Gina Schien

Gina Schien is an Australian playwright whose work has been produced in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, New York, Chicago and Italy as well as the Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals in the UK.  Full-length plays include RELATIVE COMFORT (New Theatre, Sydney; Bailiwick Theater, Chicago); MORGAN STERN (Belvoir St, Sydney; Edinburgh Fringe) and A POISON CROWN – THE TRIALS OF LOUISA COLLINS (Rocks Discovery Museum, Sydney).

Honors include a MacDowell Fellowship and an Australian Writers Guild award for her radio play THE CLERK ASCENDING. Gina directed, performed in and produced her one-woman comedy THE PUNTER’S SIREN in 2020 at the Adelaide Fringe. She probably won't wear those three hats again though, thanks very much all the same.

Gina had written a novel and short stories but was inspired to start writing plays at the age of 38. Now at 60, she’s trying to maintain the rage on stage. Her writing has been described by critics as ‘wonderful, poetic and beautiful’ and ‘side-splittingly funny’.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
@Ginaschien

MORE ABOUT ME
I feel most like myself when I ….*
When I’m completely unsure.

What was your most gratifying moment in the theater?*
When I first heard an audience laugh at a joke I’d written. Who does not feel loved in that second?

Why do you keep doing theater?*
Because sometimes, just sometimes, when I’m watching a performance, every word in that script and every actor and every moment becomes one beautiful flowing thing. And it might be during a play of mine or a play written by someone else. I’m feeling that flow and thinking, ‘ah, yes, that’s why we write this stuff!’.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
I’m trying to write funny again, after this quite extraordinary year of fire, floods and virus. But how to make it feel relevant? I love humour as a guerrilla tactic - a kind of gentle grenade. You can sneak in the hard stuff while the audience enjoys the gags (hopefully). Then later they might think, 'hang on a second...'

KEYWORDS
Love, environment, lesbian, Gothic, humour, thriller, music.