ELISABETH GUNAWAN

b. 1993 Jakarta, Indonesia
Education
New York University. BA Postcolonial Discourse. 2011-14.
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. MA Theatre Lab. 2019-20.
Goldsmiths, University of London. MPhil/PhD (ongoing)
& The International School of the Hard Knocks™

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Elisabeth Gunawan 吳金蘭 is an award-winning writer, performer and multidisciplinary artist. With KISS WITNESS, their work harnesses the power of theatre to create spaces of belonging for people who don’t have it in real life, to decolonise the imagination and empower people. Their works include the bouffon performance Unforgettable Girl (The Pleasance, 2021-2023), the immersive headphone piece Stampin’ in the Graveyard (Summerhall, 2021-2025) and the ensemble piece Prayers for a Hungry Ghost (Barbican, 2022-2025).

These performances have received 5-star reviews from The Stage, Theatre Weekly and The Reviews Hub, and won multiple awards including The Stage Debut Award for Best Performer in a Play (2022), Intercultural Connections Pioneer Award (2025), Charlie Hartill Award (2023), Keep It Fringe (2023 & 2025), OFFFest Award at VOILA! Festival (2022), and Best Writing from Theatre Weekly (2023).

She has been an associate artist with Theatre Ad Infinitum and ArtsAdmin, and is part of Hampstead Theatre’s INSPIRE 2024–25 cohort. Her work has been supported by Battersea Arts Centre, New Diorama, Barbican Centre, and The Pleasance, and more. As an actor and deviser, she has performed at the Bristol Old Vic, Soho Theatre, HOME Manchester, and Northern Stage. As a cabaret artist, she performs as Glo Tesque with The Bitten Peach and was a finalist in the 2024 heat of Burlesque Idol.

She is currently pursuing a practice-based PhD at Goldsmiths, researching bouffon and the grotesque through the lens of decolonization and intersectional feminism—work rooted in her DYCP project Myths, Stories and Worlds (2021) and her residency at the Grotowski Institute (2021–22).

Represented by Carey Dodd Associates
samantha@careydoddassociates.com

Press Inquiries to MOBIUS PR
prteam@mobiusindustries.com

All paintings by Caroline Wong. Clockwise from left:
BETTY (2022), MARIGOLD ORANGE (BETTY) (2022), BETTY (2021)
http://www.carolinewongart.com


Right: Photo by Chris Mann

“Elisabeth Gunawan captivates… Her ability to shepherd the audience is matched only in the delicious way she leaves them stranded.”

—The Stage

“Elisabeth Gunawan dazzles… losing herself in her characters to great effect.”

—Theatre Weekly

“Gunawan is an otherworldly performer.”

—The Herald

snapshots

Part Deux of my favorite books keeping me company this winter, all highly recommended! In the age of ✨burnout✨ I'm craving a return to a slower kind of transformation, more akin to the slow release of leaves to rot and compost and one day spring again. The rest of this year will be for reading, and writing my novel. The working title is 'Ten of Swords, God of Fire' about the Buddhist nun Myoko-ni and the five adolescent sons she lost during the religious and civil wars of 16th century Japan; about Azuchi and Sakamoto castles which were built and looted and destroyed within a decade; about ambition and regret and destiny (which I believe is fabricated, ultimately, by stories); as always, a story about the power of stories. Also, I am looking for an unfortunate soul to be my reader so if you're a fan of historical fiction, slide into my dmzzzz "I've been thinking about her. I suppose I’ve been haunted by her in fact. Who’s to say ghosts are the souls of dead people, not thoughts or memories or questions that linger at the corner of your eye every waking moment?" Some discoveries from week 1 of rehearsals for #PrayersForAHungryGhost: And so it begins… #PrayersForAHungryGhost is my third piece, and it will premiere this fall at the Barbican in the week of Halloween (!) I feel particularly privileged because we developed this piece as part of Barbican’s Open Lab in 2023, and now we will get to go full circle and finish the piece with the same creative team and technical team ✨ Going back to the score and music of #StampinInTheGraveyard - Frankenaccordion is playable by conductive touch, which is why sometimes my fingers only tap the keys and it makes a sound 🥸 I hope to see you in our last run before goodnight next week... 18-19 September at Theatre503 - tix link in bio! #edfringe 2025 photo dump! Honoured to have been given a wee platform to chat immersive, human imagination and fringe theatre on The Stage. Have a read of it in the link in bio 🫰✨ When we shared this piece with the world for the first time at @voilafestival last year, the audience responses have meant the world to us. 🖤 Highlighting the amazing design by our own @mona_cam_ille - one day in 2022, she told us that her school was throwing out all these computer parts and wouldn’t they work brilliantly for the show? She took apart the insides and created these hollow metal boxes with opportune holes. Once lit by our lighting designer extraordinaire @nataliaachann the boxes also present so many opportunities for images - like this little diorama of all the lonely people in their apartments ✨ these also serve an important dramaturgical purpose - as the boxes light up whenever Rose accesses a memory. Initially by intuition rather than by design, the set is entirely built out of recycled materials, giving it that graveyard of humanity feel! 32 today. Here I am, a little bit sad and watershed, but I feel light, ready and hopeful for the journey that remains. Friends, I’ve had the privilege of being part of a powerful piece called MARCH, composed by Uri Agnon, which will be performed at Southbank Centre this Sunday at 2pm.