I write weird stories for theatre, audio, film and fiction, exploring dramatic relationships between people, often family members, pushing the relationship until it becomes almost unreal, adding a touch of folk tale to drama – a touch of horror to a mystery – or a touch of comedy to a thriller. I love exploring the ‘natural’ in the supernatural, balancing on the fine line between realism and the surreal. My writing has been called “gloriously original” and “deliciously entertaining.” I often bring my experience growing up as a queer person, and the environment I grew up around in lutruwita/Tasmania, into my writing.
I grew up in a tiny town in the Huon Valley called Lucaston, lutruwita (Tasmania), making up stories in the forest after school with my sister, and moved to Melbourne to study acting at the VCA in 2009. I worked with ATYP as a playwright with Debra Oswald and Tommy Murphy, and studied screenwriting at RMIT until 2015, working with Chris Anastassiades and Michael Rowe on feature film concepts. I’ve worked as a notetaker and script coordinator for Tony Ayers Productions, Hoodlum, Princess Pictures, Roadshow Rough Diamond, Werner Film Productions and Disney. In 2023, I wrote, directed and acted in a seven part audio drama about a UFO sighting in a small coastal town, called ‘Hovering,’ which won a Silver Signal Award in 2024. I’ve also worked with Lily Fish on a number of ‘animal’ plays, exploring the relationships between animals and humans, and in 2025, I was one of three playwrights chosen for the Malthouse Theatre’s Artist Development Program.
2026 Return season of ‘Rakali’, VCE Playlist (Theatre). Smash hit play ‘Rakali’ will return for a new season in 2026, after the script was chosen for the VCE Playlist – the list of plays studied by Victorian High School students undertaking their Certificate of Education.
2026 ‘Robert the Octopus’ Midsumma Presents (Theatre). Presented three-hander farce ‘Robert the Octopus’ at Mechanics Institute in Brunswick, as part of Melbourne’s queer Midsumma Festival 2026. ‘Robert the Octopus’ is about a lonely gay woman who buys a pet octopus to make herself seem interesting to a colleague. (Physical performer Lily Fish originally played the octopus.)
2025 Artist Development Program, Malthouse Theatre. One of three playwrights chosen to participate in Malthouse Theatre’s ‘Artist Development Program’ with Keziah Warner and Jessica Arthur. Developed and presented psychological thriller/murder mystery ‘Cecelia’ as part of the program.
2023 – 2024 ‘En Masse’ Notetaker for Disney+ and Roadshow Rough Diamond. Worked as notetaker in the writer’s room alongside Peter Templeman, Michael Lucas, Louise Fox, Christine Bartlett and others on sci-fi drama ‘En Masse.’
2019 – 2025 ‘Hovering’ Audio Drama. Wrote, directed and acted in ‘Hovering’, an audio drama about a UFO sighting in Tasmania, released in November 2023, produced by Clea Frost, and susequently picked up by Realm Media’s ‘Undertow’ feed, where it has amassed over 130,000 downloads worldwide.
2023 ‘Rakali’ for Melbourne Fringe (Theatre). Wrote horror/comedy play ‘Rakali’ for Melbourne Fringe 2023, where it was nominated for Best Theatre. Lily Fish received the 2023 Green Room award for Best Performance for her role in Rakali, in which she plays a shapeshifting water rat that wants to eat a baby.
2023 ‘The Survivors’ Script coordinator for Tony Ayres Productions & Netflix. Script coordinator for 6 part murder mystery Netflix series ‘The Survivors’, based on the Jane Harper novel. Worked closely with Tony Ayres, Andrea Denholm and Alberto Di Troia at TAP, as well as producer Andy Walker in Tasmania.
2022/2023 ‘Surviving Summer’ Season Two Notetaker/research & Script coordinator for Werner Film Productions & Netflix. Researcher and notetaker, and then script coordinator, throughout development and all the way through production for ‘Surviving Summer’ Season 2, again working closely with Joanna Werner and Josh Mapleston, as well as script editor Libby Butler.
2022/2021 ‘Crazy Fun Park’ Script coordinator for Werner Film Productions & ABC3. Script coordinator for teen drama ‘Crazy Fun Park’, working with script producer/creator Nicholas Verso and again with Joanna Werner across many aspects of production, including legal.
2021 ‘Surviving Summer’ Season One Script coordinator for Werner Film Productions & Netflix. Script coordinator through pre-production and across all episodes of Season One of Surviving Summer, working closely with script producer Josh Mapleston and producer Joanna Werner as well as directors Sian Davies and Ben Chessel.
