Stephen Sewell (writer)
Stephen John Sewell (born 13 March 1953 in Liverpool, New South Wales) is a highly acclaimed Australian playwright, novelist and screenwriter who has produced some of Australia's most awarded plays and whose work has been widely performed both nationally and internationally.
Born in Liverpool, New South Wales, Sewell's first theatre experience was in the 1970s in the fringe theatre while he was studying Science at the University of Sydney,[1] where his first play was staged in 1975.
In an interview in 2006 Sewell describes himself as an "angry writer" and a workaholic.[2] Fascinated by the social world, his work ranges across many fields of study, from economics and politics to philosophy and psychology, and while he is considered a writer obsessed with dark themes, he is not himself a pessimist, saying, "No artist, no creator, ever sets forth without hope, even if the thing they create appears to be carved out of pitch black despair."[3]
Awards
Works
Plays
- The Father We Loved on a Beach by the Sea (Currency Press ; Melbourne : Playbox Theatre Company, 1983, c1980)- first performed at Brisbane's La Boite Theatre company in 1978
- Traitors (Alternative Publishing Co-operative : Nimrod Theatre Press, 1983) - first performed by the Australian Performing Group at the Pram Factory in Melbourne in 1979
- Anger's Love
- The Blind Giant is Dancing (Currency Press, 1985, c1983) - first performed Adelaide 1982
- Welcome the Bright world (Nimrod Theatre Press, 1983)
- Burn Victim - first performed Sydney 1983
- Dreams in an Empty City (Currency Press in association with the State Theatre Company of South Australia, 1986) - first produced Adelaide 1986
- Hate (Currency Press in association with Playbox Theatre Company and Belvior St. Theatre, 1988) - first performed Adelaide 1986
- Miranda - first performed Adelaide 1989
- Sisters (Currency Press in association with Playbox Theatre Company Melbourne, 1991) - - first performed Melbourne 1991
- King Golgrutha - first performed Adelaide 1991
- The Garden of Granddaughters (Currency Press ; Melbourne : Playbox Theatre Centre of Monash University, 1993) - first performed Melbourne 1993
- Dust (Currency Press, 1997) - first performed Adelaide 1993
- Identity By Helen Demidenko - first performed Adelaide 1996
- The Sick Room (Currency Press in association with Playbox Theatre Centre, Monash University, 1999)
- Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America (2003) - One of Australia's most awarded plays, dealing with the War on Terror
- It Just Stopped - premiered at Belvoir Street and subsequently produced Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, UK 2004
- The Secret Death of Salvador Dalí - first performed Edinburgh Fringe 2002
- The Gates of Egypt - performed at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney 2007 Review
- Three Furies: Scenes From the Life of Francis Bacon (2004) - first performed Sydney Opera House as part of the Sydney Festival in January 2005
- The United States of Nothing - first performed at the Stables Theatre, Sydney 2006
Film scripts
- The Long Way Home (1985)
- Wrong World (1985) (additional dialogue)
- Isabelle Eberhardt (1991)
- True Love and Chaos (1997) (script editor)
- Let's Wait (1998) (writer and director)
- The Boys (Currency Press, 1998)
- Sydney: A Story of a City (1999)
- Foolish (1999) (additional editor)
- Chopper (2000) (script editor)
- Lost Things (2003)
- Sisters (2008) (writer and director)
- Cradlewood (2008)[5]
Television
- "The Gillies Republic" (1986) - episodes include:
- "The Bjelke-Petersen Republic"
- "The Keating Republic"
- "The Howard Republic"
- "The Hawke Republic"
- "The Singleton Republic"
- "The Carleton Republic"
Books
- Animal Kingdom, a crime story (Victory Books, 2010) a novel based on the film.
- Babylon (Victory Books, 2011)
Notes
External links