Lorae Parry was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and moved to New Zealand in 1973. She is a playwright, actress and director with an extensive writing and acting career. She was awarded the Stout Fellowship at Victoria University (NZ) in 1994 and was the first woman playwright to become Writer-In-Residence at Victoria University in 1999. She has a Masters Degree in Scriptwriting, and in 2004 was awarded a Queen's Honour, MNZM, for her services to the Performing Arts.