EVERY ARTIST HAS A
STORY
How it began…
For Kate Jirelle, the story starts in a little village called Hazelbrook, in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, where she grew up hearing stories about her grandmother’s turn playing ‘Lady Macbeth’ in her British school’s production of the ‘Scottish Play’ and her great-grandfather’s career as a professional Opera Singer in Latvia in the 1920s. It seems she can blame genetics for her passion for performance and storytelling.
It should therefore, perhaps come as little surprise that as a child Kate could often be seen either dressed in sequins and glitter dancing up a storm, or wandering around with a notebook and pencil in hand. Well before her very first pen licence was issued, her first self-published work was entitled Georgia The Giraffe Has Diabetes. This charming children’s book featuring carefully drawn zoo animals and wobbly written prose, was written in an attempt to help other children understand what life was like for her older brother - a Type 1 diabetic. Rumour has it that the original first (and only) edition of this tale can still be found in the office of her brother’s paediatrician today.
Once she entered high school, Kate quickly discovered the opportunity that theatre gave to embody and bring to life the stories that she loved to write. The rest, as they say, is history.
How it’s Going…
Emotionally grounded.
Ensemble Driven.
and…
Just a little bit witty.
Kate. The Actor
Kate is known for emotionally grounded and ensemble driven work, spanning across both comedy and drama.
In dramatic work, Kate can often be found playing phsychologically complex, intelligent women navigating moral, relational or social pressures. This is reflected in recent theatre credits including roles such as Sara McKeon in Earth and Sky (Pavilion Theatre, dir. Faith Jessel), Nicole in Brave People (This is L-O-V-E, The Americas Theatre Company, dir. Kai Paynter), Rosie Price in Things I Know To Be True (Pavilion Theatre, dir. Carol Wimmer & Paul Sztelma). On screen her lead roles in Peacock Film Productions’ The Home, and the online horror anthology series, Axmo Deus, saw her named as one of The Australian Short Film Network’s Femme Fatales of Horror.
When it comes to comedy, Kate is respected for her ability to balance emotional realism with dry, observational humour. On screen she can be seen in the Australian feature film, Love You Like That and in Season 8 and 9 of Aurora Community Channel’s cult-favourite, Pete Boone, Private Eye. On stage, she has brought her comic abilities to the dual role of Helene Duponte and Madame Chauffourier-Dubieff in Tovarich (Sydney Acting Studio, dir. Kevin Jackson & Elaine Hudson), and Janet in The Closing Argument (This is L-O-V-E, The Americas Theatre Company, dir. Kai Paynter).
In recent years, Kate has also developed a keen interest in immersive theatre, playing lead roles in several shows with Dark Stories Interactive Theatre, including The Haunting, Confessions Of A Serial Killer and Murder At The Speakeasy. She also toured with Blue Whale Theatre Company throughout 2024 and 2025, playing the lead role of Catherine McAuley in the theatre-in-education play, A Bright Light in the Darkness: The Catherine McAuley Story
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Kate. The Writer
As a writer and creator, Kate endeavours to combine her strengths as an actor with her love for the written word. She has a strong interest and talent in telling intergenerational stories with a feminist slant, that reflect and illuminate the extraordinariness of the everyday human. Her work aims to elevate and reveal the unheard stories of society, and often draws on themes such as familial love and responsibility, human resilience, and hope through adversity.
In 2022, she placed Second in her category in the first round of the NYC Midnight Short Screenplay Competition for her script, Broken. This script went on to win ‘Best Short Screenplay’ in the Sydney Women’s International Film Festival and placed as a ‘Finalist’ in the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards, and ‘Semi-finalist’ in the Australia Independent Film Festival.
In the same year, she also established her own production company, Riegen Creek Creative House and made her playwriting and directing debut, with the short play To Those I Left Behind. Based on Kate’s own struggles and triumphs as a teacher in the Australian education system, the play was met by much audience acclaim and was awarded ‘Best Production (Judge’s Choice)’ at Short+Sweet Sydney. In a reflection of the play’s success in amplifying the voices of those in the teaching profession, Kate and the work were both publicly recognised by Tanya Davies MP, State Member for Mulgoa in a Community Recognition Statement delivered in parliament on 10 November 2022.
In addition to these achievements, Kate’s writing also saw success at the 2022 World Monologue Games, with the performance of her original script, Kind Eyes selected into the Regional finals of the Main Professional Category.
Most recently, her immersive one-act play The Secrets of Carmichael Manor, (commissioned and produced by Dark Stories Interactive Theatre) was performed across National Trust properties in both Western Sydney and Maitland, featuring casts made up of artists who were local to both locations. The success of this play, resulted in several other commissioning requests by other immersive theatre companies, which are currently in the early stages of development.
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Kate. The Teacher
Outside of her creative work, Kate is an accredited NSW teacher with the National Education Standards Authority (NESA).
With 10 years of educating experience, Kate is a sought-after teacher and facilitator across several subjects, including the Creative and Performing Arts. She has worked on film sets as a children’s tutor and chaperone for several production houses. She has also worked as a drama teacher, leading workshops for local Western Sydney organisations such as North Richmond Community Centre, Fantasia Showstoppers Inc. As part of her work with Blue Whale Theatre, she has also had training and practice in facilitating workshops and Q&A sessions for young people, creating safe and respectful spaces for open sharing and engagement.
Currently, she is a sessional member of staff at Western Sydney University, tutoring the subject of Primary Creative Arts within the Masters of Teaching degree. She is also a Lead Facilitator for the “Transitions Drama” - a program run by Collective Impact Arts in partnership with WSU, aimed at improving language acquisition and confidence among ESL students making the transition into mainstream high school.