Peta Downes is a theatre director, producer and arts educator of nearly twenty-seven years' experience. She is a Program Leader at Sydney's Australian Institute of Music (AIM) where she manages the Scholarship portfolio and teaches into the Dramatic Arts and Entertainment Management undergraduate courses.  Currently a PhD candidate with the University of Sydney, Peta holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Directing (QUT), a Bachelor of Arts – Honours -1A in Directing and Educational Drama (QUT) and a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management (UTS). As an actor, she was an associate artist with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Company from 1996-99, training in the Suzuki Actor and Viewpoints Methods.  Peta later extended this physical theatre and performance training by working with director Anne Bogart and the SITI Company at their international Summer Intensive in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1999. As a director/producer, Peta has developed new theatre works with the Brisbane Powerhouse, Metro Arts (Brisbane), Darlinghurst Theatre and the Seymour Centre (Sydney) and worked as a director for theatre companies La Boite Theatre Company, the Queensland Theatre Company and the Bell Shakespeare Company. As a director and arts educator, she has worked extensively with acting and theatre studies students in Brisbane (QUT, Central Queensland University) and Sydney (AIM, NIDA, Actors Centre Australia, Actors College of Theatre and Charles Sturt University).