David Finnigan is a writer and theatre-maker from Ngunnawal country, Australia.
He writes plays, creates performances and develops games at the intersection of science and art.
David produces performances and writing that explores concepts from Climate and Earth Science, Complex Systems and Resilience Science. He works regularly across the UK, USA, Australia and the Philippines.
David has worked with climate and Earth System scientists from institutions including University College London, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the Wellcome Trust and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He has spoken about his art-science work at the TED Conference in Vancouver and the European Geosciences Union Assembly in Vienna.
He has been commissioned to create work for the United Nations, World Bank, the Wellcome Trust, Nesta UK and Chatham House. He is a MacDowell Fellow (2025), a Churchill Fellow (2012) and an Asialink Fellow (2015).
His work has been performed at the Barbican London, the Public Theater in NYC, the Sydney Opera House, ArtScience Singapore, Belvoir Theatre, Melbourne’s AsiaTOPA Festival, the World Bank Understanding Risk Forum, Auckland Theatre Company, Sydney’s Griffin Theatre and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
David’s 2022 solo show Deep History was awarded a Scotsman Fringe First award and presented for seasons at the Barbican London and the Public Theater in New York.
David was awarded Melbourne’s Green Room Award for Best Writing for Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands in 2021. His playscript Kill Climate Deniers was awarded the 2017 Griffin Award.
In 2023, his play Scenes from the Climate Era premiered at the Belvoir Theatre in Sydney, followed by productions by Auckland Theatre Company, the Esplanade Singapore and Dulaang UP in the Philippines.
His play 44 Sex Acts In One Week has been nominated for the Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award, the Patrick White Award and the Theatre Uncut Political Playwriting Award. He has been nominated for the Queensland Premiers Literary Award (Vampire Play, 2004) and the Max Afford Playwrights Award (Oceans All Boiled Into Sky, 2006), and Kill Climate Deniers, 2014).
David is a member of Australian science-theatre ensemble Boho. Working with research scientists, Boho creates interactive performances and workshops based on concepts from complex systems science.
He writes and presents original scripts, performances, interactive games and workshops for festivals, conferences and businesses.
