Tom Wright (Australian Playwright)
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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 The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...
. In 2003 he was appointed Artistic Associate at
Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...
(STC); in 2007 he became associate director. He left the company in 2012. In 2016 he joined Belvoir as an Artistic Associate.


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 Barrie Kosky (born 18 February 1967) is an Australian theatre and opera director. Based at the Komische Oper Berlin, he has worked internationally. Biography Kosky was born in Melbourne, the grandson of Jewish emigrants from Europe. He attended ...
(who had directed him in student productions at Melbourne University) as a member of
Gilgul Gilgul (also Gilgul neshamot or Gilgulei HaNeshamot; Heb. , Plural: ''Gilgulim'') is a concept of reincarnation or "transmigration of souls" in Kabbalistic esoteric mysticism. In Hebrew, the word ''gilgul'' means "cycle" or "wheel" and ''nes ...
, a Melbourne company exploring Jewish cultural identity. He acted in their productions of ''
The Dybbuk ''The Dybbuk'', or ''Between Two Worlds'' (, trans. ''Mezh dvukh mirov ibuk'; , ''Tsvishn Tsvey Veltn – der Dibuk'') is a play by S. An-sky, authored between 1913 and 1916. It was originally written in Russian and later translated into Yidd ...
'' (1992), '' Es Brent'' (1993), ''The Wilderness Room'' (1995) and ''
The Operated Jew ''The Operated Jew'' () is a satirical antisemitic book published by German physician Oskar Panizza in 1893. Written from a supposedly medical perspective, it exemplified the scientific racism characteristic of the era. Plot summary A young 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 In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...
dealing with a
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
case, which he wrote and performed, had multiple seasons and later toured to
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
and
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. ''
Lorilei ''Lorilei: A Meditation on Loss'' is a 2003 play by Tom Wright and Nicholas Harrington, based on a capital murder trial in Louisiana, United States. Theme The play tells the true story of Lorilei Guillory, whose six-year-old son, Jeremy, was ...
: A Meditation on Loss'', based on another death row case, and performed by
Anna Galvin Anna Galvin (born 19 October 1969; also credited as Anna Glavan) is an Australian actress. She has appeared in several British, American, and Canadian productions. Her roles include Lex Luthor's assistant, Gina, in ''Smallville'', and Lavender ...
, played in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Sydney,
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, London and
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
in 2003, and has since gone on to be performed in other nations such as Belgium and Pakistan. The
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
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 Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
's ''
Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...
''. At the 2007 Helpmann Awards this production won five awards, including Best Play and Best New Australian work. Wright's adaptation of
Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...
' tragedy '' The Women of Troy'' was awarded Best Mainstage Production at the 2008
Sydney Theatre Awards The Sydney Theatre Awards are annual awards to recognise the strength, quality and diversity of professional theatre in Sydney, Australia. They were established in 2005 by a group of major Sydney theatre critics. The awards recognise mainstage and ...
. In 2009 his co-adaptation of
Shakespeare's history plays In the First Folio (1623), the plays of William Shakespeare were in three categories: (i) comedies, (ii) histories, and (iii) tragedies. Besides the history plays of his Renaissance playwright contemporaries, the histories of Shakespeare def ...
, performed under the title ''The War of the Roses'', was directed by
Benedict Andrews Benedict Andrews (born 1972) is an Australian theatre and film director, based in Reykjavík. Born in Adelaide in 1972, he was educated at Flinders University Drama Centre. His first feature film '' Una'' (an adaptation of '' Blackbird'' by Da ...
for Sydney Theatre Company. This production collected four Helpmanns in 2009, including Best Play, and was listed as the theatre masterpiece of the decade by ''
The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...
'' in October 2011. Wright's 2012 play ''On The Misconception of Oedipus'' played at
Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD ...
in Melbourne and
Perth Theatre Company Perth Theatre Company was a live theatre company in Perth, Western Australia. History Perth Theatre Company was founded as SWY Theatre Company by graduates from the specialist Theatre Arts course at John Curtin Senior High School in 1983. Bet ...
, under the direction of
Matthew Lutton Matthew Lutton is an Australian theatre and opera director. He was associate director of the Black Swan Theatre Company in 2006. He was the founder and director of ThinIce theatre company (2002–2012) in Perth, Western Australia. Moving to Melb ...
. It won four
Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...
that year including Best Writing. In 2014 Wright's play ''Black Diggers'' premiered in Sydney under the direction of
Wesley Enoch Wesley James Enoch (born 1969) is an Australian playwright and artistic director. He is especially known for ''The 7 Stages of Grieving'', co-written with Deborah Mailman. He was artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company from mid- ...
; later it toured Australia playing in Melbourne,
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
,
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
,
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
,
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and
Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...
. A text exploring
Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
experiences in the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, ''Black Diggers'' was awarded the
Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...
at the 2015
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...
. 2017 saw the premier of ''The Real and Imagined History of The Elephant Man'', a play that revisited the actual history of
Joseph Merrick Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890) was an English man known for his severe physical deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, ...
joining up what is known about his tragic life with passages that explore the depth of what it is to be a disabled person. The play premiered on 4 August 2017, starring Daniel Monks in the title role. The cast also featured
Paula Arundell Paula Arundell is an Australian actress and singer. Early life Arundell studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), in Sydney. She graduated in 1995, with a degree in Performing Arts (Acting). Career Arundell has appeared in tel ...
,
Julie Forsyth Julie Forsyth is an Australian actress best known for her stage performances, and as Lotis, the talking lift from '' Lift Off''. Early life In 1976, Forsyth left home to attend Monash University in Melbourne. She enrolled to do a BA with the i ...
, Emma J. Hawkins, and Sophie Ross. The play toured the UK in 2023, directed by Stephen Bailey and starring
Zak Ford-Williams Zak Ford-Williams is an English stage and screen actor, best known for his screen role as Lord Remington in the Netflix series ''Bridgerton,'' Harry Hardacre in ''The Hardacres,'' and for his stage appearances as Richard III in ''The Tragedy of R ...
as Joseph. This cast of this production included Annabelle Davies and Nadia Nadarajah, and off the back of this production the play was published as a book.


