Playwright Jordan Shea has been announced as the winner of the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2025.

Selected from more than 200 entries Shea’s play Malacañang Made Us is described as “a tender dramedy that pits love against obligation”.

Jordan Shea. Photo supplied

Shea will receive ongoing mentorship from some of the state’s leading theatre makers, a substantial $30,000 cash prize from Griffith University, the prize sponsor, and a $16,000 fee to develop the play ahead of its world premiere production as part of Queensland Theatre’s 2025 Season.

Premier of Queensland Steven Miles MP, said “Congratulations to Jordan Shea on his exceptional work, which tells a brave and powerful tale, touching on themes of politics, identity, culture and resilience.”

“It’s a story inspired by Jordan’s own multicultural journey and one that many Queenslanders will be able to relate to, given the diversity of our community.”

Malacañang Made Us is the story of the 1986 separation of two hopeful, young Filipino brothers during Ferdinand Marcos’s 21-year dictatorship and their reunion nearly 40 years on in Brisbane.

The judging panel described Malacañang Made Us as “epic in its theatricality”.

“It reads like a global and historic conversation but carries...