Rod Ainsworth

Bio

Rod’s writing work includes creative and professional writing in theatre, opera and academia. He holds a MA (Research) in creative writing and is currently a PhD candidate in creative practice with a focus on the opera libretto and its relevance to place and environment in Australia. His work has taken him from community projects to children’s, social impact, regional and opera projects. Rod is a regular writer on the arts and presents on arts and cultural themes at conferences and festivals. His work has been a Finalist for the APRA | AMCOS Art Music Awards and shortlisted for both the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award and the Comalco/Making Contact Young Playwrights’ Award.

Theatre Projects

THE PALACE (2024-25)

To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of The Palace Backpackers' Fire in Childers (Queensland), Rod initiated a creative project to tell the stories of the community members who dropped everything to provide unconditional care to survivors, victims' families and their own community members. At a time where there are forces pulling us apart, this story tells of the community spirit that is essential to us all. THE PALACE is a combination of songs and a verbatim script, using words from community members to tell the story. This project is a partnership with Topology with John Babbage composing the music. Performances will take place in Childers from 21-23 June 2025.

It All Begins With Love (2015)

Wrote, produced and directed this verbatim theatre play focusing on survivors of domestic and family violence.

Script published by Playlab. https://playlabtheatre.com.au/shop-publications/playlab-indie/it-all-begins-with-love-by-rod-ainsworth/

The Extraordinary Fall of Wheezer Hennessy (2012)

Short play written for the Tales of the Underground Project with Creative Regions

The Forgetting (2010)

Short play commissioned for the Dancing Back Home project, a collection of short plays by emerging Australian playwrights (JUTE Theatre, Cairns / Mudlark Theatre, Launceston).

Roland Thring and the Year all his Christmases Came at Once (2009)

Wrote, produced and directed this play for children. JUTE Theatre (Cairns) / Creative Regions (Bundaberg)

Backstage (2008)

Commission to write a play to commemorate 401st show of The Playhouse Theatre (Bundaberg). Australia Council for the Arts funded.

Living with Lear (2000)

Adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear written in collaboration with drama students at St Luke’s Anglican School (Bundaberg).

Dischord! (1995)

Short play written for The Shock of the New Festival (La Boite Theatre). Shortlisted for the Queensland Theatre Company/Comalco Making Contact Award.

Opera

TUMBULGUM AND THE COUNTDOWN TO MIDNIGHT AT THE FIRST SUPPER BETWEEN NOW AND FOREVER (2016)

A Fleck Of Gold (2021)

Opera libretto adaptation of Rod’s short play The Extraordinary Fall of Wheezer Hennessy (work in progress)

Tumbulgum and the Countdown to Midnight at the First Supper between Now and Forever (2016)

Commissioned by Opera Queensland as part of Arts Northern Rivers’ “If These Halls Could Talk” project. 12 month collaboration with Lindy Hume (Artistic Director) and Jason Barry-Smith (Co Creative Producer). Rod wrote the script for and directed this project.

ROLAND THRING AND THE YEAR ALL HIS CHRISTMASES CAME AT ONCE (2014)

Opera adaptation of the work for children (in progress)

Loretta (2010)

Librettist for this full-length opera (composer Peter Rankine). The opera started its life under the title The Crushing.

PUBLICATIONS & CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Presentation at the Australasian Association of Writing Programs Conference: Fire Country, at the University of the Sunshine Coast in November. Paper entitled I See Fire in Your Eyes: Questions about whether opera could be a means for de-colonisation in regional Australia [2021]

Presented as panellist in a session called Getting in on the ground floor: Commissioning new work at the arTour Showcase 2020 (online) [2020]

Co-presented a workshop on “Using the Arts to Promote Health” at the Thinking Innovatively in Collaborative Health Care Practice at the

Wide Bay Health Symposium (CQUniversity) [2019]

Panellist at PAC Australia Conference on the complexities of touring. [2019]

Presentation of a paper IT ALL BEGINS WITH LOVE – and a Bear: The processes, ethics and impacts of making art with and for victims of domestic violence at the Inter-disciplinary.net’s Domestic Abuse and Violence Conference in Prague, Czech Republic [2016]

IT ALL BEGINS WITH LOVE play script published by Playlab [2015]

It All Begins With Love: Making a play for change in Bundaberg by Rod Ainsworth. In Cultural Solutions, Griffith Review, Volume 44 (“Notes from the Front” supplement), edited by Julianne Schultz. [2014]

Ripples Over the Great Divide, co-authored with Dr Jude Pippen, published in a collection edited by Norma Bowles and Daniel-Raymond Nadon – Staging Social Justice: Collaboratively-Developed Activist Theatre, published by Southern Illinois University Press. [2013]

Panellist at APACA Conference in Darwin regarding strategic regional arts projects [2012]

Panellist at Regional Arts Australia Artlands Conference in Goolwa, SA regarding strategic regional arts projects [2010]

Game On! A Social Justice Theatre Project in the Wide Bay Burnett Region – YAQ Papers, 10th Anniversary Edition, 2008 – Co-authored with Dr Jude Pippen [2008]

Regional Indigenous Cultural Officers: Professional, Passionate and Personal – ArtReach, March 2003; Reprinted in National Indigenous Times [2003]

Valuing Your Story: Valuing Your Life – Co-authored with Jack Ritchie – ArtReach, June [2003]

Some Indigenous Arts Initiatives – ArtReach, December [2003]

Brewarrina Circus Skills Training – ArtReach, December [2002]

Opinion Pieces

The War on Terror is Closer than we Think (2015)

A commissioned blog post for Arts Queensland about the play IT ALL BEGINS WITH LOVE https://www.arts.qld.gov.au/aq-blog/health-and-wellbeing/the-war-on-terror-is-closer-than-we-think

Music School Drop-Out (2012)

Article commissioned by Arts Queensland for the Classical Music Mapping Study written by Helen Lancaster

A Wishlist for Music in the 21st Century Queensland (2012)

A segment of the above article called A Wishlist for Music in the 21st Century Queensland was

published on the Arts Queensland blog on 6 March 2012

Writer

Bio