Personal life

Wright's partner is
Jo Dyer Jo Dyer (born 1969) is an Australian theatre and film producer, and director of Adelaide Writers' Week from 2019 to 2022. She is known for the films '' Lucky Miles'' (2007) and '' Girl Asleep'' (2015). In 2021 she was involved in a legal case ...
, the political candidate, lawyer and theatre producer.


Selected works

*''
Ghost Train In ghostlore, a ghost train is a phantom vehicle in the form of a locomotive or train. The ghost train differs from other traditional forms of haunting in that rather than being a static location where ghosts are claimed to be present, "the app ...
'', ( Kroetz, Napier St Theatre (Melbourne), 1995) *''
The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' () is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than the baby's wealthy b ...
'' (
Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...
, Belvoir, 1998) *'' Ubu'' (after Jarry. Melbourne Festival, 2001) *''
Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...
'' (Melbourne Festival, 2002, directed by Daniel Schlusser) *''This Is a True Story'' (2002) *''Babes in the Wood'' (
Playbox Theatre, Melbourne The Playbox Theatre was a theatre located at 53-55 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, Australia, from 1927 to 1984. It became the home of the Playbox Theatre Company, previously Hoopla! and later Malthouse Theatre. History The theatre seating ar ...
, 2003) *''Lorilei'' (2003) *''Tense Dave'' (
Chunky Move Chunky Move is an Australian contemporary dance company from Southbank, Victoria. History Chunky Move was founded in 1995 and debuted at the Melbourne International Arts Festival with artistic director Gideon Obarzanek. The company's work is d ...
, 2003) *''
Mr Puntila and his Man Matti ''Mr Puntila and His Man Matti'' () is an epic comedy by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. It was written in 1940 and first performed in 1948. The story describes the aristocratic land-owner Puntila's relationship to his servant, Ma ...
'' (Brecht, for
Australian Theatre for Young People Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is the flagship youth theatre company located in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, New South Wales, Australia. It was founded in 1963 by Eleanor Witcombe. History The first committee was formed in 1963 and ...
, 2004) *''
A Journal of the Plague Year ''A Journal of the Plague Year: Being Observations or Memorials, Of the most Remarkable Occurrences, As well Publick as Private, which happened in London During the last Great Visitation In 1665'', commonly called ''A Journal of the Plague Ye ...
'' (
Defoe Defoe may refer to: People *Defoe (surname), most notably English author Daniel Defoe Places *Defoe, Webster County, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Other uses *Defoe (comics), a zombie story *Defoe Shipbuilding Company, a former shipy ...
, Malthouse, 2005) *''
The Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'' (Malthouse, 2006) *''The Lost Echo'' (STC, 2006) *''The Duel'' (2007) *''Criminology'' (with
Lally Katz Lally Katz (born ) is an American and Australian dramatist writing for theater, film, and television. She now resides in Los Angeles. Early life Katz was born in New Jersey, United States. She moved with her family to Miami, and then to Canberr ...
,
Arena Theatre Company Arena Theatre Company is an Australian theatre company and a long-running producers of Theatre For Young Audiences. It was established as a professional company in 1968 as the Children's Arena Theatre and focused primarily on schools performance ...
, 2007; directed by Rosemary Myers) *''
Tales From the Vienna Woods "Tales from the Vienna Woods" (, occasionally ) is a waltz by Johann Strauss II. Composed in 1868, , Op. 325, was one of six Viennese waltzes by Johann Strauss II which featured a virtuoso part for zither. The title of Strauss' dance recall ...
'' (
Ödön von Horváth Edmund Josef von Horváth (9 December 1901 – 1 June 1938) was an Austro-Hungarian playwright and novelist who wrote in German, and went by the ''nom de plume'' Ödön von Horváth (). He was one of the most critically admired writers of his g ...
, STC, 2007) *'' The Women of Troy'' (STC and Malthouse, 2008) *''The War of the Roses'' (2009) *''
Optimism Optimism is the Attitude (psychology), attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is Is the glass half empty ...
'' (after
