Biography
Born in Sydney, Australia on 16 March 1965, Broun has worked extensively in theatre, TV and film as a writer, actor and director. As a writer he has had many plays performed in countries such as the US, South Africa, England and Australia.
Among his performed plays are The Jacaranda Tree, The Critic, The Prince of Brunswick East, Vicious Streaks, Blind City, Pick Ups, Desire, Scenes From An Affair, Just Once and Potential for Violence.
His work has been performed at the Sydney Festival, Edinburgh Festival and Brighton Festival.
Blind City was performed as part of Two Up ! at the Darlinghurst Theatre as part of the 2003 Sydney Festival. Three of his plays – Pick Ups, Desire, Scenes From An Affair – were performed as a trilogy under the title "Fast Love" in Cape Town, South Africa in 2000.
The Jacaranda Tree was shortlisted in the 2004 Rodney Seaborn Playwright’s Award, received an Honourable Mention in the Virtual Theatre Project’s International Play Competition of 2004 and was workshopped as a part of Theatrelab 2005.
The Prince of Brunswick East was shortlisted in the 2005 Rodney Seaborn Playwright’s Award.
His play "Half a person – my life as told by The Smiths" – a one man show based on the music of The Smiths – was produced by Fly-on-the-wall Theatre (Directed by Robert Chuter (director), starring David Foster) at FEAST in Adelaide in 2006 and at the Newtown Theatre in Sydney in September 2007.
The play was then re-mounted by Fly-on-the-Wall Theatre at Chapel off Chapel in Melbourne, Australia starring Mark Taylor in May 2010. It then returned for an encore season at the same venue in August the same year before being performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2012, directed by Donald Pulford and performed by Joseph Murray.
Broun is currently working on a sequel November Spawned a Monster to open in mid 2013 in Melbourne, Australia, directed by Robert Chuter.
He received funding from the Australian Film Commission to write a script based on the sinking of the Siev X in October 2001 when 353 asylum seekers lost their lives.
This was the second time he had received funding from the AFC following his fifty-minute feature "Clean Time" which received Script Development funding.
He co-produced "Refugitive", a one man play by Iranian refugee, actor and playwright Shahin Shafaei about his experiences in the Curtin Detention Centre which toured nationally.
As an actor his appearances include The Cowra Breakout (Directed by Phillip Noyce), Neighbours, Home and Away, A Country Practice and the films Watch the Shadows Dance (aka Night Zone) with Nicole Kidman, The Place at the Coast (Directed by George Ogilvie), Breaking Loose and The Boy Who Had Everything.
He also appeared in the 1988 Australian television movie, The First Kangaroos.
As a director, he directed Woomera by Josh Wakely and Purgatory Down Under (both at The Old Fitzroy Theatre in Sydney) and was Assistant Director to George Ogilvie on Proof by David Auburn at the Sydney Theatre Company in 2003 and The Man with Five Children at the Sydney Theatre Company in 2001. He also assisted Ogilvie on Norma at Opera Australia in 2004.
He was Assistant Director to Wayne Harrison on Alone It Stands by John Breen in Australia and New Zealand in 2002 and 2003.
In mid 2008 the Federal Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett, launched www.alexbroun.com – one of the world's first free access script websites, where actors, directors and theatre companies around the world can download and produce – free of charge – Broun's plays.
As at September 2012 the website had accumulated over 10 million hits and was rated number 2 in the world on Google for "ten minute plays".
In November 2010 PFV (Potential for Violence) was included in the Premiere Season of 4 one act plays by the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai PCYC Theatre Co. Alex attended opening night and announced that this was the best production ever of his play.
In August 2011 his ten-minute play Together, we are Anna, about anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare is published in the Mumbai Mirror in India.
In September 2011 his full length play 10,000 beers opened at Darlinghurst Theatre, directed by Lee Lewis with Gus Murray, Matt Zeremes, Andrew William Steele and Anthony Taufa.
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