NIDA announces new Head of Writing for Performance

NIDA has announced the appointment of Stephen Sewell as the new Head of Writing for Performance.

Stephen has achieved popular and critical success as a playwright, screenwriter, novelist and lecturer, as well as a director of theatre and film.

His AFI Award-winning screen adaptation of The Boys might be his most celebrated work. He was also script editor on the feature film Chopper, and has been critically acclaimed for his plays such as The Blind Giant is Dancing, It Just Stopped and Myth Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America – A Drama in 30 Scenes.

His novelisation of the film Animal Kingdom was published in 2010 and his recent film, Scenario – an artificially intelligent 360 degree 3D cinematic work – premiered at the 2011 Sydney Film Festival.

One of Stephen’s most highly acclaimed plays, Hate – which was performed previously at Belvoir Street Theatre under the direction of Neil Armfield – will receive another season at Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre in 2013.

Stephen is the recipient of numerous awards, including a two-year Australia Council Literary Fellowship and the prestigious Australian National Playwrights’ Centre Award for Significant Contribution to Australian Theatre. His work has been performed in most major Australian theatres and in New Zealand, the US, the UK and Europe.

In addition to his substantial film and theatre work, Stephen has also taught writing for theatre and screenwriting at The University of Sydney and holds a Visiting Research Fellowship at the iCinema Centre for Interactive Research at The University of New South Wales.

NIDA  Director/CEO Lynne Williams said, “We are very excited that Stephen Sewell will be joining the NIDA team to lead our graduate course in Writing for Performance.

“Stephen has had a hugely successful career over 30 years and is dedicated to sharing his expertise with the next generation of writers, helping them to discover their individual voices and to explore the many opportunities for writers interested in performance.

Stephen replaces Jane Bodie, NIDA’s current Head of Playwriting, who is concluding her term at NIDA to pursue her own career as an active playwright. Her association with NIDA continues as the Institute’s Commissioned Playwright for 201 an annual initiative supported by the NIDA Foundation Trust.