Justin Fleming
Encyclopedia
Justin Fleming born Sydney
, Australia
is a playwright and author. He has written for theatre, music theatre, television and cinema and his works have been produced and published in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Poland and France. Fleming has been a barrister
and vice-president of the Australian Writers' Guild
and a board member of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre.
, where he was taught English Literature by Joseph Castley and Charles MacDonald, S.J., and the classics by Charles Fraser, S.J. Near contemporaries at the college included writers Gerard Windsor
and Nick Enright
and composer Stewart D'Arrietta. Fleming later studied at the Ensemble Theatre
under Hayes Gordon
and Zika Nester and has degrees in Law from Dublin University and Sydney University, and a Master of Laws from University College London
. He was for some years a barrister
in Dublin and Sydney, before devoting himself full-time to writing.
, Sir Robert Helpmann starred for the Sydney Theatre Company
in the world premiere of Fleming's play The Cobra. Helpmann portrayed the elderly Lord Alfred Douglas, reflecting bitterly on his notorious youthful relationship with Oscar Wilde
.
In 1989, the Sydney Theatre Company
produced Harold In Italy, at the Sydney Opera House
. It was later staged by the Teatr Studyjny in Lodz Poland. The Deep Blue was staged at The Bush, London, in 1991 and the following year year The Ensemble Rep Studios produced The Nonsense Boy. Fleming has twice been awarded the Nancy Keesing
Writer's Fellowship to the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (1993, 1998), where he wrote The Starry Messenger and Burnt Piano (in French Le piano brulé). The latter was staged around Australia and went on to win the New York New Dramatists' Award in the year 2000 and opened in New York City in March 2001. It was short-listed for various awards including the NSW Premier's Literary Award and won the Banff PlayRites Residency, Canada. The Playwright Harold Pinter
is an admirer of Fleming's work, particularly the portrait of Samuel Beckett
in Burnt Piano. Pinter described Fleming as a writer "of authority and distinction".
Other plays include adaptations of Emile Zola
’s Au Bonheur des Dames (The Department Store) and DH Lawrence’s Kangaroo
.
Fleming has been librettist and lyricist on Crystal Balls (Compact Opera/Sadler's Wells, London), The Ninth Wonder (Sydney Theatre Company), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Savoy Theatre, London and UK tour), Accidental Miracles (WAAPA/Sydney Theatre Company/Cameron Macintosh, Continental (Opera Australia/Parer Productions/Neil Gooding), Satango (Griffin Theatre Company/Riverside Theatres), Ripper (Ensemble Theatre), Laid in Earth (Queensland Music Festival.)
In 2006, Fleming was Writer-in-Residence at the Dr Robert and Lina Thyll-Dur Foundation, La Casa Zia Lina, Elba
in Italy, where he translated Moliere
's Tartuffe
(The Hypocrite) from the original French into English. In 2007 and 2008, he was awarded the Writer's Residency at Arthur Boyd
's Bundanon, where he wrote Origin, a play on the subject of Charles Darwin
, commissioned by the Melbourne Theatre Company
. He was also awarded the Tasmanian Writers' Centre Residency in 2008, where he wrote His Mother's Voice. In 2011, Fleming was commissioned by the Ensemble Studio Theatre and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New York, to write "Soldier of the Mind", a play about Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the Spanish neuroscientist.
Fleming has been Vice-President of The Australian Writers' Guild
and served on the Board of The Australian National Playwrights' Centre. His plays have been produced and published widely, including the UK, US, Canada, France, Australia, Belgium and Poland.
TV. Fleming's history of the Common Law
: Barbarism to Verdict was written for ABC/BBC television, and published internationally by HarperCollins
with a foreword by John Mortimer
QC
. Other publications include Fleming's histories: The Crest of the Wave (Allen&Unwin), The Vision Splendid and All That Brothers Should Be (Beaver Press). His Paris journal was published by Halstead Press in Paris Studio.
