Her theatre credits include the critically acclaimed production of The Hen House (dir. Anthea Williams), which Mara co-created and co-composed, Helpmann Award nominated dance-theatre work PLAYLIST (dir. Karen Therese, PYT Fairfield), and Ljubičica: Wild Violet (dir. Melita Rowston). Most recently Mara co-wrote and performed her first solo cabaret Kauboj (dir. Tasha O’Brien) for the 2024 Sydney Fringe Festival.

Mara has performed and toured in major festivals and venues across Australia including Festival Unwrapped at Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Red Earth Arts Precinct in Karratha WA, Riverside Theatre, Chatswood Concourse and Art House Wyong.

She is also an accomplished contemporary singer/songwriter with a background in classical and contemporary voice. Since 2016 Mara has independently released original music as pop artist Mara Duke, receiving wide community radio airplay both nationally and internationally. Mara is an International Songwriting Competition semi-finalist for her songs ‘Interstellar’ (2016) and ‘Who Is This Girl’ (2017). In 2022 ‘Interstellar ‘ was selected for Eurovision: Australia Decides Top 20.

In addition, Mara has collaborated on vocal sound designs with acclaimed Australian composer and sound designer James Brown for art films The Beehive (dir: Zanny Begg, 2018), presented at Sydney Festival and ACMI, Melbourne and Magic Mountains (dir: Zanny Begg, 2020) commissioned by ACCA, Melbourne.

She is a graduate from The University of Sydney with a BA in Performance Studies and Music and holds a Master of Teaching (Secondary) specialising in Drama and Music. 

AWARDS

Nominated - Best in Cabaret & Musical Theatre (Kauboj) - Sydney Fringe Awards 2024

Nominated - Best Visual or Physical Theatre Production (Playlist) - Helpmann Awards 2019