Alana is an acclaimed dramatist and librettist working in film, theatre, opera and television.

In 2021 Alana received funding from Screen Australia to continue to work with Bunya Productions on the screenplay adaptation, with Ursula Yovich, of the multi-Helpmann award winning First Nations musical Barbara and the Camp Dogs. First presented on stage in December 2017 at Belvoir, touring nationally in 2019 it was recipient of Best Original Score and Best Musical in the 2019 Helpmann Awards and four Green Room Awards (2020) for Best Writing, Best Music Composition, Best Production and Best Performance.

Alana is also working with Jungle Entertainment with two rounds of funding from Create NSW on her feature film OFFSET, and with Blackfella Films, co-writing with Stephen Page DUBBOO: The Song of David Page. She has collaborated as a co-writer and dramaturg with Stephen Page for the past eleven years on his award-winning dance theatre productions for Bangarra, including the stage presentation of DUBBOO: Life of a Songman (2018) and with David Page on Patyegarang (2014). Alana also worked on the Helpmann Award winning Bennelong (2017) Dark Emu (2018) ID from Belong (2011) and most recently the First Nations opera WUDJANG: Not the Past (2022).

In 2019 Alana received development funding from SBS TV to work with Blake Ayshford and Alice Addison on a TV series Lady Chaplain, produced by Easy Tiger, and was the Associate Producer on Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story for Easy Tiger and Channel 10. She has written for McLeod’s Daughters and her short films are Mother Love (for SBS TV), The Witnesses (for the Museum of Sydney), and Reef Dreaming, a water screen installation in Sydney’s Darling Harbor.

Also in 2022 her play Wayside Bride was produced at Belvoir Theatre in April/May and in March the acclaimed oratorio WATERSHED: The Death of Dr Duncan, co-written with Christos Tsiolkas, with music by Joe Twist and directed by Neil Armfield was seen at the Adelaide Festival 2022. Her work with the puppet company erth, called arc, premiered at the Sydney Opera House in late September and was nominated in the 2023 Sydney Theatre Awards as one of 2022’s best shows for Children.

Alana was the 2021 co-recipient of the UTS Chancellor’s Award for excellence in recognition of her accomplished work and the consistent excellence of her dramatic output. She has been awarded four Australian Writers Guild awards and a Churchill Fellowship. She has also received a Centenary Medal for her work on the Centenary of Federation, a Cultural Leadership Grant from the Australia Council for the Arts and a Literature Fund Fellowship.

www.alanavalentine.com

Many of Alana Valentine’s plays are available for school, non-professional and amateur productions. A full description of each of her plays is available at alanavalentine.com. To apply for performance rights, please email [email protected] with your contact details, title of play and performance dates and venue.

The licence fee for amateur productions is $200 per performance (plus GST) or 10% gross box office, whichever is greater.