Darren Gilshenan has built one of the most versatile careers in Australian performance, moving between theatre and television with equal success. A graduate of NIDA in 1988, he credits his training with giving him the discipline and adaptability to take on a wide range of roles. He spent a decade with Bell Shakespeare, describing Shakespeare as the ultimate training ground where stamina, clarity and emotional truth were constantly tested.

Comedy became another defining part of his career. His award-winning role as Truffalino in The Servant of Two Masters demanded physical energy, improvisation and a fearless connection with audiences. That same versatility carried into television, where he became widely recognised on the sketch program Full Frontal. The quick turnover of characters and material required him to draw on his stage training to deliver performances with speed and conviction.

Not all roles were light. His portrayal of Davies in Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker coincided with personal grief, leaving him physically affected by the demands of the character. It revealed both the risks and the value of acting, showing how performance can help process pain but also weigh heavily on the performer.

Gilshenan’s current project, Job at Red Stitch, explores the mental toll on internet content moderators. The two-hander is intense and confronting, but he sees it as one of the most important plays of his career. He relates its themes to the generational shift between his own outdoor childhood and his son’s online world.

What he values most in Job is its ambiguity, which forces audiences to reflect rather than accept easy answers. For Gilshenan, theatre’s power lies in sparking dialogue and exposing hidden truths, and his career continues to demonstrate that commitment to challenging and meaningful work.

🎭 Job
🗓️ 17 September to 12 October
📍 Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre
🎟️ redstitch.net

Job is a taut psychological drama that pits patient against practitioner in a battle of power, truth and survival. Jane, reeling after a viral workplace incident, is desperate to return to her Big Tech job and regain her sense of control. The decision lies with her therapist, Loyd, whose responsibility is to judge whether returning will heal her or drive her deeper into harm. As their sessions unfold, the balance of power shifts unpredictably, exposing hidden motives, blurred ethics and the fragile line between care and control. What begins as a routine evaluation spirals into a gripping contest of wits and wills, probing the toll of digital culture and the human cost behind corporate ambition.

Following its acclaimed Broadway season, Job makes its Australian premiere at Red Stitch, starring Jessica Clarke and Darren Gilshenan in a two-hander that promises intensity, provocation and theatrical electricity.

🤠For the latest theatre updates and behind-the-scenes insights, follow me on Instagram https://instagram.com/AndrewGShowtime

DARREN GILSHENAN graduated from NIDA in 1988 before spending a decade performing with the Bell Shakespeare Company, followed by three years on the sketch comedy Full Frontal. His television credits include Sunny Nights, Ten Pound Poms (Series 2), Bay of Fires (Series 2), Thou Shalt Not Steal, Colin from Accounts (Series 1 and 2), Population 11, Nautilus, Upright, Harrow and Stateless, for which he won the 2020 AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama Series.

On film he has appeared in Pickpockets, Audrey, Take My Hand, The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race and A Savage Christmas. He also starred in the web series Plausible Deniability produced by Random Pictures, earning Best Actor at the IndieX Film Festival, where the series also received the award for Outstanding Achievement: Best Web Series / TV Pilot.

His stage work includes acclaimed performances in The Caretaker, The Hypochondriac and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the latter earning him a Best Actor nomination at the Sydney Theatre Awards.