Chris Tugwell is an Australian dramatist, screenwriter, and author. Best known as a

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 ...

, his most successful play was ''X-Ray'', which he also produced. He was a dancer and actor before turning to writing full-time. He also teaches screenwriting, and is the author of the textbook ''Dinosaur Theory''.

Early life and education

Chris Tugwell was born in England and moved to Australia with his family when he was seven. His father was a successful architect and his mother was an amateur opera singer.Adelaide Screenwriter
Interview with Chris Tugwell He attended private schools in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and then

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

Drama Centre, where he studied acting with Zora Semberova and Yutaka Wada. While still at university he performed as a dancer with the E-Motion Dance Company in works by choreographer Moshe Kedem and in the New Opera production ''Renard the Fox''.

Career

Tugwell was originally a dancer and actor, performing with theatre-in-education companies.South Australia Film Corporation
, ''AWG awards Chris Tugwell with Life Membership'', 29 August 2012 He taught high school English and drama in the regional South Australian city of

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta ...

, where he also wrote his first play. He returned to Adelaide and worked as an actor, writer and director with a number of theatre-in-education companies, performing in hundreds of schools across South Australia. His most notable appearance was in

Magpie Theatre The State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company (SATC), is South Australia's leading professional theatre company, and a statutory corporation. It ...

's world première season of British playwright

David Holman David Holman is a former television producer and executive who worked in New York and Los Angeles. In his six years working for Jim Henson and the Muppets, he helped launch the original ''The Muppet Show'' in 1975, and worked on ''Sesame Street'' ...

's '' No Worries'' at the 1984

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

. He turned to full-time writing in 1984. He has written more than fifty scripts for film, stage, radio, television, documentary and multimedia. His work has been performed by such companies as

Patch Theatre Patch Theatre Company, formerly New Patch Theatre, is an Australian theatre company founded in 1972 and based in Adelaide, South Australia, which performs works for young children. Patch has performed at international children's festivals in Ko ...

Urban Myth Theatre Company Urban Myth Theatre Company, formerly named Unley Youth Theatre and then Urban Myth Theatre of Youth, was a youth theatre company in Adelaide, South Australia. It was often referred to as simply Urban Myth. History Unley Youth Theatre was ...

, Magpie Theatre, and The Acting Company. His play ''Seasonally Adjusted'' was a showcase work at the 1987 Come Out Festival. In 1984, ''Runaway'' toured regional NSW for twelve months. Tugwell was a writer for the ABC children's TV series ''Finders Keepers'' (1991), directed by

Scott Hicks Scott Hicks may refer to: * Scott Hicks (basketball) (born 1966), American former college basketball coach * Scott Hicks (director) Robert Scott Hicks (born 4 March 1953), known as Scott, is an Australian film director, producer and screenwrit ...

. His first novel for teenagers, ''Kid Brother'', was published in 1994, and he was awarded the Carclew Fellowship (for writers for young people) at the 1996

Adelaide Festival of Arts The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

. His stage play ''X Ray'', about the plight of Australian David Hicks held in

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

, was named the 'sensation' of the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival and the 'highlight' of the 2005 Darwin Festival. A US production opened in November 2005. A radio adaptation, commissioned by the ABC, went to air on

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

's Airplay in November 2004 and was repeated in the 2005 and 2006 summer seasons Tugwell has run writing workshops around South Australia, including the screenwriting course ''Pictures on Paper'', and taught scriptwriting at the Adelaide College of the Arts from 1998. He has worked as a script consultant and dramaturg on numerous stage, feature film and TV projects and helped establish the Insite Unproduced Screenplay Competition for the Adelaide Film Festival. His book ''Dinosaur Theory – uncovering a new approach to screenwriting'' (2012) is a distillation of 25 years as a teacher, editor and screenwriter.Official website
''Dinosaur Theory'' by Chris Tugwell In 2014 he produced, wrote and directed the short film ''Bastard''.

Other activities

He was a member of the South Australian Committee of the

Australian Writers' Guild The Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) is the professional association for Australian performance writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video and new media. The AWG was established in 1962. The AWG is a member of the Australian Council of ...

for 16 years, and chair from 1996 to 2005. He was on the National Executive from 1992 to 1996, and was a founding board member of the Australian Writers' Guild Authorship Collecting Society (AWGACS), and chair from 2004 to 2007. He was made a Life Member of the Guild in 2012. Tugwell also served on the board of the Australian Script Centre for six years.

Awards and honours

* 1996:

Literary Awards – Carclew FellowshipAustralian Plays
, Chris Tugwell

Works

Plays

* 2011: ''Finding Home'' Chris Tugwell works

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration betwee ...

* 2003: ''X Ray'' * 1995: ''River of Dreams'' * 1994: ''Landings'' * 1991: ''Finders Keepers'', parts 3 & 5 (television show) * 1987: ''Seasonally Adjusted'' * 1984: ''Runaway''

Books

* * * * * *

References

External links

*
Official website
''Dinosaur Theory'', by Chris Tugwell {{DEFAULTSORT:Tugwell, Chris Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian screenwriters English emigrants to Australia Living people Artists from Adelaide Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian screenwriters