He has also worked as librettist, including collaborations on Satango with Stewart D'Arrietta, Ripper with Thos Hodgson/Ensemble Studio, Crystal Balls (Sadler's Wells) and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, with Stephen Edwards, which toured Britain before it was staged at The Savoy Theatre
in London's West End
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
is a playwright and author. He has written for theatre, music theatre, television and cinema and his works have been produced and published in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Poland and France. Fleming has been a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and vice-president of the Australian Writers' Guild
Australian Writers' Guild
The Australian Writers' Guild is the professional association for all performance writers, that is, writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video and new media. The AWG was established in 1962 and is recognised throughout the industry in Australia as being the voice of performance writers...
and a board member of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre.
Early life, education and career
Born in Sydney, New South wales, in 1953, Justin Fleming attended high school at St Ignatius' College, RiverviewSt Ignatius' College, Riverview
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school for boys, located in Riverview, a small suburb situated on the Lane Cove River on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
, where he was taught English Literature by Joseph Castley and Charles MacDonald, S.J., and the classics by Charles Fraser, S.J. Near contemporaries at the college included writers Gerard Windsor
Gerard Windsor
Gerard Charles Windsor is an Australian author and literary critic. He was dux of St Ignatius' College, Riverview in both 1961 and 1962, where, like Justin Fleming, he was taught by Melvyn Morrow. He trained as a Jesuit from the age of 18 to 24. He studied Arts at the Australian National...
and Nick Enright
Nick Enright
-Life:He was drama captain of St Ignatius' College, Riverview in 1964, where, like Gerard Windsor and Justin Fleming, he was taught by Melvyn Morrow. At that school, he won the 1sts Debating Premiership in both 1966 and 1967....
and composer Stewart D'Arrietta. Fleming later studied at the Ensemble Theatre
Ensemble Theatre
The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company, situated in Kirribilli, New South Wales. It is promoted as Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, established in 1958.- References :...
under Hayes Gordon
Hayes Gordon
Hayes Gordon AO OBE was an American actor, stage director and acting teacher with a considerable career in Australia....
and Zika Nester and has degrees in Law from Dublin University and Sydney University, and a Master of Laws from University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He was for some years a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
in Dublin and Sydney, before devoting himself full-time to writing.
Career as playwright
Fleming's first play, Hammer, was staged at the Festival of Sydney in 1981 and was followed by Indian Summer in 1982. In 1983, in the Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, Sir Robert Helpmann starred for the Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
in the world premiere of Fleming's play The Cobra. Helpmann portrayed the elderly Lord Alfred Douglas, reflecting bitterly on his notorious youthful relationship with Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
.
In 1989, the Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
produced Harold In Italy, at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
. It was later staged by the Teatr Studyjny in Lodz Poland. The Deep Blue was staged at The Bush, London, in 1991 and the following year year The Ensemble Rep Studios produced The Nonsense Boy. Fleming has twice been awarded the Nancy Keesing
Nancy Keesing
Nancy Keesing was a Jewish Australian writer and editor.Nancy Keesing was born in Sydney, Australia and attended school at Sydney Girls' Grammar School, the Frensham School and then went on to the University of Sydney...
Writer's Fellowship to the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (1993, 1998), where he wrote The Starry Messenger and Burnt Piano (in French Le piano brulé). The latter was staged around Australia and went on to win the New York New Dramatists' Award in the year 2000 and opened in New York City in March 2001. It was short-listed for various awards including the NSW Premier's Literary Award and won the Banff PlayRites Residency, Canada. The Playwright Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
is an admirer of Fleming's work, particularly the portrait of Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
in Burnt Piano. Pinter described Fleming as a writer "of authority and distinction".
Other plays include adaptations of Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
’s Au Bonheur des Dames (The Department Store) and DH Lawrence’s Kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
.
Fleming has been librettist and lyricist on Crystal Balls (Compact Opera/Sadler's Wells, London), The Ninth Wonder (Sydney Theatre Company), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Savoy Theatre, London and UK tour), Accidental Miracles (WAAPA/Sydney Theatre Company/Cameron Macintosh, Continental (Opera Australia/Parer Productions/Neil Gooding), Satango (Griffin Theatre Company/Riverside Theatres), Ripper (Ensemble Theatre), Laid in Earth (Queensland Music Festival.)
