Alexander John Buzo (23 July 194416 August 2006) was an
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
playwright and author who wrote 88 works.
His literary works recorded Australian culture through wit, humour and extensive use of colloquial Australian English.
Biography
Early life
Alex Buzo was born on 23 July 1944 in
Sydney.
His father
Zihni Jusuf Buzo (1912-2006) was from
Berat
Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier.
Berat is located in ...
,
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, an American
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
graduate and
civil engineer of
Albanian origin.
Elaine Johnson, an Australian teacher of
Irish descent
The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been c ...
was his mother.
Buzo's brother, Adrian Buzo (born 1948,
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
)
is a
Korean studies
Korean studies is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of Korea, which includes the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and diasporic Korean populations. Areas commonly included under this rubric include Ko ...
scholar and former Australian diplomat.
The first school Buzo attended was the Middle Harbour State Primary School.
Buzo's interests in his early years were shaped by his influential mother's sister Ailsa, a theatre and movie goer.
At age 10, Buzo and the whole family went to live in
Armidale
Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. I ...
when his father got a position at
Armidale University.
Buzo attended
The Armidale School
, motto_translation = Without God, Nothing
, location = Armidale, New England Tablelands, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = Australia New ...
where his interest in drama developed.
His father later was employed in
Switzerland and Buzo attended the
International School of Geneva
The International School of Geneva (in French: ''Ecole Internationale de Genève''), also known as "Ecolint" or "The International School", is a private, non-profit international school based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Founded in 1924 in the servic ...
.
He formed a lifelong interest for both cricket and rugby in his youth where he participated as a player in team sports.
Buzo returned to Australia and held a job at the
Sydney Stock Exchange for a year.
He attended and was a successful student at the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...
.
Later he went to the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...
, which had Australia's first drama course and graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
At the time Buzo worked as a barman in the Sydney suburb of
Neutral Bay
Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.
Neutral Bay takes ...
at the Oakes hotel.
Playwriting career
Buzo started acting with the inner Sydney
New Theatre company after being inspired by director Aarne Neeme and the
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...
(NIDA).
Later in Sydney he became a playwright at 21 and Buzo emerged as a prominent figure among Australian dramatists, part of the New Wave group.
Buzo was also involved with the Melbourne based
Australian Performing Group
The Australian Performing Group (APG) was a Melbourne-based experimental theatre repertory ensemble formed in an official capacity in 1970 from the La Mama theatre group. Created to address a dissatisfaction with Australia's theatrical climate, th ...
(APG).
His talent was nurtured and developed at the
Producers Authors Composers and Talent
The PACT Centre for Emerging Artists (short for "Producers Artists Curators Technicians Centre for Emerging Artists"), formerly Producers Authors Composers and Talent and PACT Youth Theatre, is an Australian performing arts organisation and theat ...
(PACT) Centre, founded in 1964.
In 1966 Buzo wrote ''The Revolt''.
''
Norm and Ahmed'' was written in 1968 after his friend
Pakistani student Mohammed Kazim ("Kaz") was harassed in a pub by an older white Australian.
The play explored issues of racism within Australia and was a one act drama centred on two characters, the Anglo-Australian engineer Norm and a Pakistani student Ahmed at a bus stop.
The controversial play brought Buzo into the national spotlight and it was performed widely in Australian cities and also in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and the
US.
Debates over censorship in theatre followed and the use of colourful Australian expressions like "fuckin' boong" in the play's last line resulted in obscenity charges against Buzo, then court cases with the matter ending up at the High Court in 1970.
The charges were eventually quashed by the Attorney-General.
During 1969, Buzo wrote two plays ''The Front Room Boys'' and ''
Rooted''.
The name ''Rooted'' got Buzo into difficulties as in Australian colloquial terminology the term used as a pun can mean sexual relations.
He wrote ''The Roy Murphy Show'', a satirical play about a rugby television panel show in 1971
and two others in 1972, ''
Macquaire'', exploring issues of Australian identity and the past and ''Tom''.
At age 28, Buzo became a resident playwright 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 com ...
.
In 1974, Buzo's ''
Coralie Lansdowne Says No
''Coralie Lansdowne Says No'' is a play by Alex Buzo about a woman's struggle for independence.
