Queensland Premier's Drama Award 2025 finalists
David Burton
David Burton is a writer from Brisbane, Queensland. By the age of 30, he'd written over two dozen professionally produced plays, published a book, and been a core part of some of Australia's most innovative theatrical projects. He’s now 36, a dad, and completed his doctorate.
His entry, the good dad
When a young father is suddenly left alone with his two daughters for a week, he is not only forced to deal with pooey nappies, hungry children and complicated sleep routines. His conspiracy-theorist brother-in-law is about to have a nervous breakdown. He accidentally enrages online trolls when he suggests Bluey’s dad isn’t a great role model. And… oh God… is the dog choking on something? A funny, brutally honest look at the day-to-day grind of modern parenting, the good dad is about fatherhood, fury and freedom. For our hero, the question ultimately becomes if he can juggle the expectations placed upon him or will he become a real-life Princess Elsa and just… let it go?
Steve Rodgers
Playwright Steve Rodgers has worked as an actor in film, theatre, and television for the last thirty years. His first play Ray’s Tempest was shortlisted for the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award following productions at both Belvoir St and the Melbourne Theatre Company. Steve’s other plays include,
Savage River, for the Griffin Theatre Company, and Melbourne Theatre Company. King of Pigs, for The Old Fitz Theatre, which toured nationally courtesy of Redline Productions and Critical Stages.
His entry, The Future is History
It’s the story of a mother chasing a dream for her daughter, and the lengths she will go to, to ensure her daughter has a better life. It’s about everyone who has ever been invisible; in the workplace, at school, in life, and the corrosive effects this disregard has on creating the have and have nots. But most of all, The Future is History, is about love. Romantic love between a boy and a girl. Difficult love, with an ageing grandparent. Ever-changing love, between a parent and child. Set over one night, Rae must complete her QCE assignment for English, or her future is history. When her mum leaves for work, and her grandfather arrives drunk, things go from bad to worse. Just when completing her assignment might be possible, her boyfriend arrives, looking for romance. The Future is History takes place now, on the outer edges of a city like Brisbane, where generational unemployment and drug-crime thrive. It’s a story full of complex characters we don’t often shine a light on, where the heroes are our mothers, women of humour, resilience, and strength, striving to hold the world together.
Jordan Shea
Jordan Shea is a writer for stage and screen. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Writing) and the University of Notre Dame (Theatre, English & Education), his extensive body of work has been shortlisted or awarded runner-up for the Lysicrates Prize 2023 (Malacañang Made Us), the Australian Theatre Festival’s New Play Award (They’re not listening) and the SBW Award (Ate Lovia).
His entry, Malacañang Made Us
A tender new dramedy that pits love against obligation. It's 1986: Manila, Philippines. Hopeful young brothers Martin and Ernie take to the streets to celebrate the impending fall of Ferdinand Marcos’s 21-year dictatorship. By early morning, they’ve been separated in the crowd. In 2022, Australia, a now cautious Martin implores his internet activist son Leo to be careful with his online presence. In the wake of Bong Bong Marcos' landslide victory, Leo feels now more than ever, to reconcile both his identity and his activism. But when free-spirited Ernie shows up unannounced, all three men must face their shared legacy of survival and responsibility.