In 2006, Fleming was Writer-in-Residence at the Dr Robert and Lina Thyll-Dur Foundation, La Casa Zia Lina, Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
in Italy, where he translated Moliere
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's Tartuffe
Tartuffe
Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
(The Hypocrite) from the original French into English. In 2007 and 2008, he was awarded the Writer's Residency at Arthur Boyd
Arthur Boyd
Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE was one of the leading Australian painters of the late 20th Century. A member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, his relatives included painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval,...
's Bundanon, where he wrote Origin, a play on the subject of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, commissioned by the Melbourne Theatre Company
Melbourne Theatre Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, and has its own theatre, The MTC Theatre – which houses the 500-seat Sumner Theatre and the 150-seat Lawler Studio – located in Melbourne's Arts...
. He was also awarded the Tasmanian Writers' Centre Residency in 2008, where he wrote His Mother's Voice. In 2011, Fleming was commissioned by the Ensemble Studio Theatre and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New York, to write "Soldier of the Mind", a play about Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the Spanish neuroscientist.
Fleming has been Vice-President of The Australian Writers' Guild
Australian Writers' Guild
The Australian Writers' Guild is the professional association for all performance writers, that is, writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video and new media. The AWG was established in 1962 and is recognised throughout the industry in Australia as being the voice of performance writers...
and served on the Board of The Australian National Playwrights' Centre. His plays have been produced and published widely, including the UK, US, Canada, France, Australia, Belgium and Poland.
Other works
Among his works for Television, Fleming wrote Part One of the history of Australian cinema, The Celluloid Heroes for ABCAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
TV. Fleming's history of the Common Law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
: Barbarism to Verdict was written for ABC/BBC television, and published internationally by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
with a foreword by John Mortimer
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
. Other publications include Fleming's histories: The Crest of the Wave (Allen&Unwin), The Vision Splendid and All That Brothers Should Be (Beaver Press). His Paris journal was published by Halstead Press in Paris Studio.
He has also worked as librettist, including collaborations on Satango with Stewart D'Arrietta, Ripper with Thos Hodgson/Ensemble Studio, Crystal Balls (Sadler's Wells) and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, with Stephen Edwards, which toured Britain before it was staged at The Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
Published works
- Nonfiction
- ALL THAT BROTHERS SHOULD BE
- PARIS STUDIO
- BARBARISM TO VERDICT - A History of the Common Law, foreword by John Mortimer, QC ISBN 0207179298 (pbk.)
- THE VISION SPLENDID - A History of Carroll & O'Dea http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:opv-YTX2wZUJ:www.lawsociety.com.au/page.asp%3Fpartid%3D2535+riverview+lawyers+nsw&hl=en&gl=au&ct=clnk&cd=13&client=firefox-a
- THE CREST OF THE WAVE - A history of Waverley College 1903-2003
- THE WAVE ROLLS ON - Waverley College Old Boys' Union 1908-2008 - format edited by Col Blake
- Scripts
- THE NONSENSE BOY
- JUNCTION (Coup d'État & Other Plays)
- THE COBRA
- BURNT PIANO (Coup d'État & Other Plays)
- HAMMER
- KANGAROO (Coup d'État & Other Plays)
- COUP d'ETAT & OTHER PLAYS
- INDIAN SUMMER
- The DEPARTMENT STORE (Coup d'État & Other Plays)
- BURNT PIANO
- LAID IN EARTH, (Queensland Music Festival 2009 - Music by Damian Barbeler)
- SATANGO
- COUP d'ETAT
- HAROLD IN ITALY
- THE MYTH OF THE PASSIVE CITIZEN
- THE STARRY MESSENGER (COUP d'ETAT & Other Plays)
- The COBRA (Coup d'État & Other Plays)
- HER HOLINESS - With Melvyn Morrow. (Origin Theatrical Pty. Ltd.)
- TARTUFFE (THE HYPOCRITE) - Melbourne Theatre Company 2008
- Screenplays
- Lord Devil
- The Shedding
- Movie Dreams
- Christmas
- The Tree House
- Cold Call
- Caroline
- Dead Men Running
- Nellie
- The Boat