Sue Smith – January 10 2016

Sue is a playwright, screenwriter, script editor and one of Australia’s finest television writers. Her credits include the feature film Peaches, the mini-series RAN (co-written with John Alsop and Alice Addison), the telemovie Temptation, film adaptation of Jill Ker Conway ‘s The Road From Coorain and screen adaptation of George Johnston’s My Brother Jack (in partnership with John Alsop). Her television series include The Young Doctors, Sons and Daughters, Bordertown, The Leaving of Liverpool and Brides of Christ. Her first stage play, Thrall, was produced by Tamarama Rock Surfers at the Old Fitzroy Theatre in July 2006.

Strange Attractor
Currency Press, 2009; ISBN 9780868198583
Full length play; 1 female, 5 male
Deep in Western Australia’s mining country, against the blood-red landscape of the Pilbara, a cyclone has wreaked havoc in a remote railway construction camp. Now, a small team of employees anxiously awaits the arrival of ‘the company man’, sent up from Perth to carry out his own investigation before a coronial inquiry. Dog-tired and in search of drink, they do their best to distract themselves, coming together in a makeshift mess hall. But a stormy evening of shared memories soon takes a strange and unexpected turn… a gripping, contemporary tale of free-will and responsibility in the face of great temptation.

Bastard Boys
Currency Press, 2007; ISBN 9780868198095
Television Script
This is the story of the fight that stopped the nation – the 1998 battle for Australia’s waterfront. More than just a dispute over reform, it became a campaign for the hearts and minds of all Australians. Controversial, all-consuming and combative, it forced people to pick a side and fight for their beliefs. Political thriller, war film, buddy movie, love story and courtroom drama all rolled into one, this is the story of the people behind one of the most significant events in Australia’s recent past. Bastard Boys has been written with the cooperation and participation of all parties to the dispute. It is the first time participants such as former Patrick CEO, Chris Corrigan and ACTU Secretary, Greg Combet have agreed to tell their stories.