Bruce Shearer – January 28 2018

Bruce is a poet, playwright, and short story writer. He holds degrees from the University of Melbourne in Law, English Literature and Philosophy, and History and Drama. He also holds accreditation in screenwriting from RMIT. In addition to his radio drama written for ABC Audio Arts Bruce has written a number of plays aimed at youth audiences which have been performed in schools in Australia and Poland. In several of his plays he has written the lyrics and collaborated with composers. In 1996, a musical production of The Absolutely Awesome Giant (Panstwowy Teatr ‘Lalka’ Warsaw) and an opera The Cantankerous Caterpillar (Pleciuga Puppet Theatre, Szczecin) were performed in Polish children’s theatres. Bruce’s other work for children includes Percival P Paper and the Recycling Riot, Wilberforce Wilson and the Magic Fountain, Swishswooshtinkle the Windy Wizard, A Night Like Any Other and When Our Teacher Was a Creature. His teen and young adult works include Wedding Belles, Everything, Dividing Up the Past and The Big Bang and his other plays for adults are Can’t Wait for Love and Broken Hearts.

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The Absolutely Awesome Giant
Australian Script Centre, 1993; ISBN 9780573703560
50 minutes; 5 female, 4 male
Audience age: all ages, children
This play is a voyage of discovery for a short giant born into a large family. His desire to be an absolutely awesome giant leads to his initial boasting, and his subsequent need to go out into the world and prove himself as a giant. In the wide world he soon learns that there are things much larger and more fearsome than he is. Through his experiences he learns to accept himself for what he is.

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Good Sometime Everything
Australian Script Centre, 1996
40 minutes; 1 female, 1 male
Cast age: 12-16, 18+; Audience age: adult
This play looks at the barriers of language that could exist for a disabled, yet entirely coherent individual faced with an audience used to communicating with ease. The language used is a mixture of semi-verse and gibberish. Meaning is ever present, but always obscure. The being is accompanied by a spirit that struggles with the being’s need to communicate with the audience. The being becomes a verbal bridge between the audience and the spirit, representing the gulf between body and spirit, able to communicate with both.