Queensland Premier’s Drama Award

Dan Giovannoni

2025 Award Judge

Dan’s plays for families, young people and adults have been produced across Australia in big and little theatres, school halls, circus tents, restaurants and even a barn outside of Hobart. He’s worked with companies including Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Barking Gecko, Terrapin Puppet Theatre, Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Arena Theatre Co and Little Ones Theatre. His work has won three Green Room Association awards, a Helpmann award, an AWGIE and has been nominated for a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. Currently, under commission from MTC, Terrapin and Malthouse, Dan lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri people with his husband, daughter and two dogs.

Lee Lewis

2025 Award Judge

Queensland Theatre: Tiny Beautiful Things, Family Values, First Casualty, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Return to the Dirt, Prima Facie, Our Town, Mouthpiece, Rice. Other Credits: Griffin Theatre Company: Prima Facie, Family Values, First Love is the Revolution, Is There Something Wrong With That Lady?, The Almighty Sometimes, Kill Climate Deniers, Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography, The Homosexuals or ‘Faggots’, Rice, Masquerade, Gloria, The Bleeding Tree, Emerald City, A Rabbit for Kim Jong-il, The Serpent’s Table, Replay, Silent Disco, Smurf In Wanderland, The Bull, The Moon and the Coronet of Stars, The Call, A Hoax, The Nightwatchman, The Literati, The Misanthrope (with Bell Shakespeare); Sydney Theatre Company: Mary Stuart, Honour, Love-Lies-Bleeding, ZEBRA!; Melbourne Theatre Company: Gloria, Hayfever, Rupert; Belvoir: That Face, This Heaven, Half and Half, A Number, 7 Blowjobs, Ladybird; Bell Shakespeare: The School for Wives, Twelfth Night; Australian Theatre for Young People: Battlegrounds, Citizenship; Darwin Festival: Highway of Lost Hearts; WAAPA: As You Like It; NIDA: After Dinner, Big Love, The Winter’s Tale; The Hayes Theatre Company: Darlinghurst Nights. Positions: Artistic Director, Queensland Theatre; Artistic Director and CEO, Griffin Theatre Company; Richard Wherrett Fellow, Sydney Theatre Company. Awards: Helpmann Awards — Best Play, Best Director The Bleeding Tree; Green Room Awards — Best Ensemble, Best Production, Best Director The Bleeding Tree.

Lydia Miller

2025 Award Judge

A KukuYalanji and Waanyi woman from Far North Queensland, Ms Miller has a career spanning over 35 years in the arts and cultural sector as a performer, artistic director, producer, administrator, senior executive and advocate. Her professional performing arts career spans theatre, film, television and radio. She was executive director for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts at Australia Council for the Arts from 2005 to 2021. She also has public policy and administration experience in the health, community services and criminal justice sectors. She has held several Council, Board and Committee positions. Currently, she is a creative consultant with Marigold Enterprises.

Ari Palani

2025 Award Judge

Ari Palani is a passionate director, producer, community engagement specialist and dramaturg. He has worked across many communities in Australia facilitating creative outcomes that advocate for youth voice, accessibility, and social cohesion. Ari is internationally focused on building cultural economies, humanitarian responses and increasing the discussion around displaced communities. He has worked extensively in South Korea and Malaysia developing innovative programs highlighting the interconnectedness of the Arts in contemporary STEAM education and translating these into hybrid models of cultural engagement in the vast Australian landscape. He is currently a Producer at Queensland Theatre, and has worked across programming, youth and education, and artist development at La Boite Theatre, Empire Theatres and the University of Southern Queensland. It is his desire to build the capacity of industries and promote the joy of collaborative practice.

Courtney Stewart

2025 Award Judge

Courtney Stewart is an acclaimed director, dramaturg, actor and teaching artist with a deep passion for intercultural works and multicultural dramaturgies. She is the current Artistic Director and CEO of La Boite Theatre. A proud Queenslander, Courtney started her professional career as an actor before honing her talents as an artistic leader, diversity specialist and change maker for some of the country’s most prolific companies and organisations including Sydney Theatre Company (as Directing Associate and Richard Wherrett Fellow), Belvoir and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (as Artistic Associate). Courtney was previously Chair of the Equity Diversity Committee, a delegate to the National Performers Committee, and a former board member for Contemporary Asian Australian Performance. Courtney’s production of The Poison of Polygamy by Anchuli Felicia King premiered at La Boite in May this year and had a subsequent season at Sydney Theatre Company. Courtney’s production of Miss Peony opened at Belvoir in July and is currently touring nationally. Courtney was recently appointed to the Board for Creative Australia.