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
, Sydney Opera House, 2009) *''
Baal Baal (), or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The ...
'' (Brecht, STC and Malthouse, 2011; directed by
Simon Stone Simon Stone (born 19 August 1984) is an Australian film and theatre director, writer and actor. Early life Stone is Australian, but was born in Basel, Switzerland and grew up in Cambridge and Melbourne. His father, Stuart Stone, was a biochemis ...
) *''
Oresteia The ''Oresteia'' () is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BC, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House ...
'' (STC, 2011) *''The Histrionic'' (
Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...
, 2011) *'' The Castle'' (after
Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...
, STC, 2012) *''On the Misconception of Oedipus'' (2012) *''
The Misanthrope ''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal (rue Saint-Honoré), Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris by ...
'' (
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
, Malthouse, 2013) *''Black Diggers'' (Sydney Festival, 2014) *'' The Good Person of Szechuan'' (Brecht, Malthouse 2014, toured Shanghai and Beijing, directed by Meng Jinghui) *'' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (adapted from the novel by
Joan Lindsay Joan à Beckett Weigall, Lady Lindsay (16 November 189623 December 1984) was an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and visual artist. Trained in her youth as a painter, she published her first literary work in 1936 at age forty under a ...
, Malthouse and
Black Swan State Theatre Company Black Swan State Theatre Company, formerly known as the Black Swan Theatre Company, is Western Australia's state theatre company. It runs an annual subscription season in Perth at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, tours its produc ...
, 2016) *''Biographica'' (
libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
, composer
Mary Finsterer Mary Finsterer (born 25 August 1962) is an Australian composer and academic. Life Finsterer was born in Canberra in 1962. She graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Melbourne. A recipient of the Royal Netherlan ...
,
Sydney Chamber Opera Sydney Chamber Opera is an opera company based in Sydney, Australia. It is a resident company at Carriageworks. The company was founded in 2010 by Louis Garrick and Jack Symonds. Its first production was in February 2011 and it has since produce ...
, 2017) *''The Real & Imagined History of
The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890) was an English man known for his severe physical deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, ...
'' (2017) *''
Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...
'' (after Peter Carey's novel, Malthouse and Belvoir, 2018) *''
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago mobster, and his attempts to control the cauliflower ra ...
'' (Brecht, Sydney Theatre Company, 2018) *''
Life of Galileo ''Life of Galileo'' (), also known as ''Galileo'', is a Play (theatre), play by the 20th century Germany, German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and collaborator Margarete Steffin with incidental music by Hanns Eisler. The play was written in 1938 and re ...
'' (Brecht, Belvoir, 2019) *''The Last Season'' ( Force Majeure (Dance Company), 2021) *''Antarctica'' (libretto; composer
Mary Finsterer Mary Finsterer (born 25 August 1962) is an Australian composer and academic. Life Finsterer was born in Canberra in 1962. She graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Melbourne. A recipient of the Royal Netherlan ...
,
Sydney Chamber Opera Sydney Chamber Opera is an opera company based in Sydney, Australia. It is a resident company at Carriageworks. The company was founded in 2010 by Louis Garrick and Jack Symonds. Its first production was in February 2011 and it has since produce ...
,
Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and architec ...
2022 &
Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney, that runs for three weeks every January since it was established in 1977. The festival program features over 100 events from local and international artists and inclu ...
2023)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Tom Writers from Melbourne 21st-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian people of Cornish descent Helpmann Award winners 1968 births Living people