Jordan Shea Winner of Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2025

From over 200 entries for the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2025, and three finalists announced earlier this year, playwright Jordan Shea has been announced as the winner for his tender dramedy that pits love against obligation, Malacañang Made Us.

Shea’s work was selected as winner of this year’s Award alongside fellow finalists David Burton for the good dad, and Steve Rodgers for his work, The Future is History.

Premier of Queensland, the Honourable Steven Miles MP, congratulated Shea on his winning entry saying, “Congratulations to Jordan Shea on his exceptional work, which tells a brave and powerful tale, touching on themes of politics, identity, culture and resilience,” he said.

“It’s a story inspired by Jordan’s own multicultural journey and one that many Queenslanders will be able to relate to, given the diversity of our community.

“I look forward to seeing Jordan’s thought-provoking play make its debut on the Queensland Theatre stage and thank everyone who has contributed their diverse storytelling to the Awards.”

Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch congratulated Shea on his winning entry, praising the play’s unique storytelling of family, place and culture.

“The Queensland Premier’s Drama Award proudly supports the development and presentation of powerful new works by Australian playwrights, creating compelling and diverse contemporary stories and strengthening Queensland’s position on the national theatrical stage,” Minister Enoch said.

“The Government’s investment in Queensland Theatre enables writers to develop and share their stories, create employment opportunities, and engage audiences delivering on our 10-year Creative Together strategy and its priorities of sharing our stories and celebrating our storytellers.

“As Queensland prepares to showcase our arts and cultures on the global stage of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, initiatives such as the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award help to grow opportunities and capacity for our creative talent.”

Shea’s winning work will receive ongoing mentorship from some of the state’s most renowned theatre makers, a substantial $30,000 cash prize from Prize Sponsor, Griffith University, a $16,000 fee to develop the play ahead of its world premiere production as part of Queensland Theatre’s 2025 Season.

Queensland Theatre Executive Director, Criena Gehrke said welcoming a new Queensland Premier’s Drama Award winner’s incredible storytelling is always a highlight for the company.

“Since the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award launched in 2002, we’ve developed 39 new Australian plays, employing over 245 actors, writers and directors along the way, and gathered more than 52,000 audience members to see these plays on stage,” Gehrke said.

“This award magnifies the diverse playwrighting talent we have in this country and we couldn’t be more excited to work alongside Jordan Shea to bring his powerful work in Malacañang Made Us to Queensland audiences.”

In Malacañang Made Us, Shea tells the story of the 1986 separation of two hopeful, young Filipino brothers, Martin and Ernie amid Ferdinando Marcos’s 21-year dictatorship and their reunion nearly 40 years on in Brisbane, creating an ambitious, complex story of family, legacy and survival which judges commended for its powerful, thought-provoking creativity.

“Malacañang Made Us is epic in its theatricality. It reads like a global and historic conversation, but carries themes that will undoubtedly resonate with the world today. Shea has woven together many different stories, elevating under-represented voices, with it all centred around the power of ordinary people creating history and change,” said the group of judges of Shea’s winning entry.

“From the first reading of this script, we could sense Shea’s bravery as it’s quite ambitious in scale and journeys through language, time and place - making this something we know audiences will be moved by.”

Alongside Queensland Theatre's Associate Artistic Director (First Nations) Isaac Drandic, judges for the 2025 award included Marcel Dorney, playwright, director and performer; Dan Giovannoni, playwright and theatre maker; Courtney Stewart, Artistic Director and CEO at La Boite Theatre; and Lydia Miller, Creative Consultant, Marigold Enterprises.

Professor Scott Harrison, Griffith University’s Pro Vice Chancellor (Arts, Education and Law), Assistant Vice Chancellor (Cultural Curation and Community Partnerships) was thrilled to share in Jordan Shea’s winning congratulations.

"Griffith University is delighted to once again support the Queensland Premier's Drama Award. From what began with a production sponsorship with Queensland Theatre more than 20 years ago, we're proud to play a role in seeing so many incredible productions and emerging talent realised, and we recognise that the continuation of live theatre in Queensland is vital," said Professor Scott Harrison.

The industry’s excitement for the award upcoming winner comes off the back of enormous success from previous award recipients, including the 2022-23 award winner Ryan Enniss and his play Drizzle Boy which premiered in Brisbane in March 2023 and is set to be touring the country as part of a regional tour in October.

The Queensland Premier’s Drama Award is an initiative of the Queensland Government, delivered in partnership with Queensland Theatre and supported by Griffith University.

About Jordan Shea

Jordan Shea is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts whose extensive body of work has been shortlisted or awarded runner-up for the Lysicrates Prize 2023, the Australian Theatre Festival’s New Play Award and the SBW Award. Recent credits include: One Hour No Oil (as co-writer), CAGE, The House at Boundary Road, Liverpool and Kasama Kita. Jordan won the Writing NSW Varuna House Fellowship and was a co-winner of the Philip Parsons Fellowship at Belvoir. Jordan is commissioned Performing Lines and Australian Plays Transform to develop a new documentary theatre work centering Filipino community leaders.

Photographer: Stephen Henry