Katherine Sortini

Katherine (she/they) is a queer, first-generation Italian based in Australia.
She is a 2018 Honours graduate from the Flinders Drama Centre; she is a theatre maker and creative and founder of independent award-winning theatre company, Deus Ex Femina.  Katherine works as a freelance actor, writer, producer, dramaturg, director and Spoken Word Poet. 

In 2023, she won the Australian Poetry Slam South Australian Heat and performed in the Sydney Opera House at the 2023 Australian Poetry Slam Grand Final. She performed at the Hear Me Roar Session in 2023 for Adelaide Writers Week.

In 2020, she attended the ATYP National Studio in 2020 where her piece, Heroes, was chosen for The Intersection Festival in Sydney in 2021 and was published by Currency Press in Intersection;Unleashed. Katherine had her first reading of new work, Dirty Energy, at the South Australian Playwrights Staged Readings in April 2022 and then again in September 2023. Dirty Energy premiered at the 2024 Adelaide Fringe to sold out season, 4 and 5 star reviews and won the Holden Street Awards at the Adelaide Fringe Awards. In 2021, Deus Ex Femina developed their debut multi-disciplinary original show, All The Things I Couldn’t Say which had its premiere season at the 2022 Adelaide Fringe. It opened to a sold-out season, 5 star reviews and won The Adelaide Festival InSpace Adelaide Fringe Award. It was also selected to be a part of the RUMPUS 2022 Season and premiered in 2023, revamped for a 2 weeks season. 
In 2025, Katherine and her company, Deus Ex Femina, were awarded a two-year residency at Goodwood Theatre & Studios under the banner  Audentes fortuna iuvat (Fortune Favours the Bold,) spanning the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Katherine’s original work Beneath the Mountain, which will premiere during this residency was also selected for The Mill’s Theatre Residency in 2025. The other production within the residency, Scenes with Girls, was chosen for State Theatre Company South Australia’s 2025 Stateside program.
Katherine was also selected to be a part of Carclew’s Emerging Writers Monologue Project in which her piece, Rhythm and Blues was performed at Carclew’s 50th Birthday Party. She also received a highly competitive Carclew Fellowship where was mentored by Playwright and Actor Emily Steel in 2022. 

n 2022, Katherine was nominated and selected as a finalist for the 7 News Young Achiever Award. In 2024, she was again recognised for her contributions to the arts and community, becoming a finalist for the South Australian Italian Awards in the category of Young Achiever, as well as being nominated for the Frank Ford Young Achiever Award at the Ruby Awards. Also in 2024, she was selected to be a part of the Helpmann Academy Creative Innovators Co-Hort and won the State Theatre Company of South Australia award in which provides mentorship throughout 2025.

During 2021 - 2024, Katherine was a Creative Arts Mentor for the Flinders University Student Arts Mentoring Program (StAMP) in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS).

She has a passion for engaging with young people and has taught acting and playwriting with companies such as Act Now, Ink Pot Arts, Mostly Kids and NIDA. Katherine is also a founding member of Arts Collective RUMPUS. 

Katherine is a proud member of Actors Equity.