Playwright for The Wolves Theatre CompanyA few years ago I walked away from a good paying solid job to try become a financially self sustaining playwright. I felt like I had escaped a chain gang and I decided to run until either I reached somewhere or my money ran out. I had no playwrights in my past, or artists, I was just a straight middle aged white guy who had a passion for creating contemporary stories. I had been both working for the man and managing my theatre company but it became impossible to do both. Initially I was terrified all the time. I’d go to bed late, after working like crazy, then get up at 3 am and start working again. And then I reached it. The plays were supporting me. Not to the same financial level, but enough, yet on the other hand for the first time in my life, I felt complete, and hungry, and passionately driven. It was like my blood was full of sherbet. But then Covid hit and shut all the theatres. Suddenly, on the summit of the newest peak we’d reached life handed me a hessian bag and kicked me down a slide that went all the way down to Centrelink where they told me they didn’t recognize playwriting as a profession. I thought then, that that was the end, as did many people caught in the lockdown. At 54 I was clearly unemployable and apparently facing ruin. But instead, as the lockdown eases, I am still here, and I’m a part of a growing community of Wolves, and the sherbet is still bubbling in my blood, and I am hungrier than ever and the future looks reachable. The lesson for me is about FEAR. All my life I have given its view of the world too much trust, even when I kept proving it wrong. I don’t know where I’m going. Life doesn’t work that way, but I’m me and moving in the direction I want, and this current feels like, life. So let’s see where it goes. Let’s see. “Michael is an outstanding playwright. He has a great gift in creating uneasy ripples under everyday events and conversation, placing them with a strong ambience. His talent is matched only by his compassion.” Aarne Neemie Director: “Remarkable . . . A phenomenally writer” Aubrey Mellor Playbox: Regarding Decoupage skin. “Michael writes without fear and yet with a keen sense of both heart and responsibility. He has a good nose for story and a sharp sense of unrest and disquiet. There is enormous truth at the core of his work and he is relentless in his pursuit of it.”