Scott Rankin (born 1959) is an Australian theatre director, writer and co-founder and

creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

of the arts and social change company Big ''h''ART. Based in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Rankin works in and with isolated communities and diverse cultural settings, as well as in commercial performance.

Early life and education

Rankin was born in 1959 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and grew up there. His parents were businesspeople who owned an early learning specialist toyshop and lived on a

Chinese junk A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...

Lane Cove Lane Cove is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governmen ...

, moored in

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

for 21 years. Rankin enrolled in an

arts degree Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate education, undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally complet ...

but did not complete it, instead working in a

retirement village A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves; however, assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socializ ...

and offering music workshops to homeless youth. Since 1981, he has mainly lived and worked from the far north-west coast of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Work

As creative director of Big ''h''ART and as playwright and director, Rankin has created or collaborated on many large-scale Australian stage productions: ''Namatjira'' for the Namatjira family; ''Ngapartji Ngapartji'' for

Trevor Jamieson Trevor Jamieson (born 7 March 1975) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actor, playwright, dancer, singer and didgeridoo player. Early life Trevor Jamieson was born on 7 March 1975 in Subiaco, Western Australia (WA). He grew up in t ...

, ''

Box the Pony ''Box the Pony'' is a 1997 play co-written by Australian actress Leah Purcell and Scott Rankin. It is a semi-autobiographical one-woman show, set in an Aboriginal community in Queensland. It has played at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre, the Sy ...

'' for

Leah Purcell Leah Maree Purcell (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's ''Somewhere in the Darkness'', which led to role ...

; ''RiverlanD'' for

Wesley Enoch Wesley James Enoch (born 1969) is an Australian playwright and artistic director. He is especially known for ''The 7 Stages of Grieving'', co-written with Deborah Mailman. He was artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company from mid-2 ...

; ''StickybrickS'' for the Northcott Public Housing community in Surry Hills, Sydney; ''Junk Theory'' for the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

, as well as internationally touring works such as ''Certified Male''.

Recognition

Rankin is a Fellow of the

Australia Council for the Arts The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

. Rankin and his theatre works have received many awards, including: *2000: Human Rights Award *2000:

New South Wales Premier's Literary Award The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...

, for ''Box the Pony'' *2000:

Queensland Premier's Literary Award The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across ...

, for ''Box the Pony''< *2002: Ros Bower Award for Community Cultural Development *2004: Three Melbourne

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

s for ''Beasty Girl'' (most innovative work, best female actor in leading role (Leah Purcell), best direction) * Two Green Room Award Nominations for ''Namatjira'' (best production and best actor (Trevor Jamieson)); * Two Sydney Theatre Critics Awards (best new Australian work and best newcomer (Derik Lynch) and another 6 nominations (best mainstage production, best direction, best actor in a leading role, best actor in a supporting role, best lighting design and best score or sound design); *

Deadly Award The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was held from 1995 to 2013. Description T ...

(most outstanding achievement in film, TV or theatre) *Critics Choice ArtsHub Award *

Helpmann Award The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical th ...

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

Award for Safe Communities *2018: Tasmanian state recipient,

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

His works have been included in many arts festivals, including

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Brisbane,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and the Tasmanian Ten Days on the Island Festival. He has also toured to Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands.

List of works

List of Rankin's works (in reverse chronological order): * ''Hipbone Sticking Out'' (forthcoming 2013) * '' Namatjira'' (2010), * ''Beat Bop Road'' (2009) * ''This is Living'' (2009) * ''Nyuntu Ngali'' (2009) * ''Ngapartji Ngapartji'' (2008) * ''StickybrickS'' (2007) * ''Brave Men Run in Our Family'' (2007) * ''Junk Theory'' (2007) * ''Riverland'' (2004) * ''Beasty Girl: The Secret Life of Errol Flynn'' (2003) * ''What the World Needs Now'' (2002) * ''Career Highlights of the Mamu'' (2002) * ''Leaves Falling at Midnight'' (2001) * ''Certified Male'' (1999) * ''Pumping Irony'' (1999) * ''Pandora's Shed'' (1998) * ''

'' (1997) * ''Glynn Nicholas Group – Wrung Out'' (1996) * ''Three Men Walk into a Bar'' (1996) * ''Girl / Pandora Slams the Lid'' (1994) * ''Pandora Slams the Lid'' (1993) * ''Girl'' * ''Kissing Frogs'' (1991) * ''Glynn With a Why?'' (1988)

References

External links