AussieTheatre welcomes new columnist, Jessica Joseph-McDermott

AussieTheatre is thrilled to announce that Australian actor and writer Jessica Joseph-McDermott will be joining our team as a regular columnist.

Joseph-McDermott, who is currently living and working in Los Angeles, will be bringing AussieTheatre readers an intimate insight into the life of an Australian actor in the city of angels.

“For me, acting is storytelling. When given a script, all of a sudden there’s an opportunity to bring character to life. The words have to be lifted off the page, then swallowed, and absorbed, to become your own”, Joseph-McDermott said today.

“Writing is the same thing. Words are used to paint pictures of sunsets, and four-leaf clovers, and red plastic buckets full of rain. It all lies in the imagination. It’s all about the detail, and dialogue, and character, and relationship. The words need to stick to the reader like glue, and seep into them before they realise what’s happening. Before they smile, or wipe a tear from their face, after reading.”

Joseph-McDermott has pursued her passion for writing for many years. After placing as a regional finalist in the Sydney Morning Young Writer of the Year (2005) she completed a bachelor of Communications (Writing & Cultural Studies) at the University of Technology, Sydney. She has lived in Los Angeles for a year now, and is eager to share her experiences with readers in Australia and around the world.

“I believe writing is sticky. You can catch it from a book, or a script, or a play, or movie. It’s so sticky that it can linger long after you leave the theatre, or close the book, or turn off the TV. It sticks, and if you’re lucky, it stays”, she said.

“And therein lies it’s beauty. And mystery.”

Jessica Joseph-McDermott’s column Notes Toward A Definition of An Actress (in honour of the late Edward Albee) will commence on AussieTheatre this week.

Her Australian performance credits include a recurring role on Love Child, Opera Australia’s The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi Fan Tutte and various commercials, short films and voice work.