Helen Varley Jamieson is a theatre-maker whose work includes writing, directing, producing, devising and networking; since 2000, she has been experimenting with the internet as a site for live performance, developing a new artform - cyberformance.
Helen's interest in theatre began with childhood classes at Dunedin's Globe and Playhouse Theatres, and in 1982 she and her sister Philippa won the Junior Playwriting Cup at the Otago One Act Play Festival. She studied theatre, directing and playwriting at Otago University, graduating in 1992 with a BA (English and Theatre).
Her first professionally-produced play, Women Like Us, was commissioned for the Centenary of Women's Sufferage and premiered at the Globe Theatre, Dunedin in 1993 then toured to the Wellington Fringe Festival (Taki Rua Theatre) in 1994. That year she co-directed Riwia Brown's play The Debate in the first Young & Hungry festival, and in 1995 her next play, Risky/Risque premiered at BATS Theatre. Her third play, Between, was commissioned by Young and Hungry and premiered at BATS Theatre during the 2001 Fringe.
Helen is a Trustee of the Magdalena Aotearoa Trust (a network of women in contemporary theatre) and the Web Queen of the international network, the Magdalena Project. She creates cyberformance with the globally dispersed troupe Avatar Body Collision (including Swim - an exercise in remote intimacy which was presented at BATS during the 2005 Fringe and the[abc]experiment at BATS, 2002) and is currently managing a software project, UpStage, which provides a web-based environment for live online performance. In 2005 she produced the STAB show Demeter's Dark Ride - An Attraction, directed by Madeline McNamara. She has also written and directed short videos, creates net.art and is a web copywriting specialist. One of her lesser-known skills is creative knitting.

Check out these websites:


www.creative-catalyst.com
Helens personal website


www.avatarbodycollision.org
Avatar Body Collision site


www.magdalena.actrix.co.nz
Magdalena Aotearoa site


www.themagdalenaproject.org
the Magdalena project site


www.upstage.org.nz
the UpStage site