Often referred to as the “Shakespeare of short plays”, award-winning Australian playwright and screenwriter Alex Broun is one of the world’s most performed ten-minute playwrights.
He has had over 130 different ten-minute plays produced in over 3500 productions across more than 50 countries and territories worldwide, including Australia, Austria, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela and Wales.
His plays have also been translated into many languages and published in many nations.
His most popular short play, 10,000 Cigarettes, has had over 300 productions across the globe, including being produced in 35 states of the USA.
In 2010, in Concepcion, Chile, 10,000 cigarettes was used by a local theatre group “to bring some joy to the community” after the devastating earthquakes. The same year in Chile some of his plays were translated into Spanish and sent down to the trapped miners for them to read while they waited to be rescued and a collection of his short plays was translated into Persian and published in Iran.
His one act and full length plays have been produced around Australia and the world including at the Sydney Opera House, La Mama, the Old Fitzroy, Belvoir St Theatre, Chapel Off Chapel, the Darlinghurst Theatre, Newtown Theatre, King Street Theatre, the Hayes Theatre, the Brisbane Powerhouse and the Arts Centre in Melbourne.
He is a former winner of the Sydney Theatre Company Young Playwright’s Scheme and he has had plays workshopped and developed by the Sydney Theatre Company, Playwriting Australia and the Australian National Playwright’s Conference.
His play The Jacaranda Tree was a winner of the Inscription script award in 2009. From 1995 to 2000 he was based in South Africa where his play Pick Ups was nominated for Best Script in the Vita Awards in 1998.
Howzat, a play co-written with Asad Raza Khan and set in contemporary Dubai, premiered in December 2016 and won Best Script at the Dubai Theatre Awards in 2017.
Recent highlights include Truth, beauty and a picture of you, a new Australian musical written in collaboration with Tim Freedman, which premiered at the Hayes Theatre in Sydney in May 2014, and 10,000 beers, which was directed by Lee Lewis, for a sold out season at the Darlinghurst Theatre in late 2011. Nominated for Best Stage Play at the 2012 Australian Writers’ Guild Awards (AWGIE) for 10,000 Beers.
In October 2013, he wrote and co-directed Oneness – Voice without form about the life of Swami Vivekananda for the Vedanta Society of NSW as part of the 150th anniversary of Vivekananda’s birth. The play premiered at the Sydney Opera House before touring to BMAC in Brisbane and was later produced in Dubai.
His one man play, Half a Person – My life as told by The Smiths, played to excellent reviews and plentiful houses at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival before touring the UK and his full length play Pick Ups was performed at the National Theatre of Macedonia in Prilep in mid-September 2012.
Alex has twice received funding from the Australian Film Commission as well as having numerous short screenplays filmed.
In mid-2008 the then Federal Minister for the Arts in Australia, Peter Garrett, launched https://alexbroun.online/, one of the world’s leading website for ten-minute plays.
The website has now accumulated over 50 million hits and was rated number 2 in the world on Google for “ten-minute plays”. A social media expert Alex also has over 10,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter.
Broun has worked extensively as an activist for refugee rights with the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) and is a national ambassador for Welcome to Australia. In 2004, he acted as Convenor for Artists Against Howard, a group of artists across Australia who joined together to work with Not Happy John to try to remove Australian Prime Minister John Howard from his Federal seat of Bennelong in Sydney’s north.
In 2007 Broun organised the “Your Shout Forums” across Australia for the Shadow Arts Minister Peter Garrett, and co-ordinated the ALP’s Federal Arts’ Launch at the Riverside Theatres in Parramatta, Sydney.
Alex has also worked extensively with Short+Sweet, the largest ten-minute theatre festival in the world.
He has been based professionally in Dubai and has held senior performing-arts roles, including Head of Drama at Studio Republik.
Education and Early Training
Alex Broun trained at the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) in Sydney, where he acted in plays alongside Nicole Kidman. He went on to build a career spanning playwriting, screenwriting, directing, festival administration, journalism, and performance.
Professional Background
Alex Broun's professional life has moved across several fields, all connected by a commitment to storytelling and live performance.
Playwright & Screenwriter
He is one of the world's most produced short playwrights, with over 130 ten-minute plays staged in more than 3,500 productions across more than 50 countries and territories. His work has been performed at the Sydney Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, and the Brighton Festival. He has received funding twice from the Australian Film Commission and has had numerous short screenplays filmed.
Director
As a director, Alex has worked across short plays, full-length productions, and large-scale events. He directed Woomera by Josh Wakely at the Old Fitzroy Hotel Theatre in Sydney in 2002. In August 2022 he wrote and directed Blind City, a large-scale modern adaptation of Dante's Inferno with a cast of over 30 actors at The Junction in Dubai. In September 2023 he produced and directed "Saudi Sing-along", a large-scale musical performance at Ithra, the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, playing a key role in the 2023 National Day Celebrations.
