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Nick Enright
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Life

He was drama captain of St Ignatius' College, Riverview
St 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....

 in 1964, where, like 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 Justin Fleming
Justin Fleming
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...

, he was taught by Melvyn Morrow
Melvyn Morrow
Melvyn Morrow is an Australian playwright.He co-wrote "Shout! The Legend of the Wild One" and "Dusty - The Original Pop Diva" with John-Michael Howson and David Mitchell....

. At that school, he won the 1sts Debating Premiership in both 1966 and 1967.

During 1971 and 1972 Enright was a member of Sydney's Genesian Theatre
Genesian Theatre
The Genesian Theatre is a Sydney based amateur theatre company named in honour of Saint Genesius. Formed in 1944 by members of the Sydney Catholic Youth Organisation, it has since evolved into a fully fledged community theatre in the heart of the Sydney CBD....

, performing in A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....

 and Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....

, and directing London Assurance
London Assurance
London Assurance is a five-act comedy by Dion Boucicault. It was the second play that he wrote, but his first to be produced. Its first production, from March 4, 1841 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden was Boucicault's first major success...

. Enright received a pass BA from Sydney University in 1972, having decided not to proceed to an honours degree as might have been expected of one so formidably intelligent. He worked as a gofer
Gofer
A gofer or go-fer is an employee who is often sent on errands. "Gofer" reflects the likelihood of instructions to go for coffee, dry cleaning, or stamps, or to make other straightforward or familiar procurements. The term gofer originated in North America...

 for Sydney's Nimrod Theatre before being appointed a trainee director at 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 won an Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...

 Fellowship to study directing at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

, graduating in 1977. On his return to Australia, he joined the State Theatre Company of South Australia
State Theatre Company of South Australia
The State Theatre Company of South Australia is South Australia's leading professional theatre company. It is based in the Dunstan Playhouse at the Adelaide Festival Centre. The current artistic director is Adam Cook...

 as actor and director, later becoming Associate Director. He was Head of Acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...

 during the 1980s.

He was encouraged to write plays while at NYU by one of his teachers, the playwright Israel Horovitz
Israel Horovitz
Israel Horovitz is an American playwright and screenwriter.-Theatre career:An American dramatist, Horovitz has written more than 70 produced plays, many of which have been translated and performed in more than 30 languages worldwide . The 70/70 Horovitz Project was created by NYC Barefoot Theatre...

. His many plays include: Good Works, Daylight Saving, Mongrels (about the relation between Australian playwrights Jim McNeil
Jim McNeil
James Thomas "Jim" McNeil was an Australian criminal and an award-winning playwright. While serving a 17 year sentence in Parramatta Correctional Centre for armed robbery and shooting a police officer, McNeill began writing plays. Within a few years he was being hailed as one of Australia's three...

 and Peter Kenna
Peter Kenna
Peter Joseph Kenna was an Australian playwright, radio actor and screenwriter.Born in Balmain, New South Wales, Kenna left school at fourteen and took up various jobs. He started working in the theatre by participating in concert parties at the camps in Sydney during World War II...

, the latter a friend), The Female Factory, A Man with Five Children, On the Wallaby, and A Poor Student, many of them published by Currency Press
Currency Press
Currency Press is Australia's only specialist performing arts publisher and its oldest independent publisher still active. Their list includes plays and screenplays, professional handbooks, biographies, cultural histories, critical studies and reference works....

. His plays - which include French and Italian translations and adaptations - have been performed by all major Australian theatre companies, including 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....

, Company B
Company B
Company B may refer to:*Company B - a dance-pop trio.**Company B , Company B's 1987 debut album.*Company B - a theatre company.Company B - A marketing and Public Relations firm in Milwaukee, WI...

, the Australian Opera
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...

 (as it then was), 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...

, Queensland Theatre Company
Queensland Theatre Company
The Queensland Theatre Company was established in 1970 as the Royal Queensland Theatre Company. The Company is the state's flagship professional theatre company, headed up by multi-award winning playwright and director Wesley Enoch...

, State Theatre Company of South Australia
State Theatre Company of South Australia
The State Theatre Company of South Australia is South Australia's leading professional theatre company. It is based in the Dunstan Playhouse at the Adelaide Festival Centre. The current artistic director is Adam Cook...

, 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 :...

, Playbox
Playbox
Playbox was a TV programme for pre-school children aged 2-5, which ran during the late 1980s and early 1990s in the United Kingdom on ITV and was produced by Central Independent Television. It was the first ragdoll show to be made by ITV...

, La Boite Theatre, and the Australian Theatre for Young People
Australian Theatre for Young People
The Australian Theatre for Young People is Australia's flagship youth theatre company and the largest youth theatre in the world. Over 6000 young people aged between three and 26 participate in the company's work across Australia....

. His one-act theatre-in-education play A Property of the Clan was developed into the full-length play, and later film, Blackrock
Blackrock (film)
Blackrock is a 1997 Australian film directed by Steven Vidler and written by Nick Enright. Internationally, it is best remembered as the first prominent role of actor Heath Ledger.-Origin:...

 (1997). He wrote the book and lyrics to a number of musical works: three musicals with Terence Clarke
Terence Clarke (composer)
Terence Clarke works in theatre as director and composer , and, to a lesser extent, as actor, pianist/MD, teacher, and dramaturg. He was born on 10 February 1935, educated at Shore and the University of Sydney , graduating BA with first class honours in Music...

 - The Venetian Twins
The Venetian Twins (musical comedy)
The Venetian Twins is an Australian two-act musical comedy. It was translated and adapted from a commedia dell'arte play - I due gemelli veneziani by Carlo Goldoni -, and the lyrics were written, by Nick Enright; the music was composed and arranged by Terence Clarke. It premiered on 26 October 1979...

