Stephen Sewell (writer)

Infobox Writer


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name = Stephen Sewell
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birthdate = birth date and age|1953|3|13
birthplace = Liverpool, New South Wales
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occupation = Playwright and Screenwriter
nationality = Australian
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Stephen John Sewell (b. March 13, 1953) is a prolific Australian playwright and screenwriter.

Born in Liverpool, New South Wales Sewell's first theatre experience was in the 1970's in the fringe threatre while he was studying at the University of Sydney,cite web |title= Artist Profile - Stephen Sewell |publisher= OzArts on-line |url= http://www.ozarts.com.au/artists/artists_literature/stephen_sewell/ |accessdate= 2008-02-24] where his first play was staged in 1975.

In an interview in 2006 Sewell describes himself as an "angry writer" and a workaholic.cite web|title= The Hot Seat: Stephen Sewell, interview by Valerie Lawson | publisher= Sydney Morning Herald, Arts Review |url= http://www.awg.com.au/artman/uploads/sewell_report.pdf |date= September 23, 2006 |accessdate= 2008-02-24] His plays address contemporary political issues, but says Sewell, "No artist, no creator, ever sets forth without hope, even if the thing they create appears to be carved out of pitch black despair."cite web| title= Theatre at the End of History. A Weekend with Stephen Sewell, 6- 8 October 2006 |publisher= Australian Writers' Guild |url= http://www.awg.com.au/artman/uploads/sewell_report.pdf |accessdate= 2008-02-24]

Awards

* 1985 Play Award in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for "The Blind Giant is Dancing"
* 1989 Play Award in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for "Hate"
* 1998 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay Best Screenplay (Adapted) for "The Boys"
* 2004 Australian National Playwrights' Centre (ANPC) Award for 2004
* 2004 Play Award in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for "Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America"
* 2004 AWGIE Awards
* 2004 Louis Esson Prize for Drama in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awardcite web |title= The Louis Esson Prize for Drama: Winner 2004 |publisher= State Library of Victoria |url= http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/programs/literary/pla/leprize/winner2004.html |accessdate= 2008-02-24]

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)
* "Myths Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America" (2003) (
* "It Just Stopped" - first performed Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, UK 2004
* "The Secret Death of Salvador Dali" - first performed Edinburgh Fringe 2002
* "The Gates of Egypt" - performed at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney 2007 [http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news.asp?sc=&sId=152195&catId=10&sType=feature 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)

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"

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ozarts.com.au/artists/artists_literature/stephen_sewell/ Artist Profile - Stephen Sewell]
* [http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=ApJ AustLIT Agents Details]
* [http://www.currency.com.au/search.aspx?type=author&author=Stephen+Sewell Currency Press - author profile] (Retrieved February 24, 2008)
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878659/ IMDb - Stephen Sewell]
* [http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/interviews/StephenSewell.htm Stephen Sewell - Award-Winning Australian Playwright] The British Theatre Guide, interview by Philip Fisher (Retrieved February 24, 2008)
* [http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsS/sewell-stephen.html The Playwrights Database - Stephen Sewell] (Retrieved February 24, 2008)
* [http://www.awg.com.au/artman/uploads/sewell_report.pdf Theatre at the End of History. A Weekend with Stephen Sewell, 6- 8 October 2006] Australian Writers' Guild (Retrieved February 24, 2008)
* [http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/programs/literary/pla/index.html Victorian Premier's Literary Awards]

Persondata
NAME=Sewell, Stephen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=playwright and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH=March 13, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH=Liverpool, New South Wales
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=