DR CINDY PAN - PRODUCTION PATRON

East Coast Theatre Company is honoured to have Dr. Cindy Pan as the patron of the Australian premiere season of Empress of China.

Cindy Pan did not rise from concubine to become absolute ruler of one of the world's oldest civilisations. However, she did emerge from growing up on Sydney's urban fringe to become a medical practitioner, author, columnist, TV presenter and commentator, screen and stage actress, the Official Ambassador for Chinese New Year for the City of Sydney in 2000-04, a Trustee on the Board of the Australian Museum, Ambassador for Ausaid 2003-04; Australian Red Cross Ambassador for the Asian Gala Ball, Patron of 'Bonnie Babes Foundation', along with being an Ethics Committee member for 'Family Planning Australia' and an influential member of the Australian Chinese Medical Association along the way.

In terms of achievement, East Coast Theatre Company believes that in another time, and another place, Dr. Cindy Pan may have even given the extraordinary Dowager Empress Tzu-his a run for her money.

MEDICINE
-MBBS, University of Sydney, FRACGP (Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners)
-formerly Sexual Health Registrar at Sydney Sexual Health Centre
-most recently, practising family medicine on Sydney's lower North Shore.

PUBLICATIONS
-author of 'Pandora's Box - lifting the lid on life's little nasties' (HarperCollins), first published February 2001; reprinted 2001 and 2002; Korean translation first published 2002. E-book version currently underway.
-currently writes health column in 'Body and Soul' ('The Sunday Telegraph', 'Sunday Herald Sun' and 'Sunday Times'), relationships column in 'Fresh' and relationships column 'Analyse This!' and feature articles for 'Good Medicine' magazine.
-previously 'Relationships' columnist for 'Sun-Herald', 'New Idea', 'Big Brother Magazine', 'Minx' and 'Claudia', as well as adolescent health columnist in 'Girlfriend' magazine.

TV, THEATRE, FILM
- Sunrise, The Little Things, The Einstein Factor, Beauty and the Beast, Big Brother, The Panel, Test Australia: National IQ Test 2002, The Super Debates, ABC's Dimensions in Time, Sex/Life, Totally Wild, Geoffrey Robertson's Hypotheticals, Millennium Live, Good Morning Australia, A Current Affair, Cheez TV, Bondi Banquet, Children of the Dragon and The Lifestyle Program. Cindy was the subject of a television documentary The Ties that Bind in which she and her mother travelled to China in search of their roots.

-Theatre credits include principal dancer, Gordon Frost production of The King and I, Australian tour, 1991-2; acting roles in Sydney Theatre Company's Summer of the Aliens, 1993 and Red Raw Fragments of Hong Kong, 1997; Belvoir St Theatre Monkey King, 1997, Dangerous Liasians, 1997, One Wong and Park Bench, 1996, Fresh off the Boat, 1995; Balai Ensemble Kama Sutra, 1997; Cockroach Club Merry Christmas Pauline Hanson, 1996.

-Flim credits include Black River, 1992; No Night, 1995; Sweet and Sour, 1996.

HONORARY POSITIONS
-Official Ambassador for Chinese New Year for the City of Sydney in 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004
-Trustee on the Board of the Australian Museum
-Ausaid Ambassador in 2003, 2004
-Australian Red Cross Ambassador for the Asian Gala Ball
-Patron of 'Bonnie Babes Foundation' (Perinatal Medicine research)
-formerly Ethics Committee member, FPA Health (formerly 'Family Planning
Australia')
-formerly Chairperson for Social and Sports (1996), Education (1997-98) and
Publications (1999) for ACMA (Australian Chinese Medical Association)