; Variations (Winner, NSW Premier's Literary Play Award
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities...

, 1983); and Summer Rain (commissioned for a graduating class at NIDA) -, and others with Alan John
Alan John
Alan John is an Australian composer. He studied music at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1980. His compositions include original music for various plays, films and TV series , and the musical theatre works Jonah Jones, Orlando Rourke, and the musical Snugglepot and...

 (Orlando Rourke), David King (The Betrothed, The Voyage of Mary Bryant, The Good Fight), and Max Lambert (Miracle City); and an opera with Graham Dudley (The Snow Queen). He was co-nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay of Lorenzo's Oil
Lorenzo's Oil
Lorenzo's Oil is a 1992 drama film directed by George Miller. It is based on a true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone, two parents in a relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's adrenoleukodystrophy...

 (1992), co-written with its director George Miller
George Miller (producer)
George Miller is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer, and former medical doctor. He is most well known for his work on the Mad Max movies, but has been involved in a wide range of projects, including the Oscar-winning Happy Feet and "Babe" family films.Miller is the older brother...

. His many other awards include those from the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards
Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards
The Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards honour Sidney Myer a Jewish Australian businessman and philanthropist who established what is now the Myer Foundation. These awards seek to enhance the status of the performing arts in Australia and recognise outstanding achievement in drama, comedy, dance,...

 (1998 Individual Winner), the Australian Writers Guild, the Helpmann Awards, the Green Room Awards
Green Room Awards
The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne....

, and others.

He wrote the book of the original version of The Boy from Oz
The Boy from Oz
The Boy from Oz is a jukebox musical based on the life of singer/songwriter Peter Allen and featuring songs written by him. The book is by Nick Enright. The production had its world premiere, directed by Gale Edwards, at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Australia, on 5 March 1998 and toured Brisbane,...

, from the biography of the same name written by Stephen McLean which was produced by Ben Gannon
Ben Gannon (producer)
Bernard Gannon AO was a prominent Australian film, television and stage producer.After schooling at Melbourne's Xavier College, Gannon graduated from the then Production course of the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1970...

 with great success around Australia, and, after his death, in New York. His adaptation, with Justin Monjo
Justin Monjo
Justin Monjo is an Australian screenwriter, television producer, and actor, best known for his work on Farscape.He is the son of children's author F. N. Monjo III and the great-great-grandson of arctic furrier F. N. Monjo. Monjo wrote Adrian Pasdar's film debut screenplay Cement and worked on...

, of Cloudstreet
Cloudstreet
Cloudstreet is a novel by Australian writer Tim Winton. It chronicles the lives of two working class Australian families who come to live together at One Cloud Street, in a suburb of Perth, over a period of twenty years, 1943 - 1963...

, by Tim Winton
Tim Winton
Timothy John "Tim" Winton , is an Australian novelist and short story writer.-Life:Winton was born in Perth, Western Australia, but moved at a young age to the regional city of Albany....

, enjoyed huge critical and box-office success at the Festivals of Sydney and Perth (whose co-production it was), on tour of Australia, at the Festival of Dublin, and in London. He wrote for ABC Radio, including Watching over Israel (1990 AWGIE
AWGIE Awards
The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967....

 winner, Best Radio Play). His non-dramatic work includes a book for children, The Maitland and Morpeth String Quartet (illustrated by Victoria Roberts), a set of verses for The Carnival of the Animals, and occasional verse. He edited Holding the Man
Holding the Man
Holding the Man is the best-selling memoir by the Australian writer, actor, and activist Timothy Conigrave. It was adapted for the stage by Tommy Murphy in 2006, and has become one of the most successful Australian stage productions in recent years.Holding the Man was published in February 1995 by...

, a memoir by his former NIDA
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...

 student, Timothy Conigrave
Timothy Conigrave
Tim Conigrave was an Australian actor, writer, and activist. He was born in Melbourne, and after attending the Jesuit Xavier College and Monash University he moved to Sydney to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art , from which he graduated in 1984...

, and, following Conigrave's death, saw it to publication by Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

.

Although Enright was born to a prosperous East Maitland professional family - it was expected that he would follow the law - his plays deal sympathetically and insightfully with mainly lower-class Australians. Two exceptions concern his time at Riverview: S. James Infirmary Blues (he subsequently dropped 'Blues' from the title), and a moving teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...

 for the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

; in addition, his unproduced and unpublished play, Harper's Hill, which deserves to be seen, deals with the sort of prosperous Hunter Valley
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Region, more commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney with an approximate population of 645,395 people. Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within of the coast, with 55% of the entire...

 people among whom he was raised, though significantly distanced by time (the play is set in the early 20th Century). He had a great ease with, and love of, words, which made him an outstanding lyricist - a talent he tended to deprecate. If he is to be ranked with the best Australian playwrights, there is no doubt that the comparison concerning Enright the lyricist must be international. He was a master of the craft of lyric-writing, and raised it to an art higher than any of his countrymen has.

Enright died of cancer on 30 March 2003, at age 52. He had been appointed an Adjunct Professor in the School of Drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts , Edith Cowan University was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition comparable to the highest calibre of national and international training benchmarks to be able to meet industry needs around the globe.The school is located in the...

; after his death, one of his former WAAPA students, Eddie Perfect
Eddie Perfect
Eddie Perfect is an Australian actor, comedian and musician who currently plays Mick Holland in Channel Ten's Offspring series. He won the 2009 Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work, the Victorian Premier's Literacy Award and the Green Room Award for his musical, Shane Warne The...

, wrote an elegiac
Elegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...

 song about him ('Someone like that'). In June 2004 he was posthumously made a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 for 'service to the performing arts, particularly as a playwright, teacher, actor, director, and as a mentor of emerging talent'.

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