Researcher biography
I am a playwright-academic whose research interests lie in contemporary Australian playwriting, Gothic Studies, Australian theatre historiography, and cli-fi plays. My playwriting practice is currently focused on a series of plays looking at climate change denialism and catastrophic climate change as speculative fiction in the absurdist mode. My scholarly research interests presently lie in contemporary Australian playwriting, where I am collaborating with my colleague Dr Chris Hay on a series of articles and a co-authored Routledge book looking at C21st writing for the Australian stage.
Publications
Books
Hay, Chris and Carleton, Stephen (2023). Contemporary Australian playwriting: re-visioning the nation on the mainstage. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003176138
Carleton, Stephen (2021). New Babylon. Brisbane, Australia: Playlab Theatre.
Carleton, Stephen (2016). The turquoise elephant. Strawberry Hills, NSW Australia: Currency Press.
Stadler, Jane, Mitchell, Peta and Carleton, Stephen (2016). Imagined landscapes: geovisualizing Australian spatial narratives. Bloomington, IN, United States: Indiana University Press.
Carleton, Stephen (2016). Bastard Territory. Brisbane, Queensland: Playlab Press.
Carleton, Stephen J. (2007). The narcissist. Fortitude Valley, QLD, Australia: Playlab Press.
Carleton, Stephen (2006). Constance Drinkwater and the final days of Somerset. Fortitude Valley, QLD, Australia: Playlab Press.
Book Chapters
Carleton, Stephen (2023). Observation. A to Z of creative writing methods. (pp. 120-122) edited by Deborah Wardle, Julienne van Loon, Stayci Taylor, Francesca Rendle-Short, Peta Murray and David Carlin. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Academic.
Hay, Chris and Carleton, Stephen (2022). Macabre children on the Australian stage: Angela Betzien’s cycle of crime plays. Theatre and the macabre. (pp. 95-112) edited by Meredith Conti and Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. Cardiff, Wales: University of Wales Press.
Carleton, Stephen and Hay, Chris (2022). Australian biographical theater on the post-truth stage. Theater in a post-truth world: texts, politics, and performance. (pp. 135-154) edited by William C. Boles. London, United Kingdom: Methuen Drama / Bloomsbury Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781350215887.ch-006
Carleton, Stephen (2013). Foreword. The Drovers by Louis Esson. (pp. 5-7) Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Playlab Press.
Carleton, Stephen (2013). Foreword. Men Without Wives by Henrietta Drake-Brockman. (pp. 5-8) Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Playlab Press.
Carleton, Stephen (2013). Foreword. Bag O' Marbles by Kathryn Ash. (pp. 5-7) Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Playlab Press.
Fotheringham, Richard and Carleton, Stephen (2013). "White Australia" in 1909: the background to the play and the two surviving scripts. White Australia or, the empty North. (pp. 6-16) edited by Richard Fotheringham. Brisbane, Australia: Playlab Press.
Carleton, Stephen (2013). Rethinking regional theatre. Catching Australian theatre in the 2000s. (pp. 151-170) edited by Richard Fotheringham and James Smith. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi.
Carleton, Stephen (2011). The gatecrasher. I Will Kiss You in Four Places. (pp. 11-32) Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Playlab Press.
Journal Articles
Carleton, Stephen and Hay, Chris (2020). ‘Global Weirding’: Australian absurdist cli-fi plays. Performance Research, 25 (2), 79-86. doi: 10.1080/13528165.2020.1752580
Carleton, Stephen (2017). Contemporary Irish gothic drama: The return of the Hibernian repressed during the rise and fall of the Celtic tiger. Gothic Studies, 19 (1), 1-21. doi: 10.7227/GS.0016
Carleton, Stephen (2015). Australian Gothic Drama: Mapping a Nation’s Trauma from Convicts to the Stolen Generation.. Australasian Drama Studies, 66 (1), 11-39.
Carleton, Stephen (2012). Australian Gothic: theatre and the Northern turn. Australian Literary Studies, 27 (2), 51-67.
Carleton, Stephen (2009). Nick Enright: An Actor's Playwright. Theatre Research International, 34 (2), 216-217. doi: 10.1017/S0307883309004672
Carleton, Stephen (2008). Darwin as the frontier capital: theatrical depictions of city space in the north. Australasian Drama Studies, 52, 52-68.
