receiving multiple Helpmann and Australian Dance Awards.
Kate works on large-scale projects for major theatre companies as well as in the small to-medium and independent theatre scene. Kate had a 26-year career as a performer and dancer with companies both nationally and internationally and created two acclaimed solo shows.
In 2025 Kate was the recipient of Creative Australia’s Award for Theatre and is presently the Artistic Director of Black Swan State Theatre Company of Western Australia.
ANNETTE DOWNS
Annette has built a distinguished career championing independent artists, particularly those from regional Australia. As the founding Senior Producer at Performing Lines Tasmania (2006–2023), she introduced a nationally replicated Artist Residency model and championed regionally based artists, onto the national stage.
Her leadership has been recognised with the 2023 Creative Australia Award for Theatre, the 2024 PAC Australia Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award, the Sidney Myer Facilitators Prize, a Churchill Fellowship and the Telstra Tasmanian Business Woman of the Year.
At the heart of Annette’s practice is a deep love of people, collaboration and creative expression.
IAN TEMBY AO KC
Ian Temby was the inaugural chair of Performing Lines and in that role helped Wendy Blacklock for 10 years. He was also the inaugural Federal Director of Public Prosecutions from 1984 and the first head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption from 1989.Temby is now a retired AO KC.
