CIENDA McNAMARA
Press
Parade- Jason Robert Brown
Warehaus Theatre
"It’s hard to fault the choreography (Caron Koch)...and Cienda McNamara’s direction, which combine with a super-talented cast to bring this edgy musical alive in a way that we don’t often see in Brisbane."
Alison Coates
Stagediary.com
Private Lives-Noel Coward
Starlight Co-op
"...it is worth noting that the connection between the light and the deep is a key strength in director Cienda McNamara’s production. The pithy dialogue impresses with its bite and elegance, but there is also due emphasis for the show’s contemplations of triviality and flippancy."
Jake Eldred
Briztix
A Doll's House- Henrik Ibsen
Starlight Co-op
"A good story, like a good folk song, can easily survive a shift through time and space and so it is with Ibsen’s A Doll’s House; director Cienda McNamara has transposed Starlight Theatre’s production from 19th century Norway to England the 1950s, and the insightful transition is seamless."
Jan Nary
ARTSHUB
Parade- Jason Robert Brown
Warehaus Theatre
"...while the whole bright production is in the visionary hands of director Cienda McNamara....we all have cause to be grateful to a group of young people with such promising talent and wise and compassionate hearts.”
Mary Nemeth
Time off Magazine
Romeo & Juliet - William Shakespeare
Grin & Tonic Theatre Troupe
"For pure entertainment you can't look much further than the hilarious Cienda McNamara as Juliet's Nurse. She's jovial, animated and a real delight to watch."
Grace Naug
Stagediary.com
Richard III- William Shakespeare
Queensland
Shakespeare Ensemble
"Cienda McNamara’s Duchess is truly touching."
Baz McAllister
Time Off Magazine
Undies : The Cabaret -Megan Shorey
"...the show is seamless and clever, with Shorey's musical antics and elastic expressions making for an entertaining and sometimes very silly ride.”
The Age
Nobody Does It Like Me- Cienda McNamara
“… she certainly knows how to make an entrance – and she definitely knows how to get a laugh.”
Paul Dellit
Stage Whispers
Hardly the Portrait of a Lady-
Cienda McNamara
" Cienda McNamara’s Hardly The Portrait of a Lady is cleverly written and beautifully sung. It’s a very funny tale of the character’s rivalry with Nicole Kidman, and an insight into the dangers of competition."
Veronica Kaye
Theatre Red Blog
Hardly the Portrait of a Lady-
Cienda McNamara
"Talented songstress Cienda McNamara presented an engaging caricature of a tragic but loveable wanna-be star living in the shadow of real-life celebrity Nicole Kidman... McNamara is a gifted performer and an accomplished director in her own right. "
Sharyne Jewell
Oz Baby Boomers Blog
Food of Love- William Shakespeare
Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble
"Food of Love..is the brain-child of QSE artistic director Rob Pensalfini and director Cienda McNamara, a vision of a "Shakespearean cabaret” ... The directors have discovered a "Shakespearean heart of darkness" in Food of Love, "
Brett Barfoot
Stagediary.com
#FirstWorldWhiteGirls
Director Cienda McNamara has seamlessly intertwined song and story into a fluid one-hour comedic routine that does not falter in consistently delivering quality laughs and unabridged talent. Clever observations teamed with tragically relatable humour is what makes #FirstWorldWhiteGirls fresh and exciting, and everyone, including myself, exited the theatre with a (slightly guilty) smile on their face.
SOFIA MONKIEWICZ
ARTSHUB