Tom Wright (Australian playwright)

Tom Wright (born 1 January 1968) is an Australian theatre writer, mostly known for his adaptations and translations.

Biography

Tom Wright was born and grew up in Melbourne. He studied Fine Art and English at Melbourne University.[1]

In 2003 he was appointed Artistic Associate at Sydney Theatre Company (STC); in 2007 he became Associate Director. He left the company in 2012.[2]

In 2016 he joined Belvoir as an Artistic Associate.[3]

Career

Wright began as an actor, joining Jean-Pierre Mignon's Australian Nouveau Theatre (Anthill) in late 1991. In 1991 he resumed working with Barrie Kosky (who had directed him in student productions at Melbourne University) as a member of Gilgul, a Melbourne company exploring Jewish cultural identity. He acted in their productions of The Dybbuk (1992), Es Brent (1993), The Wilderness Room (1995) and The Operated Jew (1996).

He began writing for the theatre in the late 1990s, although he continued performing into the early 2000s. This Is a True Story, a monologue dealing with a death row case, which he wrote and performed, had multiple seasons and later toured to Sydney and London.[4]

Lorilei: A Meditation on Loss, based on another death row case, and performed by Anna Galvin, played in Melbourne, Sydney, Edinburgh, London and Vancouver in 2003, and has since gone on to be performed in other nations such as Belgium and Pakistan.[5] The BBC Radio 4 radio version of Lorilei won the Gold Prize for Drama at the Radio Academy Awards in 2007.

In 2006 he again resumed working with Kosky, writing The Lost Echo, an eight-hour adaptation of Ovid's Metamorphoses.[6] At the 2007 Helpmann Awards this production won five awards, including Best Play and Best New Australian work.[7]

Wright's adaptation of The Women of Troy was awarded Best Mainstage Production at the 2008 Sydney Theatre Awards.[8]

In 2009 his co-adaptation of Shakespeare's history plays, performed under the title The War of the Roses, was directed by Benedict Andrews for Sydney Theatre Company. This production collected four Helpmanns in 2009, including Best Play,[9] and was listed as the theatre masterpiece of the decade by The Monthly in October 2011.[10]

Wright's 2012 play On The Misconception of Oedipus played at Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne and Perth Theatre Company, under the direction of Matthew Lutton. It won four Green Room Awards that year including Best Writing.[11][12]

In 2014 Wright's play Black Diggers premiered in Sydney under the direction of Wesley Enoch; later it toured Australia playing in Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Bendigo. A text exploring indigenous Australian experiences in the First World War, Black Diggers was awarded the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting at the 2015 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.[13]

Selected works

References
  1. Margaret Throsby. Interview of Tom Wright, 27 January 2009. ABC Classic FM
  2. "STC Sacks Associate Director". The Australian. 13 October 2012 – via Trove.
  3. "Belvoir Staff".
  4. "This Is a True Story". Kate Herbert Theatre Reviews.
  5. "Lorelei And The Quality of Mercy". Dawn. Karachi. 18 December 2015.
  6. "Tom Wright". Doollee.
  7. "Past nominees and winners". Helpmann Awards.
  8. "Sydney Theatre Awards 2008 Winners".
  9. "Past Nominees and Winners". Helpmann Awards.
  10. "Theatre Masterpiece". The Monthly.
  11. "2012 Green Room Awards Recipients". Australian Stage.
  12. "Tom Wright: Director". artshub.com.au.
  13. "Winners Announced For 2015 Premier's Literary Awards". History Council NSW.
  14. "Feature: Tom Wright", Sydney Theatre Company Magazine, 25 September 2011
  15. "Bliss". Malthousetheatre.com.au.
  16. "Sydney Theatre Company 2018 Season". sydneytheatre.com.au. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
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