Aidan Fennessy (died 13 September 2020) was an Australian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

stage director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and actor, known for his work with the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre compa ...

(MTC), where he was at one time aAssociate director. __NOTOC__ Fennessy's career began in the 1990s in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, using his talents as writer, director and actor. He acted in a number of television series, including ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'', ''

Introducing Gary Petty ''Introducing Gary Petty'' is an Australian comedy series produced for The Comedy Channel in 2000. The series revolves around Bob Franklin as Gary Petty, a man who is obsessed with revenge on those he feels have snubbed him or have committed s ...

'', ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the ever ...

'' and ''

City Homicide ''City Homicide'' is an Australian television drama series that aired on the Seven Network between 27 August 2007 and 30 March 2011. The series was set on the Homicide floor of a metropolitan police headquarters in Melbourne. The main characte ...

''. In 2012, he was the programming director at MTC. ''National Interest'' (2012) was commissioned by MTC and the

Black Swan State Theatre Company Black Swan State Theatre Company (formerly The Black Swan Theatre Company) is Western Australia's state theatre company. It runs an annual subscription season in Perth at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, tours its productions reg ...

(

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

) on the theme of the

Balibo Five The Balibo Five was a group of journalists for Australian commercial television networks who were murdered in the period leading up to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. The Balibo Five were based in the town of Balibo in East Timor (then ...

. Fennessy's cousin, Tony Stewart, was one of the five journalists who became known as the Balibo Five after they were murdered in

Balibo Balibo is a town in East Timor situated approximately from the Indonesian border. It is located in the subdistrict of Balibo, Bobonaro District. It was estimated by Human Rights Watch that 70 per cent of the town was destroyed during t ...

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

, in 1975. The play focuses on Stewart's family, in particular his mother and sister, as well as the

Indonesian Government The term Government of Indonesia ( id, Pemerintah Indonesia) can have a number of different meanings. At its widest, it can refer collectively to the three traditional branches of government – the executive branch, legislative branch and ju ...

's cover-up and the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

's handling of the affair. The play incorporates media coverage, speeches, court transcripts and other factual material into this "deeply personal story". It was performed in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and Melbourne during 2012. Fennessy had two children with his partner, Nova. He died from a terminal illness during one of the

lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

s imposed in Melbourne because of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

Selected works

Plays written by Fennessy include: *''The Architect'' *''National Interest'' *''What Rhymes With Cars And Girls'' (a musical based on the album '' What Rhymes With Cars And Girls'' by Tim Rogers, staged by MTC in 2015) *''Chilling and Killing My Annabel Lee'' ( Playbox/Malthouse), *''The House On The Lake'' (

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

) *''The Way Things Work'' (

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

, Red Stitch)

Accolades

*''The Trade'' (2002), written for the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

, won the 2002 Barry Award (since renamed the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award, (formerly known as the Barry Award and the Stella Award) is an annual prize presented to the most outstanding comedy act at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. History It has been awarded ...

. *''Chilling and Killing My Annabel Lee'' (2006) won the Wal Cherry Award and was shortlisted for the

Victorian Premier's Literary Award The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...

. *''National Interest'' (2012,

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

) won the People's Choice award at the

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...

in 2012. *''What Rhymes With Cars And Girls'' (2015) was nominated for a

Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work __NOTOC__ The Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA), an employers' organisation which serves as the peak body in the live entertainment and performing arts industries in Australia ...

in 2015.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fennessy, Aidan 21st-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian male dramatists and playwrights 2020 deaths Year of birth missing Australian actors