Andrew Bovell – March 7 2021

Andrew is an award-winning writer for theatre, film and television. Born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, he has lived in Adelaide, South Australia, and New York. Andrew’s other works include When the Rain Stops Falling in which he traces four generations against a backdrop of environmental damage and change; After Dinner, an acutely observed but tender-hearted account of relationships and behaviour set in a suburban pub; Scenes from a Separation (co-written with Hannie Rayson); a stage adaptation of Kate Grenville’s novel The Secret River; and Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? (co-written with Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves, Christos Tsiolkas and Irene Vela), adapted to film as Blessed. His other film credits include Strictly Ballroom (co-written with Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce), Head On (co-written with Mira Robertson and Ana Kokkinos), Edge of Darkness and The Book of Revelation. Andrew has also written the thriller film A Most Wanted Man, based on John le Carré’s novel of the same name.

Holy Day
Currency Press, 2001; ISBN 9780868197401
Full length; 4 female, 4 male
On the white frontier in mid-nineteenth century Australia, a lone, bloodied woman arrives at a traveller’s rest in the midst of a violent desert storm with a shocking story to tell. Aborigines have allegedly murdered her husband and stolen her infant child. But an Aboriginal woman has a different story to tell. What would cause a missionary’s wife to lie? What chance does the word of an Aboriginal woman have against hers? A chilling mystery that draws together the lives of four extraordinary women and their men, all struggling to survive in a hostile and misunderstood landscape.

Speaking in Tongues
Australian Currency Press, 1998; ISBN 9780868199030
Full length; 2 female, 2 male
Adapted by Andrew for the screen as Lantana. Two couples set out to betray their partners. A lover returns from the past and a husband doesn’t answer the phone. A woman disappears and a neighbour is the prime suspect. Contracts are broken between intimates and powerful bonds are formed between strangers. In this masterfully interconnected polyphony, an evocative mystery unravels at the same time as a devastating tale of disconnection between individuals, partners and communities. “A play of shimmering, iridescent beauty, revealing the marvellous in the everyday.” – Financial Times