Plot
Coralie is an independent woman who refuses to settle down to one man. When she stays at an ex lover's beach house, a series of visitors make her ...
'' achieved much success and was about a woman's struggle for independence and challenges she encounters in life.
Other plays explored similar themes regarding social alienation and the pursuit of individuals seeking to attain and find purpose in a world that prevents it from happening like ''Martello Towers'' in 1976 and ''Makassar Reef'' in 1978.
Buzo was at the height of his career as his plays were often sold out performances and well received by attending audiences.
In 1980 Buzo wrote the ''Big River'', in 1983 ''The Marginal Farm'', in 1987 ''Stingray'', in 1988 ''Shellcove Road'' and in 1995 ''Pacific Union''.
Buzo was one of the early playwrights of the New Wave group to gain international attention for ''Makassar Reef'', ''Rooted'' and ''Tom'', being well received in the US.
Buzo's plays have also been performed in south East Asia and the UK.
Over the span of his career, Buzo was also a writer-in-residence for various schools, universities and theatre companies.
Businessman
David Hill, an Oakes Hotel coworker from Buzo's university days sued him for defamation in the 1980s over an unsavoury character claimed to be based on Hill in ''Makassar Reef''.
Both Hill and Buzo reconciled in 1990.
Subsequent career
In later years Buzo wrote fiction including prose and topics covered ranged from the misusage of everyday language to sport.
Books he wrote on the Australian language and life that achieved popularity were ''Tautology'' and ''Meet the New Class'' both in 1981, ''Glancing Blows'' in 1987, ''The Young Persons Guide to the Theatre'' in 1988, ''Kiwese'' in 1994 and ''A Dictionary of the Almost Obvious'' in 1998.
Two novels by Buzo were ''The Search for Harry Allway'' in 1985 and ''Prue Flies North'' in 1991.
He wrote news articles about rugby and important books on cricket, the ''Legends of the Baggy Green'' (2004) and coauthored ''The Longest Game: A Collection of the Best Cricket Writing from Alexander to Zavos, from the Gabba to the Yabba'' (1992).
In his writing career he wrote for the children's animation show, ''
Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table''.
In 2001 he gave the 3rd annual
Tom Brock Lecture.
Death
Buzo died in
Sydney on 16 August 2006 after several years battling
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
.
Style
Early in his career, Buzo's writing style and use of wit was similar to his Australian playwright contemporary
David Williamson
David Keith Williamson AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.
Early life
David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 24 February 1942, and was brought ...
.
Sometimes during his career, comparisons of Buzo to British playwright
Harold Pinter were made.
Like Pinter, Buzo's works were marked by
surrealism, use of triviality, colloquial expressions and language.
Over time Buzo's works also employed
romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
.
The topic of social alienation was often explored in Buzo's plays through their characters.
Buzo was an observer of language and it was reflected in his writing style through wit, humour and clever use of colloquial Australian English.
Apart from theatre plays, Buzo achieved success in most literary genres. He wrote many witty and insightful books on Australian life, language and sport,
and his articles on many varied subjects including reviews and travel writing were published in all the major newspapers and magazines in Australia.
Personal life
Buzo was married for forty years to Merelyn Johnson ("Jock"), an art teacher from Armidale and the couple had three daughters, Emma, Laura and Genevieve and several grandchildren.
He supported the
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in t ...
(later known as the Northern Eagles) and participated in the failed campaign to stop its demotion from the
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
.
Legacy
The Alex Buzo Company
In 2007 Buzo's eldest daughter Emma formed The Alex Buzo Company.
Its aim is to produce, promote and perpetuate the work of Alex Buzo both in Australia and internationally. The company is supported by the Buzo family and manages his estate. It is dedicated to fostering the same level of excellence Buzo achieved in his career in contemporary Australian literature through innovative programs of theatre, education and training.
In honour of Buzo's life work, the
Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize was created (2006) for Australian writers.
Awards
* 1972
Gold Medal from the Australian Literature Society for his history play ''Macquarie''
* 1998 an Alumni Award from the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...
* 2005 Honorary Doctorate of Letters from UNSW for his contribution to Australian Literature.
