Rachel Pengilly

Rachel Pengilly is an award-winning actor, director, and storyteller. She received international acclaim for her starring role as Maddie in the multi-award-winning short Comments (dir. Danielle Baynes), which premiered internationally at Venezia Shorts and was included as a Judges' Select for Lift-Off Los Angeles Film Festival. Her additional screen credits include The Melody (dir. Andrew Campbell), for which she won Best Supporting Actress (ucmcp2019), and Foster (dir. Brendan Kelly) for the award-winning production company Horrific Playground.

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Working across screen and stage, Rachel recently appeared in the Melbourne tour of Bare Witness Theatre Co.'s I Have No Enemies (dir. Christopher Samuel Carroll), after appearing in the initial workshop and subsequent Canberra premiere. Her passion for bringing new works to the stage also extends to multiple developments and workshops, as well as the premiere of the new Australian play Demented (dir. Ali Clinch). Her additional stage credits include The Moors (dir. Joel Horwood), The Chalk Pit (dir. Julia Grace), and, notably, Lizzie in Wolf Lullaby (dir. Jordan Best), for which she received critical acclaim.

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Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of New England and the University of Canberra, also receiving the Chancellor's Commendation. She has trained with a wide variety of leading Australian performing arts institutions, including NIDA, Australian Stunt Academy, Canberra Youth Theatre, and has been an active member of the StageMilk Drama Club since 2019.

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As a director, Rachel most recently staged the Australian professional premiere of Jeremy Bloom's Peter/Wendy for Ribix Productions and Lexi Sekuless Productions. She also directed Puffs (Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic) for Narrabundah College Performing Arts, which won three Combined Area Theatre awards including Best Production and Best Director of a School or Youth Play, and was nominated for a further seven. Her additional directing credits include Treasure Island and The Wolves (both for NCPA); Foxes: The Musical and The Train Station (both for Ribix Productions, for which she is Artistic Director). Rachel also directed her full-length play Legacies, which was selected as part of the 2023 Q the Locals season at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, after development in conjunction with The Street Theatre, Perform Australia, and Belco Arts as part of Rachel's Artist Residency. 

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A wearer of many hats, Rachel has worked as a stage manager, audio production engineer, set designer, and scenic artist. These credits cover a multitude of theatre companies, including Lakespeare, Honest Puck Theatre, Perform Australia (previously Canberra Academy of Dramatic Art), and Limbo Theatre. When she's not acting or working in theatre, Rachel is sharing stories in whatever other format is available. An avid adventurer, she can also be found on the ice rink, climbing a tree, or on a surfboard. (She can also frequently be found pretending to be an off-the-grid homesteader, working in her vegetable garden or embroidering cute chickens onto clothes.)

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Rachel is represented by Kermond Management and is a proud member of MEAA Actor's Equity.