Craig Thaine has been writing since 1980 when his first work, a children’s play, Gruzzlefummit! (1980), was produced at Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North. Stagger (1981), his first full length play, was also produced at Centrepoint.

From May 1981 until June 1982, Craig worked as a playwright-in-residence at The New Zealand Drama School. His time there resulted in Today’s Bay (1982), written for the 1981-82 student intake. During the early eighties, Craig wrote two plays for Radio New Zealand, Woolf ‘n Stone (1982) and Only When It Hurts (1983), and his stage play New Day In The Valley was workshopped at the 1982 Playwrights’ Conference.

In the eighties, Craig lived in Egypt, England, Italy and Sweden. During this time, he completed Body Dreams (1985), Ponte Vecchio (1987), written with the assistance of a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Bursary, and Digging For Europe (1989).

Since returning to New Zealand at the end of 1991, Craig has lived in Auckland and continued writing for the stage, television and radio. In the mid-nineties, he wrote for Shortland Street for just over a year. His 1998 play, Retro, was performed as part of the Young & Hungry Season at Bats Theatre, Wellington in 1989.

His most recent work for theatre was Telling Stories produced at Circa Theatre, Wellington, in 2003. His most recent work for radio is Piccole Storie (2007) previously given a public reading by Auckland Theatre Company under the title The Italian Album.