Biography

Stephen Sewell is an Australian playwright and screenwriter. Born in Liverpool, New South Wales, Sewell's first theatre experience was playing a pirate in a school production of "The Pirates of Penzance", before abandoning a career in Physics, for which he studied at the University of Sydney, and devoting himself to creative writing, beginning with a short play, "Kangaroo" at a Sydney fringe theatre in 1975 and then quickly moving on to his first full length play, "The Father We Loved on a Beach by the Sea" at La Boite Theatre in Brisbane under the Artistic Directorship of Rick Billinghurst, in 1977 before his first major success, "Traitors" at the APG Pram Factory in 1979, followed quickly by "Welcome the Bright World," (Dir. Neil Armfield, Nimrod Theatre, 1981), "The Blind Giant is Dancing" (Dir. Neil Armfield, The State Theatre Company of South Australia, 1983) and his last large scale work, "Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America, A Play in 30 Scenes" (Dir. Aubrey Mellor, Malthouse Theatre, 2004). Other notable works include "Three Furies - Scenes from the Life of Francis Bacon" (Dir. Jim Sharman for the Sydney festival, 2005), "The Boys" (Dir. Rowan Woods, Arena Films, 1998) and the film, "Embedded" (Written and Directed by Sewell for Jaggi Entertainment, 2016).

Sewell's work from the very beginning has been monumental in scope and concerned with the nature of power in class society, and his commitment to radical social change, promoting egalitarianism and social justice, has been the driving force of his creative life. Inspired by a diverse range of thinkers, from Democritus and Marx to Lacan, Hegel and Zizek, his plays are characterised by passion, rage and intellectual rigour, sometimes mistaken for pessimism, but always filled with humour and hope, and are regarded as some of the best work in the Australian canon. Fascinated by the world and rabidly curious, Sewell is renowned for his restless activity, and his many ventures into fields as widely divergent as theatre, film, novels, short stories, television drama and even musicals, and while he is considered a writer who unflinchingly stares into the abyss of our times, he says of his work, "No artist, no creator, ever sets forth without hope, even if the thing they create appears to be carved out of pitch black despair."Sewell was Head of Writing at the National Institute of Dramatic Art between 2012 and 2021, during which time he created one of the most outstanding writing courses in the country, and shown while he was running it to increase the creativity of the student writers studying with him, something no other writing course in Australia can claim.Sewell has written 36 theatre plays, more than 21 screenplays, including the AFI Award-winning The Boys, and three novels (two published by MUP), as well as having undertaken extensive experimental work in collaboration with world-renowned digital artist Dennis Del Favero – spanning writing for art installations, radio plays and digital platform productions. His plays have been produced more than 200 times by national and international institutions, and he is recipient of 20 of the most prestigious and coveted awards in the Australian creative landscape, including being one of only two three-time winners of the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award.

Over the past 44 years, Sewell has consistently worked as playwright, dramaturg, screenwriter, script editor, lyricist, theatre and film director, lecturer and workshop supervisor. His creative work spans a diverse range of genres, from drama and film/TV to physical theatre, musicals, cabaret and digital content. Together with Louis Nowra, he strongly impacted the overall direction of Australian theatre by steering it away from dominant naturalist traditions towards a less rigid, freer and more internationally engaged theatricality.

He continues to be active in the cultural fields and is currently Convenor of the Currency House Authors' Group, as well as being an Honorary Senior Lecturer at ANU.