Playwright one to think outside the box

Off grid and living in a shipping container, playwright Nathan Maynard has set an unusual stage for his next act.

Playwright Nathan Maynard, in the Fingal Valley with son Clay, has won the 2019 Balnaves Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship. Picture: Peter Mathew

Off grid, out of range and living in a shipping container, Tasmanian playwright Nathan Maynard has set an unusual stage for the second act of his writing career.

Answering the call of his ­ancestors on Trawlwoolway country in the state’s northeast, and seeking an affordable lifestyle that could support his writing, Maynard bought a vacant block and fitted out a shipping container for him to live in.

He has a combustion stove for warmth and uses solar power. He charges his laptop computer — one of his few concessions to writerly convenience — when he visits friends in town.

Maynard has been awarded a $25,000 fellowship to develop his next play, a comedy about a man who, not coincidentally, wants to live a simple, sustainable life in a shipping container.

The Balnaves Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship will give Maynard production support to develop the play with a residency at Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre..

“Bits of it are directly about me, but there are other bits that are obviously fiction — just a story that I’m creating,” Maynard said.

Maynard is known for his widely toured play The Season, about muttonbirding on Great Dog Island in Bass Strait, and has a children’s play, A Not So Traditional Story, that is about to open in Melbourne and Brisbane.

“I love this industry, this is my calling, it’s what I’m meant to do,” said Maynard, who previously worked in land management.

“I thought, how can I do this, and afford to live at the same time? I’ve always been a big believer of a self-sustainable lifestyle, going back to my roots as much as I can.”

Maynard paid $18,000 for the land and $10,000 to have the shipping container fitted out. He moved in three months ago, and said he liked the isolation and having time to think and “unpack your life”.

“It’s not complete, it’s a bit rough around the edges,” he said of his new home.

“I’m very proud of it. Everyone has their own path.

“For me, the idea of paying a mortgage for the rest of my life just killed me … I’m not a big-city person; I like the isolation and the basic living.”

While Maynard is currently in rehearsals ahead of the tour of A Not So Traditional Story, he said he was looking forward to working on his new play.

“I know a lot of the story, but not the whole lot,” he said.

“I’ve got these magnificent ingredients to make this bloody beautiful stew. I can’t wait to get stuck into it.”