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M
Peter Matheson
Dramaturg
ABN 34 862 754 614
40 Kerry Street
Maclean NSW 2463
02) 6645 1502
0407 203 581
mathoz @ bigpond.com
www.petermatheson.com.au
10 March 2017
To Whom It May Concern
Letter of Support: Carol Dance
I am a freelance dramaturg who has worked continuously over the last fifteen years, and for 13
years previous as company dramaturg with a large mainstage theatre company. I have been in the
industry for over forty years as a playwright initially, but drifting towards dramaturgy. I have attached
a biog for reference.
I would like to recommend Carol Dance’s play on the political and social development of Ho Chi
Minh – when he travelled to America in the beginning of the 20th century. It is a solid and clever
working of history that reflects strongly not only a time and place but a situation that altered Ho Chi
Minh’s consciousness. Not only to the inequities of class, status and race which impinge on his
development, but the Declaration of Independence looms large in his understanding.
The piece is rich, well drawn, well-envisaged. It roams cleverly through the racial divides of the
times, the yearning for freedom and independence not far from the surface. It reads as realism, and
its storytelling roots are firm in this genre. Characters are deep and intriguing; they’re culturally
diverse, honest and lucid, and carry the argument effectively and well.
It is a piece that resonates to its time, but also with the outsider desperately attempting to
understand political, societal and cultural mores that could change the world.
Yours
PeterMatheson:Dramaturg
PeterMathesonisafreelancedramaturgandscriptassessorlivingonthenorthcoastofNSW.Hehasa
scatteredstableofindividualclientsinallcapitalcities,andtheregionsofNSW,Victoria,Queensland,
NorthernTerritoryandTasmaniaaswellasNewZealand,USA,HawaiiandBritain.
Sincebecomingfreelancein2002,hehasassessedscriptsforthefollowingorganizations:Melbourne
TheatreCompany,SydneyTheatreCompany(PatrickWhiteAward),QueenslandTheatreCompany(QTC),La
Boite,Belvoir,PlayLab,theAustraliaCouncil,theAustralianScriptCentre,GriffinTheatreCompany,the
AustralianWriters’Guild,andPlaywritingAustralia/AustralianNationalPlaywrightsCentre(ANPC).
HehasworkeddramaturgicallywithAislanTraks,BlueCow(Hobart),TheBoathouseProject(Griffith
University),BrinkProductions(Adelaide),CanberraYouthTheatre,CreativeRegions(Bundaberg),Darwin
TheatreCo,JUTE(Cairns),KiteTheatreCompany(Brisbane),Knock-Em-DownTheatre(Darwin),Kooemba
JdarraIndigenousTheatre(Brisbane),LaBoite(Brisbane),LampshadeShop(Adelaide),LegsontheWall
(Sydney),M&JProductions(Cairns),MetroArts(Brisbane),MooghalinTCattheYellamundieFestival
(Sydney),MudlarkTheatre(Launceston),NationalInstituteofDramaticArts,Norpa(Lismore),Northern
RiversWritersCentre,PerthTheatreCompany,PlaywritingAustralia,QueenslandTheatreCompany,
QueenslandPerformingArtsCentre,RedDustTheatreCompany(AliceSprings),RiversideTheatre
(Parramatta),StreetTheatre(Canberra),StagesWA,TasPerforms,TasmanianTheatreCompanyandWhite
RabbitTCamongstothers.
During2007,hewastherecipientofanAustraliaCouncilTheatreBoardSkillsandArtsDevelopmentGrant,
whichtookhimaroundtheregionstodointensivedramaturgywithmid-rangewritersfromCairns,Alice
Springs,DarwinandHobart;andduring2008-2009aFellowshiptoeightregionalcentresdealingwithover
140writers,andwasinvolvedinaculturalleadershipprojectforeightregionalareasdeveloping
dramaturgicalskillsin2011.
Asfacilitator/dramaturghehasbeeninvolvedonthreemajorscript/playwrightdevelopmentprograms:with
JuteontheEnterStageWritePrograms(2006–2015)TheStreetTheatre’sHiveProgram(2010–2015)and
BlueCow’sCowshed(2014-2016)andhasbegunTheBeeGroupanoffshootoftheHivein2016.
HehastaughtatQueenslandUniversityofTechnology,Brisbane;tutoredscriptwritingatSouthernCross
University,Lismore,ranscriptwritingworkshopsinregionalNSWandQueenslandandwasinvolvedin
(eventuallyrunning)theResidencyProgramforthe2002–2006AustralianNationalPlaywrights
Conferences,aswellasrunningworkshopsforthe2007UbudWritersFestivalinBali.Hewasthekeynote
speakeratthe2006JuteRegionalconference;aninternationalguestatthe2003AotearoaPlaywrights
ConferenceinAucklandandthe2006AotearoaPlaywrightsConferenceinHamiltonNewZealand,anda
dramaturgatthe2005playRitescolonyinBanff,Canada.
Hecametodramaturgythroughplaywrighting;havingwrittenfourteenplays(allofthemproduced–his
firstselectedforanANPCworkshopin1975)forcompaniesasdiverseastheBrisbaneFestival,HunterValley
TheatreCompany(HVTC),NewcastleRepertoryCompany,MTCandFreewheelsTheatreInEducation
Company.Afterleavingteachingin1982,hetookonvarioustheatricaljobswithHVTC–fromactingtostage
management,boxofficeworktotheatremanagement.In1985hemovedtoSydneyandbeganworkingwith
STCintheirnewboxofficeatTheWharf.HewenttoMTCin1989asdramaturg,staying13years.Heleft
MTCattheendof2001towrite.Hewasalsotherecipientofavice-chancellor’sfellowshipfromMelbourne
Universityin2000/2001,andthe2004BoorangaWritersCentreinWaggaWaggaasartistinresidence.
Hereceivedthe2013MediaandEntertainmentArtsAlliance/GreenRoomSpecialPeerAcknowledgement
Awardforhiswork,recognizinghisexpertiseanddevelopmentofCanberrawritersthroughhis
dramaturgicalworkwithTheStreetTheatre.ThefollowingyearhewastherecipientoftheAustralian
WritersGuildHectorCrawfordAwardforanOutstandingContributiontotheCraftviaaBodyofScript
EditingWork,forhisgenerousandcreativeworkwithplaywrightsandtheatrecompaniesacrossAustralia.