Esther Dougherty is a playwright and director from Magandjin (Brisbane). Since graduating a BFA Drama at QUT they have written and independently produced four original plays, The Moon Men (2015), Pawpaw Dog & Other Dog (2021), Slippery (2022) and Zagazig (2023).

In 2022 Esther’s play Pawpaw Dog & Other Dog was published by Playlab Theatre. In 2025, Esther’s play Slippery was nominated for three Matilda Awards (Best Costume, Best Ensemble, and The Lord Mayor’s Award for Best New Australian Work).

Esther’s practice orbits weirdness and queerness, with interests in narrative driven work, experimental design for stage, collaborative methodologies, and community building. They run their own theatre company, Curtain World, and perform in drag as Small Paul. They graduated a Masters of Fine Arts (Directing) at NIDA in June of 2026. They recently presented their NIDA graduate work, a production of Timothy Conigrave’s Like Stars In My Hands.