Q&A with Patrick Abboud and James Elazzi
June 11, 2024
Join us post-show on Thursday 1 August for an in-conversation with Patrick Abboud and Karim playwright James Elazzi.
THURSDAY 1 AUGUST performance 745pm
BOOKINGS
James Elazzi is an award winning playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays have been nominated in the NSW Premier’s Literary Award three years consecutively, shortlisted twice in the Rodney Seaborne Award, four time award winner in the Sydney Theatre Awards and is a three time Silver Gull Playwriting Award Nominee. James was Assistant Director on Holding the Man (2024 Belvoir St Theatre) James’ sold out theatre stage plays include Son of Byblos (Belvoir St Theatre 25A), Lady Tabouli (National Theatre of Parramatta), Queen Fatima (National Theatre of Parramatta) and Omar and Dawn (KXT). In 2023-2024, James wrote, directed and produced his second short film about Lebanese migration, Seeds of Gold.
In 2022, James directed and produced his short film Yannis which has officially been selected in more than 17 Film Festivals around the world including Los Angeles, Poland, Lebanon, Greece and Italy. It has since won Best Performances in the 2022 LGBTQI+ Los Angeles Film Festival and nominated 7 times in the Made in The West Film Festival, including best director and screenplay, winning best Lead Actor.
Patrick (Pat) Abboud is a Walkley winning journalist, writer, director, television and radio/podcast host. He was awarded 2023 Freelance Journalist of the Year by the Walkley Foundation. The judges described Pat as: “a rare journalistic package – tenaciously seeking out complex, left-of-field stories that sit outside the daily news cycle, securing the trust of those involved, then telling their stories with rigour, humanity and a dash of good humour”.
Pat is a 3-time medallist at the New York Festivals TV & Radio Awards, 4-time winner at the Australian Podcast Awards, a SXSW Innovation Award and Kennedy Award for Best Long Form Television Current Affairs winner, a Webby Award finalist and 2-time LGBTQIA+ Presenter of the Year finalist. Pat’s work has been nominated for the prestigious Rose D’Or in Europe.
His recent feature documentary film streaming now on SBS On Demand, ‘Australia Uncovered: Kids Raising Kids’ was nominated for Best Documentary at AIDC 2023.
In June 2023 Sydney/ USA content studio DreamChaser/ Fifth Season signed a multi-year development and production deal with Pat and his production company, Only Human. Alongside some of Australia’s best TV/Film creatives, the studio will work with Pat developing and funding his new TV/streaming projects for global audiences, including his first foray into drama.
Pat is currently working on his new 3 x 90min international TV doc series, which is also a 6-part podcast, to be announced soon. He also continues to scour the world for untold stories as a correspondent for Spotlight on Network 7, and The Project.