Melanie Tait is a playwright and screenwriter based in Sydney, Australia. 

Her first play The Vegemite Tales won critical and popular acclaim, playing eight years in London, including two years on the West End at Leicester Square Theatre. The Observer called it “a great thing to witness: a real cultural comedy event.”

Her most recent play The Queen’s Nanny tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II’s ousted Nanny, Marion Crawford. Critically and commercially celebrated, it begins an Australian national tour in May 2025.

The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race premiered at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney in March 2019 and toured nationally in 2021. The play has been programmed right around Australia and New Zealand including at the State Theatre Company of South Australia, Queensland Theatre and The Court Theatre in Christchurch.

Melanie also adapted the play into a feature film The Appleton Ladies' Potato Race, which premiered on Paramount+ and Channel 10 in 2023.

Melanie’s play A Broadcast Coup, opened in January 2023 at Ensemble Theatre as part of Sydney Festival. A Model Murder opens in Sydney Festival in January 2025.  

Her fourth play for Ensemble Theatre with premiere in August 2025 How To Plot A Hit In Two Days.

Mudlark Theatre will produce rehearsed readings of Blue Cow Theatre’s commissioned On This Island, Now across Tasmania in July 2025. 

She also has 2 other plays under commission at NIDA and the Melbourne Theatre Company. The Royal Experiment will premiere at NIDA in October 2025. 

Melanie has television series in development with Easy Tiger and BBC Studios.