Ilana Charnelle has been performing since she was two years old, with experience in screen acting, theatre acting, theatre devising and producing, cabaret performance, and songwriting.

Beginning her professional career at age eight with appearances in well-known television series such as ‘Round The Twist’, ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Summer Heights High’, Ilana has also starred in numerous theatrical productions, including originating the role of Kat in Daniel Lammin’s ‘The Cutting Boys’, where her performance was praised as “the stand out performance… such skill that I still get goose bumps when I think of it” (Theatre People).

Ilana has trained at the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) (Screen Actor’s Studio, 2018) and Monash University (Bachelor of Performing Arts, 2011). In 2012, she completed her Honours (Theatre and Performance) in which she researched the use of Auslan in heightened moments of the human experience to create unique bilingual theatre.

Ilana is the co-founder of Deafferent Theatre, a bilingual company that makes work for and by Deaf and non-Deaf people. Ilana and her co-founder Jessica Moody create work that will bridge the artistic and Deaf communities and resonate equally for all audiences, regardless of language preference. For her work with Deafferent Theatre, Ilana has been awarded ‘Best Emerging Producer’ for Melbourne Fringe Festival 2016, as well as being awarded the Arts Access Victoria Access and Inclusion Award at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2017. Deafferent Theatre’s show ‘Ollie and Rose Go Viral’, which Ilana co-created, produced and performed in, was nominated for Best Children’s Show at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2018.  Ilana is a Certified Provisional Auslan (Australian Sign Language) interpreter, gaining her NAATI qualification in 2015.