Member
Senior Lecturer
Dr. Tharanga Dandeniya is an award-winning theatre director, playwright, author as well as an actor. Tharanga conducted his Doctoral research at Monash University (2016) and Master of Arts by Research Degree at La Trobe University in Melbourne Australia (2007). Tharanga also received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Theatre and Drama from the University of Kelaniya (2002) and a Higher Diploma (Drama and Theatre) at Tower Hall Theatre Foundation (1997). Tharanga is the recipient of the Sri Lanka Presidential Scholarship for Performing Arts (2002), Australian Postgraduate Award (2011), International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2011) Monash Performance Academy Grant (2014), Enrichment Bursary of PSi (2014-2015), and several publication grants. Tharanga is the founding president of Australia Asia Performance Community Inc Tharanga is also an Australian accredited translator and trainer/educator in vocational education and Applied Learning in screen performing arts. Currently, Tharanga is a senior lecturer, and the Head of the Department of Drama, Oriental Ballet & Modern Dance, Faculty of Dance & Drama, University of Visual and Performing Arts Sri Lanka.