Zoey Dawson is a playwright, screenwriter, dramaturg, director and educator based in Naarm/Melbourne. She has over 15 years experience in script development and performance making.

Her playwriting credits include Darkness (New Theatricals, dir. Dino Dimitriadis), CAESAR (La Boite, dir. Sonja Simic), Australian Realness (Malthouse Theatre, dir. Janice Muller), Conviction (Darebin Arts, dir. Declan Greene), Calamity (MTC NEON, co-dir. Zoey Dawson and Romanie Harper), The Unspoken Word is Joe (LaMama/Griffin Theatre, dir. Declan Greene) Madonna Arms (Next Wave/Artshouse, dir. Allison Wiltshire) and I Know There’s a Lot of Noise Outside but You Have to Close Your Eyes (I’m Trying To Kiss You/LaMama, dir. Allison Wiltshire)

She received the inaugural Melbourne Festival Discovery Award for The Unspoken Word is Joe (LaMama/Griffin Theatre/ Brisbane Festival) and her work has been nominated for 10 Greenroom awards, including Best New Writing for Conviction.

Recently she worked as dramaturg and director on Mish Grigor’s Class Act for APHIDS, which toured from The Substation to Sydney Opera House and Adelaide’s Vital Statistics.

She has worked in script development for Fremantle Media, Matchbox Pictures and SBS. She holds both a Master of Screenwriting and a Master of Performance Writing and lectured and tutored in script and screenwriting at Melbourne University for 7 years, as well as facilitating writing workshops for Arts Centre Melbourne, Theatreworks, LaMama and Back to Back.

Since 2023, Zoey has been New Work Associate for Melbourne Theatre Company where she has worked as dramaturg with some of Australia’s most successful stage writers including Andrew Bovell, Angus Cerini, Andrea James, Anne Louise Sarks, Ben Law, Jean Tong, Kirsty Marillier, Michele Lee, Nathan Maynard and Roshelle Fong.