About / Bio
Arthur Meek unearths forgotten voices and untold stories, then brings them back to life across stage, page, and screen.
Currently completing a mid-career MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Arthur’s recent work includes adapting Maurice Shadbolt’s Voices of Gallipoli, presented internationally, and co-writing the BBC/BFI-funded short film My Eyes Are Up Here, which premiered at the London International Film Festival and screened at thirty festivals worldwide. It won the Beeston International Short Film Festival in 2023.
Arthur’s work has been performed throughout New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, including five productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His play Dark Stars, about two African-American performers a century apart, won Best Non-Fiction Script at New York’s United Solo Festival. His adaptation of Samuel Butler’s Erewhon played to acclaim across three countries, while On the Upside Down of the World toured extensively after its Auckland Theatre Company premiere.
His screen credits include story development for New Zealand’s highest-rating drama Shortland Street, and creating the satirical television series Feedback for TVNZ. He has developed projects with South Pacific Pictures, Warner Bros. International Television, and Great Southern Television.
Arthur is the recipient of New Zealand’s prestigious Bruce Mason Playwriting Award and the Harriet Friedlander New York Residency. His play Charles Darwin: Collapsing Creation won five Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards including Best New Play and Best New Playwright.
Whether working with WWI oral histories, pioneering scientists, or marginalised performers, Arthur brings rigorous research and emotional authenticity to stories that deserve to be heard.
Genres
Writing hours
Writer's credits
THEATRE
Voices of Gallipoli (2023-present) – Adaptor
- presented throughout New Zealand, London and even Scott Base, Antarctica! Each year The National Army Museum, Te Mata Toa presents all 12 voices in full.
The Bad Luck Battalion (2026) – Writer
Erewhon (2016-2018) – Adaptor and Performer
- Performed in New York, Edinburgh, New Zealand
- 5-star season, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
On the Conditions & Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Taking Me as Her Young Lover (2015) – Co-Writer/Performer
- 5-star season, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
- “Highbrow and brilliant” – New York Magazine
- Subsequent film adaptation (Amazon Prime)
Dark Stars (2011-2014) – Writer/Director/Producer
- Best Non-Fiction Script, United Solo Festival New York 2014
- Critics Choice 2013, TimeOut Melbourne
- Nominated Best Play 2013, Fringeworld Perth
The Trees Beneath the Lake (2014) – Writer – Auckland Theatre Company
On the Upside Down of the World (2011) – Adaptor/Writer – Auckland Theatre Company
- Performed United Solo Theatre Festival, New York 2013
- SWANZ Best Play Award 2011
- Extensive New Zealand tour and Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Richard Meros Salutes the Southern Man (2012) – Co-Adaptor/Performer
- Best Out of Town Production, Dunedin Theatre Awards 2012
- National tour
Sheep (2011) – Writer/Deviser – Long Cloud Youth Theatre
- Nominated Best Production, Dunedin Theatre Awards 2013
Charles Darwin: Collapsing Creation (2009) – Writer/Co-Producer
- Five Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards including Best New Play, Best New Playwright
- National New Zealand tour
- Shortlisted Bruce Mason Playwriting Award
SCREEN My Eyes Are Up Here (2022) – Co-Writer – BBC/BFI
- Premiered London International Film Festival
- Screened at 30+ festivals worldwide
On the Conditions & Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Taking Me as Her Young Lover (2016) – Co-Writer/Star – New Zealand Film Commission
- Available on Amazon Prime
Shortland Street (2012-13) – Writer/Story Consultant – TVNZ
- New Zealand’s highest-rating scripted series
Feedback (2010-11) – Co-Creator/Co-Writer/Star – TV2 (NZ)/Great Southern Television
- Seven-part satirical series
Thin Ice (2012-present) – Concept Creator/Series Developer/Pilot Writer
- Optioned by South Pacific Pictures
Sirens (2010-2011) – Creator
- Optioned by Top Shelf Productions
Deus Ex Otto (2013-present) – Writer
- NZFC Seed Grant recipient
RADIO The Lonesome Buckwhips (2009) – Writer – Radio New Zealand
- Four-part series
- Rebroadcast annually 10+ years
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
- Bruce Mason Award (2011) – New Zealand’s premier playwriting award
- Harriet Friedlander New York Residency (2012-2018)
- Creative New Zealand and Playwrights’ Studio Scotland Residency
- Two NZFC Seed Grants for feature development
- Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards 2009: Production of the Year, Best New Writer, Best New Play (Charles Darwin: Collapsing Creation)
- Summer Writer in Residence, Michael King Writers Centre (2010)
EDUCATION MA Creative Writing (in progress) – University of East Anglia Bachelor of Performing Arts – Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School (2008) Bachelor of Arts – University of Otago (2003)