Executive Producer, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance
Annette Shun Wah is a writer, broadcast, actor and producer.
After an extensive career in television and radio working mainly for ABC (The Big Picture, Media Dimensions) and SBS (Eat Carpet, The Noise, Imagine, The Movie Show) she now focuses on live performance.
Since 2013 she been Executive Producer of Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP), formerly Performance 4a. Under her leadership, this small company has developed an impactful presence in the performing arts sector, developing professional pathways and opportunities for Asian Australian artists.
Annette has also developed compelling new works for the company including several which she co-directed with master storyteller and photographer William Yang. These include The Backstories, commissioned and presented by Adelaide Festival; and the hip hop storytelling show In Between Two featuring Joelistics and James Mangohig.
Annette devised the original concept for the 2014 Sydney Festival hit The Serpent’s Table – combining food, theatre, and performance. A new iteration of this piece, Double Delicious will premier in 2020 at Sydney Festival and tour to Asia TOPA in Geelong and Melbourne.
As a writer, her first book co-written with Greg Aitkin was Banquet – Ten Courses to Harmony. She has contributed to several anthologies including Growing Up Asian in Australia edited by Alice Pung and Grandma Magic edited by Janet Hutchison.
As an actor Annette was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for her performance in the feature film Floating Life directed by Clara Law.
Annette previously served on the boards of One Extra Dance and Sydney Writers’ Festival. From 2015-2017 she was a member of the founding Directorate of the National Theatre of Parramatta. She has been on the board of Sydney Theatre Company since 2018.