Suzie Miller

Susan Miller was born in Melbourne, Australia, and she grew up in St Kilda, a suburb which housed many immigrants. She attended the local Catholic school, where many of the children were Italian, Greek, Mauritian, and Indian. starting in 1987, At some point later, she lived in Beechmont, Queensland for around 18 months while undertaking a PhD at Queensland University of Technology, completed in June 2020. Her thesis was entitled "The mathematics of longing: Exploring the interface between science and theatre by translating mathematical theorems into a play script", for which she created the play The Mathematics of Longing. == Career ==

Early career Miller first worked for top corporate law firm Freehills (now Herbert Smith Freehills), at the same time joining the Actors Centre. After getting married and while on maternity leave, Miller worked part-time at Shopfront Youth Legal Centre, a community legal centre funded by Freehills. Here she had to deal with a lot of crises and emergencies, as well as many sexual assault cases. She drew on these experiences when writing Cross Sections. During this time (2000) she was also studying at NIDA, An early work, Reasonable Doubt, premiered at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh) directed by Guy Masterson, starring Peter Phelps and Emma Jackson. and New York Fringe Festival at Cherry Lane Theatre, also in 2008, directed by Lee Lewis, where it won the New York Fringe Overall Excellence Award for Outstanding Playwriting. The play features two characters who have just served on a jury and are now meeting for a date night. It runs for around 60 and at the Holden Street Theatres in 2022. She has said that in general the UK and Europe are far more supportive of writers than Australia (although in some London theatre circles they see Australians as "racist and misogynistic" and "don't think Australia has a real arts culture or "based on first impression". Prima Facie is a one-woman play first staged by Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney in 2019, with Sheridan Harbridge taking the stage in a production directed by Lee Lewis. in London's West End in 2022, It is also being adapted as a feature film, with actress Cynthia Erivo set to play the role of Tessa, to be directed by Susanna White. The play is being reworked for a New York production. In July 2023, Jailbaby, "Prima Facie's spiritual successor" premiered at Griffin's Stables Theatre. Although Guardian reviewer Cassie Tongue gave it a middling review, the season sold out and the play returned in January 2024. The play's theme is the over-representation of Indigenous Australians in prison. Miller has indicated that it is the second of a trilogy of plays. Directed by Prima Facie director Justin Martin, it opened at The National Theatre 10 July 2025,, with global cinema release as part of NT Live. The play transfer to the Wyndham Theatre in London's West End in 2026. The title Inter Alia refers to the Latin legal phrase inter alia, meaning "among other things". Inter Alia is described as a kind of "double soliloquy", in which judge Jessica Parks delivers both her public and private thoughts. Its topic is again about women and consent, with parallels to the 2025 Netflix hit series Adolescence. ==Other activities==

Miller is a member of PEN International, a human rights organisation representing writers in countries where they are punished for speaking out. In early 2024, Miller attended the WOW Festival in Greece, appeared at two events at the Sydney Writers' Festival in May 2024, and presented at the Brisbane Writers Festival. , with her offspring in their early twenties, Miller lives among three cities: Sydney, London, and New York, but likes to get to the family apartment at Burleigh Heads, on the Gold Coast of Queensland, and Brisbane, when possible. == Awards and recognition ==

Playwriting awards Miller received the 2005 Theatrelab Award, to develop the play SOLD with Cicely Berry of the Royal Shakespeare Company. All the Blood and All the Water won the Inscription/Theatrelab Script Development Award and was shortlisted for the 2006 Rodney Seaborn Award. It was staged at the Riverside Theatres Parramatta and Casula Powerhouse in Sydney in 2008. and Transparency was nominated for the 2010 Australian Writers' Guild Award in the Theatre: Stage category. Miller's radio adaptation of Cross Sections won the AWGIE Award for Radio Adaptation in 2013. Dust (2014) won the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Script in 2016. The Griffin Theatre Company production of Prima Facie won the 2020 AWGIE Award for Drama and the 2020 Major AWGIE Award from the Australian Writers' Guild. For the 2022 production at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London, Miller won the 2023 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and Jodie Comer won the Olivier Award for Best Actress for her performance. At the 2020 AWGIE Awards awarded by the Australian Writers' Guild, Prima Facie won the AWGIE Award for Stage, as well as the David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre. Residencies and fellowships Miller had two residencies at the National Theatre in London, in 2011 and 2009, and at Griffin Theatre in Sydney in 2012. In the same year, the script of Prima Facie won the Griffin Award. ==Ongoing impact==

In 2023, a judge emailed Miller to let her know that they had redrafted their directions to the jury in sexual assault cases, and had included some of the words about witness recollections from Prima Facie. She has also received thousands of messages from sexual assault survivors, and lawyers who have seen the play. In 2024, the Suzie Miller Award was established by the Griffin Theatre Company, for mid-career playwrights. == Personal life ==

While working at the Aboriginal Legal Service, Miller met and later married Robert Beech-Jones, with whom she had two children. He was also a lawyer, later becoming a justice of the NSW Supreme Court, before being appointed as a justice to the High Court of Australia in 2023. She is friends with writer Hilary Bell and Governor General of Australia Sam Mostyn, and godmother to 14 children. Miller divided her time between London and Sydney. == Selected works ==

Miller's works include (by premiere date): • 2000: Births Deaths Marriages, written in the NIDA playwriting studio and performed as a playreading; selected for the Australian National Playwrights Conference in 2001. performed at the Old Fitz in February 2007 directed by John Sheedy; later produced at Theatre503 in London (2011) directed by Natalie Ibu. • 2008: All the Blood and All the Water, which tackled racism in Australia, premiered at the Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatres Parramatta, May 8–30, 2008, after mentoring by Edward Albee, also directed by John Sheedy. • 2008: The Emotional Anatomy of a Relationship Breakdown – Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne • 2010: Extra curricular then toured Australia with Critical Stages; 2024 production at New Theatre • 2016: Snow White – The Opera, directed by Lindy Hume, had its premiere season at the Brisbane Festival in 2016. • 2025: Inter Alia, premiered July 2025 ==Footnotes==