Works
Plays
*''The Revolt'' (1967)
*''
Norm and Ahmed'' (Currency Press, 1968)
*''The Front Room Boys'' (Currency Press, 1970)
*''Macquarie'' (Currency Press, 1971)
*''Batman's Beach-Head'' (1973)
*''
Rooted'' (Currency Press, 1973)
*''Roy Murphy Show'' (Currency Press, 1973)
*''
Coralie Lansdowne Says No
''Coralie Lansdowne Says No'' is a play by Alex Buzo about a woman's struggle for independence.
Plot
Coralie is an independent woman who refuses to settle down to one man. When she stays at an ex lover's beach house, a series of visitors make her ...
'' (Currency Press, 1974)
*''Tom'' (Angus & Robertson, 1975)
*''Vicki Madison Clocks Out'' (Currency Press, 1976)
*''Martello Towers'' (Currency Press, 1976)
*''Makassar Reef'' (Currency Press, 1978)
*''Big River'' (Currency Press, 1985)
*''The Marginal Farm'' (Currency Press, 1985)
*''Stingray'' (Currency Press, 1987)
*''Shellcove Road'' (1989)
*''Pacific Union'' (Currency Press, 1995)
Non-fiction
*''Legends of the
Baggy Green
The baggy green is a cricket cap of dark myrtle green colour, which has been worn by Australian Test cricketers since around the turn of the twentieth century. The cap was not originally baggy as evidenced by photographs of early players. The ...
'' (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2004)
*''A Dictionary of the Almost Obvious'' (The Text Publishing Company, Melbourne, 1998)
*''Kiwese'' (Mandarin, Port Melbourne, 1994)
*''The Longest Game: A Collection of the Best Cricket Writing from Alexander to Zavos, from the Gabba to the Yabba'', co-edited with Jamie Grant (Mandarin, Port Melbourne, 1990, )
*''The Young Persons Guide to the Theatre'' (Penguin, Ringwood, 1988)
*''Glancing Blows'' (Penguin, Ringwood, 1987)
*''Meet the New Class'' (Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1981)
*''Tautology'' (Penguin, Ringwood, 1981)
Fiction
*''Prue Flies North'' (Mandarin, Port Melbourne, 1991)
*''The Search for Harry Allway'' (Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1985)
Cartoon scripts
* With
Rod Hull
Rod, Ror, Ród, Rőd, Rød, Röd, ROD, or R.O.D. may refer to:
Devices
* Birch rod, made out of twigs from birch or other trees for corporal punishment
* Ceremonial rod, used to indicate a position of authority
* Connecting rod, main, coupling ...
and others, ''
Arthur! and the Square Knights of the Round Table
''Arthur! And the Square Knights of the Round Table'' is a 1966-1968 Australian animated series based on the legend of King Arthur of Camelot.
The series was produced by Air Programs International and written by Melbourne playwright Alex Buz ...
'' (1966–1968)
Live-action film screenplays
*''
Ned Kelly
Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...
'' (1970) ''(uncredited)''
Animated film screenplays
Out of the eight Dickens adaptations by
Burbank Animation Studios
Burbank Animation Studios was an Australian film animation production company, formerly named Burbank Films Australia.
History
The company's first animated productions in 1982 were a series of adaptations of books from Charles Dickens; these f ...
, four were adapted by Buzo:
* ''
A Christmas Carol'' (1982)
* ''
Great Expectations'' (1983)
* ''
David Copperfield
''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
'' (1983)
* ''
The Old Curiosity Shop
''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is one of two novels (the other being ''Barnaby Rudge'') which Charles Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial ''Master Humphrey's Clock'', from 1840 to 1841. It was so popular that New York r ...
''
''The Old Curiosity Shop'', IMDB description page
/ref> (1984)
References
Other sources
*A comprehensive list of articles on Alex Buzo can be found on the "Media and Links" page of The Alex Buzo Company website.
*
*
*
*
External links
Alex Buzo Company
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buzo, Alex
1944 births
2006 deaths
20th-century Australian novelists
Australian male novelists
20th-century Australian non-fiction writers
Australian people of Albanian descent
Australian people of Irish descent
Writers from Sydney
People from Armidale
Deaths from cancer in New South Wales
University of New South Wales alumni
Australian male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights
ALS Gold Medal winners
20th-century Australian male writers
International School of Geneva alumni