Theatre history
In his early years Broun trained at the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, Australia, acting in plays alongside Nicole Kidman. [9] His work has been performed at the Sydney Festival, Edinburgh Festival and Brighton Festival. [10] Among his performed plays are The Jacaranda Tree, [11] Vicious Streaks, [12] and Just Once. [13]
Half a person – my life as told by The Smiths – a one-man show based on the music of The Smiths – was produced by Fly-on-the-wall Theatre (Directed by Robert Chuter, starring David Foster) at FEAST in Adelaide in 2006 and at the Newtown Theatre in Sydney in September 2007. [14] The play was then re-mounted by Fly-on-the-Wall Theatre at Chapel off Chapel in Melbourne, Australia starring Mark Taylor in May 2010. [15] It then returned for an encore season at the same venue in August the same year before being performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2012, [16] directed by Donald Pulford and performed by Joseph Murray. In 2014 this production transferred to the Kings Head Theatre in London. [17]
As a director, he directed Woomera by Josh Wakely [18] at the Old Fitzroy Hotel Theatre in Sydney, Australia, in 2002.
PFV (Potential for Violence) was included in the Premiere Season of 4 one act plays by the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai PCYC Theatre Co., in November 2010 [19]
Together, we are Anna, a ten-minute play about anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare was published in the Mumbai Mirror in August 2010. [20]
10,000 beers, [21] a full-length play, opened at Darlinghurst Theatre, In September 2011, directed by Lee Lewis with Gus Murray, Matt Zeremes, Andrew William Steele and Anthony Taufa. The play was then remounted by The Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights & Turquoise Theatre in association with PICA as part of Fringeworld in Perth in February 2014. [22] 10,000 beers was nominated for Best Stage Play in the 2012 AWGIE Awards [23]
In October 2013, he wrote and co-directed Oneness-Voice without form , the life of Swami Vivekananda, at the Playhouse of the Sydney Opera House [24] before touring to BMAC in Brisbane. The play was also performed at the American School of Dubai in May 2015.
In 2014, Truth beauty and a picture of you, a musical written with Tim Freedman premiered at the Hayes Theatre Company in Sydney, Australia [25] '. Disappointed at the Sydney critics' response to the show Broun wrote a response on The Australian website. [26] Also in 2014, November Spawned a Monster, the companion piece to Half a person – my life as told by The Smiths was produced at The Old Fitzroy Hotel in Sydney in November, directed by Robert Chuter (director) and starring James Wright. [27]
In November 2016 the inaugural Alex Broun Play Festival was held at The Junction in Dubai. This four-day event featured 44 of Alex's plays performed by over 100 Dubai actors, directors, schools and Theatre groups. [28] [29] [30]
In December 2016 he co-wrote Howzat with actor/producer Asad Raza Khan, the first full-length English play to be set in contemporary UAE, which was performed at The Junction in Dubai. [31] [32] The play returned for a second season at The Junction in May 2017. [33] Alex and Asad were jointly awarded the Best Script for the play at the 2017 Dubai Theatre Awards.
From June 2019 to October 2021 Alex was the Head of Drama at Studio Republik in Dubai, where he established their highly respected drama programme, [34] and in November 2022 he was appointed Head of Performing Arts at Argan Bedaya in Kuwait. [35]
In August 2022, Alex wrote and directed Blind City, a large scale modern adaptation of Inferno by Dante Alighieri with a cast of over 30 actors, at The Junction in Dubai.
In September 2023, Alex produced and directed, "Saudi Sing-along", a large scale musical performance at Ithra, the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The performance played a key role in the 2023 National Day Celebrations throughout the Kingdom. [36]
In December 2023, Alex produced the sold out show, "Behind the Red Curtain", [37] presented by Music Theatre DXB, at TODA (Theatre of Digital Art), Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, as part of the NEO Theatre project.
In April 2024 his new play "torn" [38] enjoyed its world premiere at Theatre by QE2 in Dubai, directed by the author, presented by Zara Stars and performed by Osman Aboubakr, Nadine Basiony, Elie Choufani and Liz Pinilla. The premiere was delayed by a week due to the serious Dubai flooding a week earlier.
Short+Sweet
Broun wrote and directed plays in the first Short+Sweet in Sydney in January 2002.
In January 2004, he took over as Artistic Co-ordinator of Short+Sweet Theatre Sydney, and he introduced many of the elements that have made Short+Sweet so successful – strict time-limit, limit of one play per playwright, one play per director and two plays per actor, people's choice voting and the competitive aspect where plays are chosen from each week to progress to the Gala Final.
He continued as the Artistic co-ordinator of Short+Sweet Sydney until 2006 and from 2005 to the 2008 he was also the Artistic co-ordinator of Melbourne Short+Sweet. [46] In 2007, he was the Artistic Director of the inaugural Short+Sweet Singapore.
He has also served as the inaugural Festival Director of Short+Sweet Brisbane 2009, Short+Sweet Auckland 2010, Short+Sweet Delhi 2010 and 2011, Short+Sweet Bangalore 2012, Short+Sweet Rockhampton 2010 and 2012, Short+Sweet Canberra 2012 and Short+Sweet Sydney from 2009 to 2011.
In 2010 he was also Artistic Director of the national tour of Shorter+Sweeter, the best of Shorter+Sweeter that toured Australia from April to August.
In 2013 he launched the first ever Short+Sweet Dubai [47] and in 2016 the inaugural Short+Sweet Abu Dhabi [48] at New York University Abu Dhabi.
In 2020 he launched the inaugural Short+Sweet Sharjah as part of the Sharjah Fringe [49] at the Masrah Theatre in Al Qasba. [50]
Alex has helped to develop several other writers' careers including Jane Miller, Fiona Clarke, Lisa Eismen, Miles Blackford, Mark Andrew, Sharni Page, Greg Gould, Julia Britton and many others.
