Our work has toured throughout New Zealand, Australia and to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. New Zealand theatre company BRAVE Theatre was founded in 2006 by Mel Dodge. Our new works have included Anything to Declare?, Fight or Flight, Steel Ballerina, The 1/4 Pounding , Jane Austen is Dead, The Female Factory and Miss Bronte. BRAVE Theatre plays have toured throughout New Zealand, Australia and to
the Edinburgh Festival in the UK. Founder/ Producer/ Writer/Performer
Mel Dodge
Mel Dodge has an MA in Acting from ArtsEd, London. Her professional credits in New Zealand include Uncle Vanya (Chapman Tripp Actress of the Year Award, The Listener Actress of the Year), Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Miss Bronte, Rabbit and Mammals at Circa Theatre; Blackbird and The Perfumed Garden for The Court Theatre; Who Needs Sleep Anyway and No Moa for Downstage Theatre; Emma, My Heart is Bathed in Blood, (The Listener Actress of the Year) The Country Wife, Kiwifruits and Shop Till You Drop for Fortune Theatre. Credits for independent companies in Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand include Motherlode, Father Familiar, Shadows of Angels, Collected Stories, Taming of the Shrew, Cosi, Medea, Revenge of the Amazons and Waiting for Godot. Mel has a production company called BRAVE Theatre for which she has written, produced and performed Miss Bronte, The Female Factory, Jane Austen is Dead, Steel Ballerina, Fight or Flight, The 1/4 Pounding and Anything to Declare. These shows have had seasons throughout New Zealand and have toured to Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Edinburgh. After a premier season at Circa Theatre, Miss Bronte toured throughout Victoria and New South Wales in 2016 as part of a Regional Arts Victoria Tour. Mel adapted the novel Rants in the Dark into a stage play which has toured throughout New Zealand for the past three years. In Australia Mel worked as a teaching artist for Sydney Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, The Song Room and Awesome arts. These teaching experiences have allowed her to work with children from refugee backgrounds, in the Australian outback and in Shakespeare’s Women projects, reaching out to young women from diverse backgrounds. Mel completed a Creatives in Schools programme with Linden School in 2020. Most recently Mel has directed the new season of Echolalia for the Tahi Festival and will be performing her play Miss Bronte at BATS and Expressions in March/April 2021. BRAVE Theatre shows
Miss Bronte
Charlotte Brontë has a secret. In fact, secrets seem to run in the family…
Inspired by the letters and novels of Charlotte Brontë, Miss Brontë tells a story of ambition, forbidden love and the bond of family. Directed by award winning Lyndee-Jane Rutherford. Created and performed by Mel Dodge. How could an unmarried woman living in a secluded parsonage, with only her sisters for company, write one of the world's greatest love stories? She had tasted love and her secrets echo in the pages of Jane Eyre. Miss Brontë premiered at Circa Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand in 2014. Since then it has toured to Adelaide, Melbourne and through-out Regional Victoria and New South Wales.
‘Perceptive, intelligent, fiery, romantic, poignant and packed into a potent 75 minutes. Triumphant, tragic and riddled with moral dilemma.’ Theatreview
‘Mel Dodge’s performance burns bright.’ Dominion Post
‘Mel Dodge brings the literary world of the Bronte family to life with a riveting performance. Dodge transported us back to a time when words were written in pen, on paper; when one could crave a response to a letter that might be weeks or months in the coming; and you sensed, perhaps felt, the value of words. Superb.’ Rip it Up Adelaide
Director/ Dramaturg - Lyndee Jane Rutherford
Writer/Performer - Mel Dodge
Costume Design -Letty MacPhedran
Design - Marisa Cuzzelaro
Jane Austen is Dead
What do you do when your ideal man is Mr Darcy and the only man at the pub seems to be Mr Wickham? …or even worse, Mr Collins? In a world of RSVP, Facebook and drunken s*x in disabled toilets, is it possible to meet a man on a white horse in well- tailored regency attire? Performed at BATS, Sydney Fringe, Melbourne Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and The Owl and The Pussycat in Melbourne. Director - Patrick Davies
Additional direction for other seasons/ Light design and operation- Sherilee Kahui
Writer/ Performer - Mel Dodge
Steel Ballerina
A dance/theatre piece about the internal struggles of Margot Fonteyn. Played at BATS and toured to Auckland and Christchurch as part of the Body Festival. Co-creators - Jacqueline Coates, Pagan Dorgan, Mel Dodge
The 1/4 Pounding
25 and the world is your oyster – apparently. All around you people are buying houses, getting married, climbing the corporate ladder. You, however, are trapped in a cycle of indecision, hangovers, student debt, the onset of wrinkles, bingo wings and alcohol dependency. It begins at 25…but is still easily recognisable in your 30s. A hilarious play about expectations, friendship and the quarter life crisis. The 1/4 Pounding played at BATS Theatre, Wellington, Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne Fringe. Co- creators -Nicola Colson, Will Harris, Mel Dodge
Fight or Flight
A devised play exploring fear performed at BATS. co- creators - Harriette Cowan, Robyn Patterson, Nat Bolt, Gene Alexander, Mel Dodge
Anything to Declare?
‘Anything to Declare?’ follows an intrepid Kiwi backpacker on her journeys through Europe. She gets lost, drinks beer, learns the essentials of Italian and encounters strangers who share their secrets with her. An hilarious solo show for anyone who’s ever lived off their lonely planet. Hit sell-out season at the Edinburgh Fringe. Based on her own experiences travelling through Europe and the UK, New Zealand writer/performer Mel Dodge plays a variety of characters including a South London football hooligan, Uzbekistani pr******te, human trader and a Parisian pigeon feeder. Performed at BATS and C Venues as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.
‘The complete overseas experience in 50 minutes.’ Salient. Director- Rachel More
Writer/performer - Mel Dodge
Photographic credits
Jane Austen is Dead-Gene Alexander
Anything to Declare? -Paul Dodge
Miss Bronte - Marisa Cuzzelaro , Massive Pics and Deb McGuire
1/4 Pounding poster images -Matt Grace
