Rachael Zoa Maza, also credited as Rachael Maza Long, is an Indigenous Australian television and film actress, and stage director. She is known for her role in the 1998 film Radiance, and worked with Company B and Wesley Enoch in Sydney for many years. She has been artistic director and of Ilbijerri Theatre Company since 2008.

Early life and education

Rachael Zoa Maza is of Dutch, Torres Strait Islander (Meriam Mir ) and Aboriginal Australian heritage, the daughter of Bob Maza, also an actor. She is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Career

Stage

Maza has numerous stage credits (sometimes credited as Rachael Maza Long), since at least 1992. She has worked with Company B and Wesley Enoch for many years, with her performances at the Belvoir St Theatre including leading roles in Conversations with the Dead and The Dreamers. She again worked with Enoch in The Sapphires, staged by the Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Festival. She has worked as part of The Black Arm Band and as the director of Lou Bennett's play Show Us Your Tiddas!. Since 2008 and, Maza is artistic director and co-CEO of Ilbijerri Theatre Company. In 2024, as a part of this role, she co-directed the musical ' Big names, No blankets' about the formation of the Warumpi Band; her co-director is Anyupa Butcher the daughter of one of the band members Sammy Butcher.

Television and film

Maza's first outing on Australian television was in the ABC Television series Heartland in 1994. She and Lillian Crombie, who also appeared in the series, were fresh out of acting school at that time. The series was written by Aboriginal Australians ans starred many Aboriginal actors, as well as Cate Blanchett in her first screen outing. She worked as a TV presenter on ABC Television's weekly show focusing on Indigenous Australians, Message Stick. and SBS's ICAM in 1997–1998. She has numerous credits as an actor in television series, including Wentworth, Winners and Losers, Halifax f.p., Stingers, SeaChange, Heartland (in which her father also had a role), A Country Practice, and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. She acted in the films Cosi (1996), Radiance (1998), and Lilian's Story (1996).

Other activities

In September 2024, Maza was appointed co-chair, with Philip Watkins (CEO of Desart), of First Nations Arts, a newly-established division of the Australia Council, for a term of four years.

Recognition and honours

In 2020 Maza was made a Member of the Order of Australia, for significant service to the performing arts as an artistic director.

Awards

Personal life

Maza has a son, Ariel, with actor Tom Long.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Actor

Director

Radio