The Same Same 25 is an annual celebration of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians.
About The Same Same 25 - The Same Same 25 is an annual celebration of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians. They are publicly nominated, and chosen by a panel of community leaders. For the past two years, the announcement of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians has attracted widespread national media attention and focused on the achievements and influence of a varied and inspirational group of people. View the Same Same 25 for 2009 here. View the Same Same 25 for 2008 here. View the Same Same 25 for 2007 here. About Same Same
The Judges - The Same Same 25 judges are drawn from a wide cross-section of the community, representing a broad field of influence and experience in their chosen professions. Andrew Creagh (Editor, DNA Magazine), Cec Busby (Editor, LOTL Magazine), Rachel Cook (Editor, Cherrie Magazine), Christian Taylor (Editor, SameSame.com.au), David Wilkins (ACON), Kevin Golding (Business Analyst), Peter Walton (Publisher, Evolution), Libby Clark (Co-founder, Sound Alliance), Tim Duggan (Co-founder, SameSame.com.au)
The Process - The Same Same 25 is publicly nominated, and chosen by a panel of community leaders. Anyone in Australia can nominate someone for the Same Same 25.

Tommy Murphy

Award-winning playwright

Tommy Murphy's award-winning adaptation of Timothy Conigrave’s extraordinary honest story Holding The Man made him a household name in Australia. In 2010, the show was a hit in London's West End, drawing rave reviews and propelling Murphy onto the world stage.

The true story of Tim falling in love against a backdrop of the HIV epidemic in Australia is, on stage, "something of an impossible miracle," summed up Sydney Stage Online. "It's a brilliant play that delights and entertains, teasing you from the distractions of life's cruelties only to slug a full-force hit to your heart as a reminder that life is, if anything, double-edged."

Back home, Murphy's latest play Gwen in Purgatory was also winning hearts last year. “We'll see Gwen again in years to come - it already feels like a classic," said the Sydney Morning Herald. Crikey.com agreed: "It is a play for and about all of us. It is warm, funny, sad, tragic, poignant, moving and unsettling. Just like our lives. Life on the page, or stage, doesn’t get any better than this. This is the (very) real deal. Murphy makes it possible by writing it.”

Telling Same Same about writing his play Saturn's Return back in 2008, it's clear Murphy's love of the stage is absolute. “I was nervous at various times in the writing," he explained, "but seeing the actors at work, you start to see the play exist beyond your intentions when everyone brings their piece to it.

"You do theatre because it’s dangerous, and when the lights go down, the audience can do whatever they want with it. But you learn to love it for that danger.”

Going into 2011, the 31-year-old wordsmith is at the peak of his powers, as his loyal audiences wait patiently to discover where he'll take us next.