STEPHEN QUINN IS A MAKER OF MANY THINGS.
By taking a highly visual approach, Quinn is known for creating vibrant and visceral works of theatre, installation, performance, photography & video. Highly present in Quinn's body of work is the fusion of theatricality, physicality & visual installation.
Based in Brisbane, Quinn completed a Bachelor of Creative Industries (Drama) at Queensland University of Technology in 2010. Quinn then went on to complete a Masters of Creative Industries (Creative Production & Arts Management) in 2012. From 2013 to 2017 Quinn was an associate artist of The Danger Ensemble, devising/performing in Sons of Sin (2013), assistant directing The Wizard of Oz (2013), devising/performing in & associate directing Caligula (2014) and devising/performing in We Will No Kiss, Touch, Frighten You in the Dark (2017). During this time he also worked with The Danger Ensemble's Artistic Director, Steven Mitchell Wright, performing in Salomé, as part of Metro Arts' Awkward Conversations (2014) and performing in Drunk Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet (2014). With The Danger Ensemble, Quinn trained extensively in the Suzuki Method of Acting Training, devoured knowledge about contemporary and experimental theatre and began his exploration of visual theatre.
He has also performed for numerous independent directors including: Errol Bray - The Choir (Brisbane Powerhouse 2012); Ron Seeto - inter/nality (La Boite: Scratch 2011) and Violatus (Metro Arts 2012 & The Judith Wright Centre 2013); Catarina Hebbard - DNA (Queensland Theatre Company/Gold Coast Arts Centre 2015); Laurence Dale - Agrippina (Brisbane Baroque Festival 2016); Nick Cave - Heard (GOMA 2016); Jo Loth - Julius Caesar (Jo Loth Productions 2016 & 2017); Younes Bachir - BaBeL (Backbone Festival: How Soon Is Now 2018); Chris Beckey & Lucas Stibbard - Their Name Liveth Forevermore (Backbone 2017 & 2018 respectively).
Quinn's self created performative works includes: Yellow (Brisbane Emerging Arts Festival 2013 & 2High Festival 2015); Icarus (Anywhere Theatre Festival 2015); Sisyphus (2High Festival 2016); and The Gods are Bored (Backbone Festival: How Soon is Now 2018).In recent years, Quinn has evolved his work with installations into set & costume design. In 2020 he designed a new musical by Sampson Smith & Jermey Neale, Absolute Objectivity and in 2021 he set dressed Chelsea McGuffin & Co's outdoor circus premier, Hysteria.
Always a fan of large scale spectacle, Quinn has worked to design and realise outdoor site designs. In 2019, in collaboration with a team of young producers, he site designed Backbone Festival: Fake News Dumb Views, a multi-arts festival that took place in and around a bowls club. In 2021 he will be further sharpening his outdoor site design skills under the guidance of Joey Ruigrok Van Der Werven, as they turn a bowling green into a performance venue for four large scale site specific works of circus, theatre, dance & opera.
[Not too] surprisingly, on his creative journey, Quinn found a love for photographic styling. Photoshoot day is one of his favourite days and he has collaborated with Morgan Roberts, Ruby Newport & Josue Hurtado to create some beautiful and evocative hero images for his productions.
WHEN QUINN ISN'T MAKING HIS OWN THINGS, HE HELPS OTHER ARTISTS MAKE THEIRS.
Quinn was the General Manager of the Festival of Australian Student Theatre (FAST) for two years (2012 - 2013), in this time, by drawing on his vast hospitality experience he realised the FAST bar. This endeavour, along with creating an exciting new revenue stream, also fostered partnerships with Some Young Punks Wine & Redbull, and served as a key festival experience for patrons and artists alike. Quinn has also produced works at Melbourne Fringe Festival, Anywhere Theatre Festival & Brisbane Powerhouse. He spent two years (2014 & 2015) working in the independent dance sector as a Communication & Production Assistant for award winning contemporary dance company, Phluxus2 Dance Collective.
Quinn is currently the Senior Producer & Production Manager at Backbone Youth Arts, where he has been working since early 2018. In this time he has produced works in collaboration with Brisbane City Council in Toowong Cemetery, with Valley Fiesta in and around moving cars in the Chinatown Car Park, in London at the Battersea Arts Centre and with independent artists that range from young and emerging to internationally renowned at a disused bowls club in East Brisbane.
