David J O'Brien

David O’Brien writes novels, features and short movies and stage plays. He produces, writes, directs and is an actor.

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David's first three books will be available online in 2024 and as audio books read by the author. 

 

JOHN SMYTH IS NOT A HAPPY MAN

Impressed by movie heroes JOHN SMYTH is about to learn heroic vengeance leads only to more violence. 

He uses jokes to mask the pain of a failing marriage and dead-end job. With life undergoing radical change, he goes  on an odyssey to Broken Hill where he encounters a history of cruelty . Confronting myths of heroism, vengeance and masculinity, John will learn of the transgender stripper his son loved.  A bullet to the chest forces him to see the often-absurd complexities of forgiveness. 

 

THE ART OF POO: An absurd satire on the art industry,  Adam Organ is abandoned by his dad to work in his uncle's travelling circus where he shovels elephant poo and learns sculpture from his aunt.

With the collapse of the circus he heads for the big city where he clashes with family and is sent to a near-gothic mental hospital and  into deep isolation. There his unique approach to art will blossom..

A successful art curator boasts to his conservative partner that he can sell shit. It leads to a high-stakes bet.

All that's needed to win the bet is the work of Adam Organ.

If you've ever asked ‘What is art?’ this wild yarn is irreverant, good for the environment and a little disgusting.

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NYMPH

With his billionaire's empire in free-fall, the notorious Dirty Doug Sullivan is being driven home in his Teslerati by his cyborg servant Jonas. Things start to go wrong with the car, forces uinknown are interfering with its function and horrible visions disturb Dougie. But then a beautiful woman appears at the side of the forest road and takes him to her castle deep in the forest.  The rare-earth minerals billionaire gets a lot more than he bargained for.

On the other side of the forest, the mine protesters from WILDHOME are facing a raid by the corporation's mercenary force and tragedy ensues with an escape and a hunt through forest. 

This is a sometimes erotic and occasionbal violent fairy story for adults.

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KEPT: (CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT). Frank is a novelist with a penthouse overlooking Sydney Harbour.

He doesn't like Jack and has avoided him for most of the twenty years he's been there.

They have little in common but knew each other when they were in their twenties. The inevitable moment arrives for Jack to turn with an excess of baggage. Both are in their late seventies and kept by their corporate wives.

They grapple with status and secrecy as white, middle class, isolated and lonely, straight men. And then one of the wives comes unexpectedly home. 

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David's influences are Roald Dahl, Kurt Vonnegut and Patrick Suskind whose book PERFUME is a favorite.

He's in post production on five half hour witness documentaries about the AIDS/HIV ward in St Vincent's Hpospital. Its taken from twenty two hours of interviews with politicians, doctors, nurses, social workers and survivors of the epidemic that took the lives of young gay men in the eighties and nineties  

 

David is an actor and has played in many short films. His short play BRICKS was awarded BEST PLAY at Sydney's Crash Test Drama annual finals in Redfern in December. David was named'BEST DIRECTOR and the play's other actor ROBIN QUEREE was awarded 'Best Actor'.  The ten minute play will become a short film in 2024.