The Theatre of Justin Fleming: Neo-Edwardian or Universal?

Abstract

Justin Fleming was born in Sydney on January 3, 1953, to middle class Catholic parents who sent him to the Jesuit institution, St. Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney. After leaving school in 1970 and enrolling in the Faculty of Arts at the University of New South Wales, he attended for the next two years part-time acting classes with Hayes Gordon at the Ensemble Theatre at Milson's Point and, in 1972, joined Gemini Productions (Sydney) where he worked on new television shows as well as doing scripts for 'The Godfather', 'The True Blue Show' (ATN 7), 'The Spoiler' and 'The Young Doctors'. From 1973 he studied law part-time at the University of Sydney, where he was a director of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, choosing for production amongst others, the two derisive scrutinies of English law, 'Trial by Jury' and 'Cox and Box'. From 1975 he was an associate to a judge, and took his law finals in 1978. Meanwhile he had begun writing plays and had completed the manuscript of 'Hammer' in 1976 and of 'Doubted his Empire' in 1978.