Actor
As an actor, Alex appeared in The Cowra Breakout (directed by Phillip Noyce), alongside Kylie Minogue in Neighbours, Home and Away, A Country Practice, and the films Watch the Shadows Dance (also released as Night Zone), with Nicole Kidman and The Boy Who Had Everything. He also appeared in the 1988 Australian television movie The First Kangaroos.
Festival Leadership and Short+Sweet
Alex Broun played a central role in building Short+Sweet into the world’s largest ten-minute theatre festival. He wrote and directed plays in the inaugural Short+Sweet Sydney in January 2002. In January 2004 he became Artistic Co-ordinator of Short+Sweet Sydney, introducing the strict time-limit format, the one-play-per-playwright rule, people’s choice voting, and the competitive progression to a Gala Final — elements that define the festival to this day.
He continued as Artistic Co-ordinator of Short+Sweet Sydney until 2006, and from 2005 to 2008 he also served as Artistic Co-ordinator of Melbourne Short+Sweet. In 2007 he was Artistic Director of the inaugural Short+Sweet Singapore.
He has also served as the inaugural Festival Director of Short+Sweet Brisbane (2009), Short+Sweet Auckland (2010), Short+Sweet Delhi (2010 and 2011), Short+Sweet Bangalore (2012), Short+Sweet Rockhampton (2010 and 2012), Short+Sweet Canberra (2012), and Short+Sweet Sydney (2009 to 2011). In 2013 he launched the first ever Short+Sweet Dubai, and in 2016 the inaugural Short+Sweet Abu Dhabi at New York University Abu Dhabi. In 2020 he launched the inaugural Short+Sweet Sharjah as part of the Sharjah Fringe at the Masrah Theatre in Al Qasba.
In November 2016 he held the inaugural Alex Broun Play Festival at The Junction in Dubai — a four-day event featuring 44 of his plays performed by over 100 Dubai actors, directors, schools, and theatre groups.
Awards and Recognition
Alex Broun’s work has been recognised across multiple countries and disciplines.
- Winner, Sydney Theatre Company Young Playwright’s Scheme.
- Winner, Inscription Script Award (2009) for The Jacaranda Tree.
- Nominated, Best Script, Vita Awards (1998) for Pick Ups, South Africa.
- Nominated, Australian Writer’s Guild Award (AWGIE) for Best Stage Play (2011 / 2012) for 10,000 beers.
- Winner (jointly with Asad Raza Khan), Best Script, UAE Theatre Awards / Dubai Theatre Awards (2017) for Howzat.
- Plays performed at the Sydney Festival, Edinburgh Festival, and Brighton Festival.
- Website rated number 2 in the world on Google for “ten-minute plays” with over 50 million hits.
- Named “The Shakespeare of Short Plays” by multiple international media outlets.
Key Productions and Career Milestones
Across a career spanning more than four decades, Alex Broun’s productions have included some of the most significant moments in Australian and international short theatre.
- 2002 – Saturday Night Newtown Sunday Morning Enmore premieres at Short+Sweet Sydney; later filmed and broadcast on Sky Arts UK.
- 2004 – The First Fireworks premieres at Darlinghurst Theatre, directed by George Ogilvie; goes on to over 200 productions worldwide.
- 2008 – The Kill premieres in Melbourne; produced at the Bridewell Theatre, London, in 2016.
- 2011 – 10,000 beers plays a sold-out season at Darlinghurst Theatre, directed by Lee Lewis.
- 2012 – Half a Person – My life as told by The Smiths performs at the Edinburgh Fringe; transfers to the King’s Head Theatre, London, in 2014.
- 2012 – Pick Ups performed at the National Theatre of Macedonia, Prilep.
- 2013 – Oneness – Voice without form premieres at the Playhouse of the Sydney Opera House.
- 2014 – Truth, beauty and a picture of you, a musical with Tim Freedman, premieres at the Hayes Theatre, Sydney.
- 2016 – Inaugural Alex Broun Play Festival, Dubai.
- 2022 – Blind City, a large-scale adaptation of Dante’s Inferno, The Junction, Dubai.
- 2023 – “Saudi Sing-along” at Ithra, Dammam, as part of Saudi National Day Celebrations.
- April 2024 – “torn” received its world premiere at Theatre by QE2 in Dubai, directed by Broun.
Community, Mentoring, and Advocacy
Beyond writing and directing, Alex Broun has made a significant contribution to developing other writers and to the wider theatre community.
He has helped to develop the careers of writers including Jane Miller, Fiona Clarke, Lisa Eismen, Miles Blackford, Mark Andrew, Sharni Page, Greg Gould, Julia Britton, and many others.
He has been a National Ambassador for Welcome to Australia since 2012, and has worked extensively as an activist for refugee rights with the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC NSW). In 2004 he served as Convenor for Artists Against Howard, a national group of artists working to challenge the government of Prime Minister John Howard. In 2007 he organised the “Your Shout Forums” for Shadow Arts Minister Peter Garrett and co-ordinated the ALP’s Federal Arts’ Launch at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta.
Browse the Scripts
You can download Alex’s plays directly from https://alexbroun.online/. Every script includes a free preview before purchase. All plays are royalty-free for 12 months from a single download fee of $2.99.