Joanna Murray-Smith

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Joanna Murray-Smith (born 17 April 1962) is a Melbourne based playwright, screenwriter, novelist, librettist and newspaper columnist.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Works 2.1 Plays 2.2 Novels 2.3 Other 3 Awards 4 Notable productions 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Biography

Joanna Murray-Smith was born in Mount Eliza, Victoria; her father was the literary editor and academic Stephen Murray-Smith (1922–1988). She attended Toorak College, Mt Eliza^[1] and graduated with a BA (Hons) from the University of Melbourne.^[2] On a Rotary International Scholarship in 1995, Murray-Smith attended the writing program at Columbia University, New York.^[3] In 2003, she took a sabbatical in Italy.^[4] She is married to husband Raymond and has a son Sam.^[5]

[edit] Works

The plays and novels of Joanna Murray-Smith have been translated and performed widely around the world.^[6] However, she feels that within Australia, and especially at the Sydney Theatre Company, her work and that of other Australian writers, e.g. David Williamson's, is insufficiently supported.^[7][8] According to the Australia Council, Joanna Murray-Smith and Daniel Keene account for half of all foreign productions of Australian plays.^[9]

[edit] Plays

• Angry Young Penguins (1987) (see also: Ern Malley)
• Atlanta (1990)
• Love Child (1993)
• Ridge's Lovers
• Flame (1994)
• Honour (1995)
• Redemption (1997)
• Rapture (2002)
• Bombshells (2004) (writen for Caroline O'Connor)
• The Female of the Species (2006)
• Nightfall (2007)
• Ninety (August 2008 at the Melbourne Theatre Company)^[10]
• Scenes from a Marriage (January 2008) (based on the 1973 Bergmann film)

[edit] Novels

• Truce (1994) ISBN 978-0-14-015252-4
• Judgement Rock (2002) ISBN 978-0-14-025429-7
• Sunnyside (2005) ISBN 978-0-14-300536-0

[edit] Other

• The poems of Ern Malley (ed) ISBN 978-0-04-150088-2 (1988)
• Georgia, (film, 1988)
• Cassidy (1989, for ABC Television) (after the novel by Morris West)
• Mimi Goes to the Analyst in Six Pack (1992, for SBS TV)
• Greed in The Seven Deadly Sins (1993, for ABC TV)
• Lyrics to a song cycle about Harold Holt, music by Paul Grabowsky
• Janus: episodes Fit to Plead, An Unnatural Act, A Prima Facie Case (1995, for ABC TV)
• Libretto to the opera Love in the Age of Therapy (2002) by Paul Grabowsky for Opera Australia.^[11]

[edit] Awards

• Australian Film Institute Award nomination in 1989 for the screenplay to Georgia (shared with Ben Lewin, Bob Weis).
• Braille Book of the Year for Judgement Rock
• Victorian Premier's Literary Award: Southbank Pacific Prize for Drama for Honour in 1996
• Victorian Premier's Literary Award: Louis Esson Prize for Drama for Rapture in 2003
• Winner 2004 Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Fringe Festival for Bombshells
• International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award nomination in 2004 for Judgement Rock^[12]
• Winner 2005 London Theatregoers Choice Award for Bombshells
• Final list of twelve of the Miles Franklin Award in 2006 for Sunnyside

[edit] Notable productions

Many of Murray-Smith's plays have been performed around the world. Honour has been produced in more than three dozen countries, including productions on Broadway and at the Royal National Theatre in London.^[5]

Honour was created in 1995 when Murray-Smith was studying in the writing program at Columbia University in New York. There, the play's first public appearance was in a reading with Meryl Streep, Sam Waterston and Kyra Sedgwick.^[3][6]

Honour was performed at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway in 1998 with Jane Alexander, Robert Foxworth, Laura Linney, Enid Graham;^[13] it earned Alexander and Graham Tony Award nominations, Enid Graham winning a Tony. It was performed at London's Royal National Theatre with Eileen Atkins and in the West End at Wyndham's Theatre in 2006 with Diana Rigg, Martin Jarvis and Natascha McElhone^[14]

Ridge's Lovers was performed in New York under the direction of Brian Leahy Doyle.^[15]

Scenes from a Marriage was performed in January 2008 at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, directed by Trevor Nunn, with Iain Glen and Imogen Stubbs.^[16]

The Female of the Species is to be performed starting in April 2008 on Broadway, originally planned with Annette Bening who since withdrew from the project^[17], directed by Michael Mayer.^[9]

[edit] External links

• Joanna Murray-Smith at the Internet Movie Database
• Plays by Joanna Murray-Smith (incomplete)
• The Female of the Species at the Black Swan Theatre Company, plus overview of Murray-Smith's work.

[edit] References

1. ^ Famous alumni on Latham's hit list. Crikey (30 March 2005). Retrieved on 2008-02-17. (beware of ads)
2. ^ Prominent Alumni. University of Melbourne. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
3. ^ ^{a b} A. Dunlap-Smith (12 June 1998). Homework in Writing Program Becomes a Play on Broadway. Columbia University Record, Vol.23, No.24. Columbia University in the City of New York. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
4. ^ Murray-Smith, Joanna (11 May 2003). (Column for The Age). The Age. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
5. ^ ^{a b} Murray-Smith, Joanna (7 August 2006). Life, love and betrayal. The Age. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
6. ^ ^{a b} Murray-Smith, Joanna. AustLit (27 June 2006). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
7. ^ Leach, Pier (26 April 2007). Perth to meet bombshell. The West Australian. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
8. ^ Croggon, Alison (8 February 2008). More bubble bath than kitchen sink. The Australian. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
9. ^ ^{a b} Female Of The Species to Star Annette Bening On Broadway. Australian Stage Online (14 June 2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
10. ^ Ninety. Melbourne Theatre Company (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
11. ^ Middleton, Carol (December 2002). Interview. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
12. ^ The 2004 Award. Dublin City Public Libraries (2004). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
13. ^ Honour. Internet Broadway Database (1998). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
14. ^ Honour. The Society of London Theatre (2006). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
15. ^ Brian Doyle. St. Cloud State University (27 September 2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
16. ^ Scenes from a Marriage. The Belgrade Theatre (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
17. ^ Gans, Andrew (21 September 2007). Bening Withdraws from Broadway-Bound Female of the Species. Playbill. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.

• Creswell, Toby; Samantha Trenoweth (2006). "Arts and Popular Culture", 1001 Australians You Should Know (Google Books), Pluto Press Australia, P.170. ISBN 1864033614. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.