2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival First Quarter Honourable Mention for Best Concept, Reckless Abandon.
2019 ‘En Masse’ NoteTaker for Roadshow Rough Diamond. Notetaker for sci-fi series ‘En Masse’, created by Peter Templeman. Worked closely with Peter Templeman and John Safran.
2019 ‘Rosehaven’ Season Four Script coordinator for Guesswork Television. Worked as a script coordinator for the production of season four of Rosehaven.
2019 ‘Five Bedrooms’ Script coordinator for Hoodlum & Channel Ten. Script coordinator through pre-produuction and across all episodes of season one of ‘Five Bedrooms.’ Worked closely with Michael Lucas, Christine Bartlett, Anthony Mullins, Peter Templeman and Mithila Gupta.
2018 ‘Five Bedrooms’ Notetaker for Hoodlum & Channel Ten Worked as a notetaker for script development and then plotting sessions with Michael Lucas, Christine Bartlett and Anthony Mullins, for a TV Comedy/Drama in development with Channel Ten.
2018 ‘Plot Twist’ Film Victoria TV Development Lab Developed and pitched a six part TV drama concept through Film Victoria-funded lab ‘Plot Twist’, run by Clea Frost and Chris Corbett.
2017 Feature Development for ‘The Sticks’ Developed and workshopped a feature with Vicki Madden, through a Tasmanian Genre Writer’s Retreat in Ross, and with professional actors in Melbourne.
2017 Script Editor for Princess Pictures Web Series Formatted and incorporated notes for late drafts of web series ‘The Wrong Kind of Black’, developed with Princess Pictures.
2016-2017 ‘Ex Ex’ Web Sitcom Wrote, directed and co-produced web sitcom ‘Ex Ex’ in association with Melbourne Polytechnic.
2016 Notetaker for Hoodlum Entertainment Worked for Leigh McGrath, Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett as a notetaker on the development of drama series ‘Love When You Least Expect It’
2016 Live Reading- ‘Reckless Abandon’ Staged a reading of feature film ‘Reckless Abandon’- developed and edited by screenwriter/director Michael Rowe.
2015 ‘Think Inside the Box’ AWG TV Pilot Competition Longlisted for the AWG’s ‘Think Inside The Box’ TV concept competition, for the Tasmanian Gothic mini-series ‘The Sticks’.
2015 Received the Film Victoria Award for Highest Grading Student at RMIT Advanced Screenwriting Awarded for feature film ‘The Wolf in the Wind’, developed with Chris Anastassiades and workshopped with Denny Lawrence.
2015 Matchbox Pictures Internship Worked under Christa Foreman at Matchbox Pictures general office; also worked with Paddy MacCrae and Stephen Corvini in Scripted Development.
2015 Billie B Brown Development Worked as a notetaker with Princess Pictures on the development of a bible for Children’s animation ‘Billie B Brown’, with Kristy Fisher, Nova Weetman, Alix Beane and others.
2015-2017 Hub Studio Web Series Developed an episode for web series titled ‘The Bench’ with Sydney actor’s centre Hub Studios, directed by Nicholas Hope.
2015 ‘The Girl Who Was An Almond’ Wrote and co-produced a short film for Tropfest 2015 with director Rory Kelly.
2014-15 RMIT Advanced Diploma of Professional Screenwriting Studied professional screenwriting at RMIT. The course involved the development of several film and television concepts, and the writing of three drafts of a feature.
2013-14 Ozco Development Grant Awarded a development grant from the Australia Council to develop a site-specific work titled The Well Cycle. The work took place inside a normal suburban home, and involved two different storylines examining domestic violence and the role of the witness.
2009-11 Victorian College of the Arts Studied the three year Bachelor of Acting at VCA.
2009 National Play Festival Sections of my coming-of-age play The Cygnet were read at the National Play Festival in Hobart as part of the ‘night-time readings’ program put on by the Australian Script Centre.
2008 Fresh Ink Writer’s Program Part of the inaugural Fresh Ink writer’s program and travelled to Adelaide with playwrights Tommy Murphy and Debra Oswald to workshop The Cygnet. At the end of the program, my script was chosen to be further workshopped in Sydney and presented as part of ATYP’s end of year showcase.
2006-07 Is Theatre Winter Residency Developed my family drama play script The Cygnet through the Tasmanian Theatre Company- included a staged reading of the work.
Alexander Duncan 