Aidan Fennessy – October 27 2019

International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists – November 2

Aidan is an award-winning writer, director and dramaturge. His other plays include Chilling and Killing My Annabel Lee, Brutopia, What Rhymes with Cars and Girls, music and lyrics by Tim Rogers, The Way Things Work and The Architect. Aidan’s directing credits include Peter Houghton’s A Commercial Farce; Alan Ayckbourne’s Things We Do for Love; Lally Katz’s Return To Earth, Matt Cameron’s Ruby Moon and many more. Co-founder of the highly successful Chameleon Theatre, Aidan has also been a member of the Artistic Directorate of Hothouse Theatre, Artistic Director of the Store Room Theatre Workshop and Associate Director at Melbourne Theatre Company.

National Interest
Premiered 2009, Black Swan Theatre, Perth
3 female, 3 male
Aidan’s cousin, Tony Stewart, was one of the ‘Balibo Five’, a group of young journalists who were murdered on October 16, 1975 while reporting on the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. In National Interest, “Aidan Fennessy expertly weaves factual source material – media coverage, speeches, court transcripts, etc. – into a deeply personal story powered by grief and resentment.” – Judges’ Report, Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2012
“The impact is cumulative, and devastating: the powerlessness of individuals caught in large events – whether it’s those killed in East Timor or the families who grieve them – is shown graphically and feelingly, without stepping back from their wider political implications …. some of the most sensitive and intelligent political theatre I’ve seen.” – Alison Croggan, Theatre Notes

The House on the Lake
Currency Press, 2015; ISBN 9781925005387
Full length; 1 female, 1 male
“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” A criminal lawyer with a cool head and a passion for logic, David wakes up to find himself confined to a small, sparsely furnished room, unable to remember what happened the day before. With the help of his doctor, David begins to coax memories out of the darkness, before the details of a terrible secret emerge. Razor sharp and tourniquet tight, The House on the Lake is a psychological thriller so crafty it’s criminal. Mired deep in layers of deception, it’s a puzzle of a play certain to engage the intellect and assault the nervous system.