Maree Lowes

Maree Lowes
Maree Lowes, 2015
Born	Grafton, NSW
Nationality	Australia
Occupation	Actress

Maree Lowes is a stage, television and short film actress and voice over. She is best known for appearing as "dirtgirl" in the multi-award winning children's TV show dirtgirlworld. In 2016, Lowes starred as 'dirtgirl' in the musical Get Grubby - dirtgirl's eco musical at the Sydney Opera House.

Early Life and Study

Lowes attended school in Grafton, New South Wales. Her mother was a linguist and child protection specialist, her father a psychologist – both of whom were political activists while at university. At age sixteen, Lowes moved to Sydney, NSW to act and dance in consecutive productions with the Australian Theatre For Young People (ATYP). Since age nine, she studied Piano, Clarinet and Speech and Drama. As an adult, Lowes' acting study has taken her to 16th Street Actors Centre, the National Institute Of Dramatic Art and the Actors Centre Australia. Lowes has also studied the acting technique prescribed by acting coach, Ivana Chubbuck as taught by actor and tutor Anthony Brandon Wong.

Chubbuck has used her technique to coach actors such as Halle Berry, Charlize Theron and Brad Pitt. In 2016, Lowes was quoted as saying: "(the Chubbuck technique is) one of the bravest, most baring acting techniques you can do… Sometimes you have to go places that are uncomfortable, unpleasant or ugly… I am not shy about going to those places. I feel amazing when I'm brave in a scene. I am happy to be vulnerable in a scene and tell confronting stories. I am 100 per cent clear on that."^[1]

Career

In 2009, Lowes filmed Season 1 and Season 2 of dirtgirlworld. dirtgirlworld has aired in 128 countries world-wide. The program also featured Michael Balk, Krew Boylan, Gibson Nolte and Jason Davis (aka. 'Jabba'). Among many award nominations, the program won an AFI award (now AACTA Award) in 2010 and in 2013 an International Digital EMMY Award. However, after production, Lowes took a break from acting to complete a degree in Psychology (class of 2012).

In 2011, Lowes joined Australian acting greats Barry Otto, Anne Louise-Lambert and Rhys Muldoon in an ensemble cast in Waiting For The Turning Of The Earth, a short film produced by Miramar Pictures in association with Screen NSW. The film went on to be nominated for an AACTA Award for 'Best Screenplay in a Short Film'and was selected in film festivals worldwide.

In 2015, Lowes co-starred in short film The Last Stupid Thing; the film is about two girls who settle an argument about responsibility in a pretty irresponsible way and is due for release in 2016.

Lowes has also worked professionally as a first Assistant Director on productions including The Lake (an Australian short film selected for Flickerfest 2016, starring Ella Scott-Lynch, Kathryn Beck, Alan Flower and Duncan Ragg) and 'B is for baby' with Other Films, which is set to premiere on Sesame Street in the US in 2016.

In 2016, Lowes starred as 'dirtgirl' in the musical Get Grubby - dirtgirl's eco musical alongside Costa Georgiadis. Lowes spent a year doing signing lessons in preparation for the production.

As of 2016, Lowes is working as an actress and voice over artist. She is also a business owner, being co-founder and co-owner of a music recording studio and media production studio in Australia - Sawtooth Studios and Burst Media Studios.

References