Conference Papers
Hay, Chris and Carleton, Stephen (2021). Absurdism in the Anthropocene. Comparative Drama Conference, Orlando, FL United States, 14-16 October 2021.
Carleton, Stephen (2018). Pepper’s Ghost Effect: Reading ‘Professor’ John Pepper’s Australian lecture tours (1880-1882) as prototypical ‘celebrity scientist’ performances. Australasian Drama Studies, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 26-29 June 2018.
Carleton, Stephen (2015). Gothic melodramatic migrations from the London stage to Australia in the 1860s-1880s. International Gothic Association 2015: Gothic Migrations, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 28 July-1 August 2015.
Carleton, Stephen (2013). Mapping the Antipodes: Gothic theatre mutations in Australia. Gothic Congress: Dark Latitudes, San Pedro, Costa Rica, 10-11 December 2013.
Dataset Collection
Stadler, Jane, Mitchell, Peta and Carleton, Stephen (2014). A cultural atlas of Australia: mediated spaces in film, literature, and theatre. The University of Queensland. (Collection) doi: 10.14264/uql.2016.839
Creative Works
Stephen Carleton (2022). Brutal Utopias. Brisbane: Playlab Theatre.
Stephen Carleton (2022). Brutal Utopias. Metro Arts Theatre, West End, Brisbane: Playlab Theatre.
Carleton, Stephen (2021). New Babylon. Darwin, Australia: Brown's Mart Theatre.
Trenscényi, Katalin, Cochrane, Bernadette, Carleton, Stephen and Kelly, Kathryn (2019). New dramaturgy: a roundtable. Brisbane, Australia: University of Queensland.
Cochrane, Bernadette, Trenscényi, Katalin, Campbell, Alyson, Carleton, Stephen, Dorney, Marcel and Kelly, Kathryn (2019). New Dramaturgies. Brisbane, Australia: University of Queensland.
Carleton, Stephen (2018). The Turquoise Elephant. Darwin, Northern Territory: Browns Mart Theatre and Knock-em-Down Theatre.
Carleton, Stephen and Hodge, Paul (2017). Joh for PM. Brisbane, Australia and Cairns, Qld, Australia: Brisbane Powerhouse and JUTE Theatre Company.
Carleton, Stephen (Playwright) (2016). The turquoise elephant. Griffin Theatre, Darlinghurst, Sydney: Griffin Theatre Company.
Carleton, Stephen (Playwright) (2016). Bastard Territory. South Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Queensland Theatre.
Carleton, Stephen (2014). Hotel Beche de Mer. Surfers Paradise, QLD, Australia: The Arts Centre Gold Coast.
Carleton, Stephen (Playwright) (2014). Bastard territory. Darwin, NT, Australia; Cairns, QLD, Australia: Browns Mart Theatre, JUTE Theatre Company and Knock-em-Down Theatre.
Stadler, Jane, Mitchell, Peta and Carleton, Stephen (2011). Cultural atlas of Australia. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
Carleton, Stephen (2008). Shock jock (lust). Cairns, QLD, Australia: JUTE Theatre; Knock-Em- Down Theatre; Darwin Theatre Company.
Carleton, Stephen (2008). The Narcissist. Sydney, Australia: Sydney Theatre Company.
Carleton, Stephen (2007). Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset. Darwin, Northern Territory and Cairns, Queensland: Darwin Festival, Darwin Theatre Company and JUTE Theatre Company.
Carleton, Stephen (2007). The Narcissist. Brisbane, Queensland: La Boite Theatre Company.
Carleton, Stephen (2006). Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset. Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Theatre Company.
Ash, Kathryn, Carleton, Stephen, Evans, Gail and Harris, Anne (2004). Surviving Jonah Salt. Fortitude Valley, Australia: Playlab Press.
Theses
Carleton, Stephen (2008). Staging the North: Finding, Imagining and Performing an Australian 'Deep North'.. PhD Thesis, EMSAH, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2018.604
Carleton, Stephen (2002). Mr Hare's Seraglio. Master's Thesis, School of English, Media Studies and Art History, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.315