Nathan Maynard – August 9 2020

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – August 9

Nathan is a dancer, actor and award-winning playwright. A Pakana/Palawa man from larapuna country, North East Tasmania, he is a descendant of the chief of the Trawlwoolway Clan. Nathan worked in land management for 16 years before discovering his love for writing. Nathan has been the recipient of a Tasmanian Regional Arts grant and with the support of Tasmania Performs, he secured an Arts Tasmania Aboriginal Arts Fellowship for a year-long career development program focused on the development of The Season. He received the Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year Award in 2006 and 2013. Nathan’s other plays include At What Cost, about a palawa man conflicted between looking after his young family and fighting for the rights of his people and country, and Hide the Dog, co-written with Jamie McCaskill, about Niarra (palawa) and Te Umuroa (Maori) who find the last Tasmanian Tiger and need to hide it in Aotearoa/New Zealand. As an actor, Nathan has appeared in Shadow Dreams, a unique staging in which the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and performers in one city interacted live with musicians and performers in another city, and he recently performed in the premier of A Not So Traditional Story. Nathan is also an emerging producer with Kickstart Arts.

The Season
Australian Script Centre, 2017; ISBN 97809577544543
Full length; 3 female, 3 male; Audience age: teen, young adult, adult
Aboriginal playwright Nathan Maynard presents a hilarious portrait of the Duncans, a family bursting with love and always up for a laugh. They’re back on Big Dog Island, a speck of land in Bass Strait, for the annual mutton-bird harvest. Hatchets are buried, secrets told, pranks pulled and birds plucked. But this year, things are different. One generation is giving way to the next, the youngsters have their own way of doing things, and government regulation is making its presence felt – even on this remote patch of earth. Maynard knows those hot, cramped work sheds first hand. His play is sharp as a tack and blunt as a brick.alone.

A Not So Traditional Story
Composer: Matthew Fargher; Puppet Design & Construction: Bryony Anderson & Sabrina Evans
2018 premier produced by Terrapin Puppet Theatre
1 female; 3 males; Audience age: children
An epic quest of bravery and friendship. A story with a little bit of truth and a little bit of make believe, one might say A Not So Traditional Story… Once upon a time two kids, Wurangkili (who is keen on adventure) and Timita (who takes a bit of convincing), are crashed upon by an Alien from a faraway land. Join them as they embark on an epic quest across the island of lutruwita in search of the ‘oldest of old elders’, meeting up with some hilarious and unique friends along the way.
“beautifully, meticulously created and wonderful to watch” – Witness Performance
“theatre with so much heart, buoyed by a mischievous sense of fun” – The Age