Lucy is a playwright, writer, editor and communications manager.

As a communications manager/editor, she has over twenty years of experience.

She has worked with the following organisations: Queensland Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Bookseller+Publisher Magazine, State Library Victoria, Victorian Multicultural Commission, Victorian Managed Insurance Authority, Office of Public Prosecutions, VicRoads, Jemena, CitiPower/PowerCor, Aviva Investors and Pacific Dunlop. She has developed enterprise communication strategies, managed organisation-wide channels, content and significant publications. She has worked closely with senior leadership, including writing speeches and briefs for Premiers and CEOs.

As a playwright Lucy has had over thirty plays produced throughout Australia. She has been awarded prizes and development awards from St Martins Youth Arts Centre, Playbox Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, ATYP, Union House Theatre and Geelong Repertory Theatre.

She has guest lectured to editing students at RMIT, creative writing students at the University of Melbourne and Film and Theatre students at the University of Tulsa, USA.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Creative Arts, Honours (double major in Theatre/Creative Writing), University of Melbourne.

• Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing, RMIT.

• Scholarship Master of Arts - Playwriting, QUT.

• Customer Experience (CX) Strategy, Columbia Business School.

• Managing Crisis Communications, University of Technology, Sydney.

Selective programs

• Royal Court Theatre Young Playwrights Programme (taught by Tony Award winner Simon Stephens).

• Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) Fresh Ink Program.

• World Interplay International Playwrights Conference.

• Aotearoa Playwrights Conference.

• La Mama Young Playwrights Studio.

Playwriting commissions

• A School of Her Own, Queenwood School for Girls.

• The Going Down of the Sun and Behind These Walls, Your DNA Youth Theatre Company.

• One Breath In and The Colour Red, A.B.Paterson College.

• When the Stars Go Blue, Mentone Girls’ Grammar School.

• Swimming Through Bandaids, The Peninsula School.

• Objectivity, Union House Theatre, University of Melbourne.

• Aspire, as part of the Scattergun Project, St Martins Youth Arts Centre.

• Insight, co-written with Maggie Miles and the St Martins Foundation Ensemble, St Martins Youth Arts Centre.

Reviews of Lucy’s plays

‘We were impressed by the quality of the writing... There were some extremely comic moments which were heightened by great use of style in the dialogue... This is a very interesting parable about gender, full of energy, with moments of poetic dialogue... We would be very interested in seeing your next play.’
-Royal Court Theatre on Dirtgirlz.

‘This play is hot.’
-Playbox 3Dfest judge and playwright Michael Gurr on Hide and Seek.

‘Gutsy, confident and varied’
-The Scotsman on Playgrounds, eight plays from international playwrights including Lucy Stewart’s Closing Time, Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

‘Stewart's play Wallpaper is a theatrical exteriorisation of disturbed subjectivities, with sharp, unheralded shifts between differing levels of actual, imagined, remembered or deranged states of being...The play’s virtues are its freshness and ambition... I look forward to Stewart’s future work...’
-Alison Croggon, Theatre Notes.

‘One of the major attractions of this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival.’
-Bayside Leader on Wallpaper.

‘Standout pieces included Butterflies written and directed by Lucy Stewart. Punchy, witty dialogue interspersed with an understated emotional realism, performed by immensely lovable actors, made this piece easily the most polished of the night.’
-Jessica Murphy, Campus Review

‘There is a poignant ring of truth to experience in this play, well conveyed by its actors.’
-Helen Thompson, The Age theatre critic on Copygirl.

‘Copygirl is a beautifully promising piece of poetic realism’; ‘a joy to read; in fact it ran at a cracking pace’; ‘this play demonstrates a confident and inventive theatrical mind at work.’
-St Martins Playwrights Competition Judges Ross Mueller, Emilie Collyer and Brett Adam.

‘Having worked at the school for 20 years, I thought I knew its story, but this play gave me a deeper, more emotional understanding of our shared history. It was engaging, accurate and beautifully performed. I was incredibly and unexpectedly moved by the historical journey. This production is a powerful tribute to our schools’s legacy.’

-Rachel Brown, Queenwood Teacher, re A School of Her Own.

Testimonials

‘Lucy Stewart is the one you want. The balance she maintains between imagination, creativity and professionalism makes her highly sought after as a collaborator. Equally responsive, open and accountable, Lucy’s reliability brings reassurance through the creative process. Her eye for detail and tenacity ensure high quality outcomes and her warmth and humility position her as a admirable role model in the worlds of writing and editing.’

-Claire Wearne, teacher, theatre maker and founder of ‘Between the Lines’, a boutique arts education consultancy organisation - clairewearne.com

‘The Queenwood Drama Department was proud to commission and present this original play for our Centenary, honouring the remarkable women who founded Queenwood and the generations who have shaped its 100 years. A sincere thank you to … Lucy Stewart for her beautiful writing.’

-Jade Gibson, Head of Drama, Queenwood, re A School of Her Own.