Ailsa Piper

Ailsa Mary-Ellen Piper (born 1959) is an Australian writer, director and performer. Career Acting Ailsa Piper worked as an actress in theatre in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne from the early 1980s until 2000. She made her first appearance on TV in 1984 in Man of Letters, but is best known for playing Ruth Wilkinson in the soap opera Neighbours from 1996 until 1999. She reprised the role in a cameo for the series' 20th anniversary in 2005. Piper is an accomplished narrator of audio books, and continues to work in this field. In 2016, she narrated Hope Farm by Peggy Drew and The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood. She also performs a monologue based on the influence of poetry in her life and in particular, on her walking. This was first broadcast on ABC radio's Poetica programme, but has been adapted by Piper for live performance.