Biography of Barry Lowe

Sydney based Australian playwright, Barry Lowe began his theatrical career as a lighting operator/actor/writer in children's theatre. To pay the bills he worked as a journalist/production editor and performing arts critic on magazines as diverse as "The National Times", "The Newcastle Morning Herald", "Theatre Australia", and "Performing Arts News" before joining the staff of the national gay magazine, "Campaign". He went on to edit the magazine for almost seven years. While at "Campaign" his autobiographical sex romp: Writer's Cramp, was presented as a Festival of Sydney Fringe event. He followed it up with Ego Positioning and then formed his own theatre company which performed a new work every six weeks at the Balmain Town Hall Hotel. His work moved interstate when The Barricade was produced at La Mama, followed by Dragon Fly and Sal, his first time working with Oz director Robert Chuter. Their partnership resulted in the highly successful Shakin' the Blues Away, The Death of Peter Pan [two seasons at La Mama and Universal Theatre], as well as adaptations of The Great Gatsby, A Difficult Young Man, The Turn of the Screw [Rippon Lea] and four productions of Homme Fatale in Melbourne and Perth. Homme Fatale, his most acclaimed play has also been produced in Adelaide, Brisbane, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Rome]. Barry's many plays include: Drycleaning the Shroud of Turin, Auntie Magnesia and the Sex Museum, Seeing Things, Relative Merits, Rehearsing the Shower Scene from 'Psycho', Dutch Courage, Tokyo Rose, The Extraordinary Annual General Meeting of the Size-Queen Club, Scam! She's No Angel - A Mae West Vaudeville and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest [As Performed by the Inmates of Reading Gaol]. He co-wrote [with Andrew Creagh] the screenplay for Richard Turner's film, Violet's Visit. His short stories have appeared both in Australian and overseas anthologies.