Born in Christchurch New Zealand, Lynda (Lyn) Townsend moved to Australia at the age of 13 with her mother, Cushla and Father, John. Lyn attended High School in Parkes, NSW where she was enrolled in music as an elective (all other subjects were full!) As fate would have it, the music teacher, Mr Broomfield would introduce Lyn to theatre, suggesting she audition for an upcoming production of Oliver, for which he was musical director. Through her teacher, Lyn discovered a love of music, and in particular, her allocated instrument…drums. Lyn aspired to apply to the Conservatorium of Music after she finished high school, but the Careers advisor told her parents she wasnt smart enough to go to University, or the Conservatorium. Taking a job in the local pharmacy seemed a good option, and so it was. 

Lyn continued to dabble in theatre,  playing drums in productions in the mid ’80’s before taking a break from theatre to get married and have three children, Jacob, Katie and Gracie. In 2001 Lyn wrote her first play, Reminiscing our Rose, which featured eldest daughter Katie (then five years old), winning two awards. She then wrote and staged a couple of jukebox musicals before finally directing a production someone else had written, Annie. Through these years Lyn operated her own dressmaking business, honing a skill learned from her mother when Lyn was young. She would design and create many wedding and bridesmaid dresses, but also happily hem a pair of jeans.  Lyn would also design and create thousands of costumes, winning multiple awards, most noticibly for her ‘steam-punk meets avant guard style‘  costumes in a production of Wicked.  

In 2006 Lyn attended TAFE ‘to learn how to use a computer’, and after graduating in 2007, starting working at Parkes Neighbourhood Centre (now Neighbourhood Central) while directing a production of Joseph. In 2011 Lyn commenced studying at university, and, proving her careers advisor wrong, graduated with a joint degree in Accounting and Human Resource managment in 2017. She achieved this while working full time managing a large community transport service, raising her family and still directing big name musicals – that year, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Lyn returned to writing, with jukebox musical, Turning Tables, a thought provoking, contempory piece in 2022. This year she finally achieved the dream of writing her own full musical, collaborating with Gail Smith on Cracks in the Mirror, which has just been released for licencing. Together Gail and Lyn have formed T&S Productions and plan to write more musicals. 

Lyn has always had a passion for writing and has written a number of short skits, plays and autobiographical pieces. She considers this blog site the opportunity for a little self-indulgence and hopes you are either find it thought provoking, entertaining, or somewhat educational. If not, feel free to scroll on…