Arts worker, unionist and publicist, Seamus Mee, fought the good fight in the arts, politics and the union movement. He died, aged 72, from a heart attack at his home in Maryborough, Queensland in March 2026.
While his twin: theatre director, actor and academic Sean Mee, has a higher profile, Seamus’s strategic efforts offstage often made the impossible, possible.
For example, Seamus’s tactical liaison with Mt Isa Council overcame initial resistance so council bobcats literally danced and entranced audiences at the Queensland Music Festival’s Bob Cat Dancing (2003), directed by Sean and produced by Seamus.
As a producer, lighting and sound technician and publicist, Seamus worked at TN! Theatre Company, La Boite Theatre Brisbane and ToadShow Pty Ltd. As a union officer he advocated for injured journos and arts workers and ran the ‘Age is the New Black’ campaign for mature workers. In his own time, he championed the individual careers of many Queensland singers and musicians including Leah Cotterell and Megan Samardin.
Never a naysayer, Seamus moved mountains for the right causes.
Brother Sean says: ‘Seamus was the heavy lifter, the one who fought the hard fight to make things happen for people. His leadership was based on unfailing loyalty and a commitment to getting the job done with a good dose of fun.’
L to R: Cartoon of Sean and Seamus by Matt Mawson
Seamus Paul Mee and his twin Sean were born on 11 June 1953, in Jessop Hospital in Sheffield in the UK. Sean says ‘Seamus was born 30 minutes before me. I still have the imprint of his foot on my scalp as he leveraged his way out. He always claimed he was just checking things were OK, but I don’t know…’
Struggle street in Brisbane
The Mee family emigrated to Australia when the twins were babies. Perhaps growing up in a housing commission house in Carina Heights, with an upper class artist mother Sheelah Mee and a working class father Colin, meant Seamus combined a love of the arts and the finer things in life with a strong value of fighting for the underdog.
Sister Dierdre Gillen says if anyone had a problem with Sean, Seamus would defend him with great fervour. ‘This demonstrated his loyalty to those he cared about and the way he would defend anyone he felt was being poorly treated. His teamwork ethic was shown in his ability to successfully work with Sean on many projects.
‘Seamus had a healthy disrespect for authority from an early age, pretty much a family trait. However he dealt with authorities by using his charm and persuasive abilities before they even realised what had happened.’
Home, in Sean’s words, was ‘a shit fight’ as their mother dealt with culture shock and raising six children and their father processed trauma from his war service. As toddlers, the twins spent several weeks at Nazareth House orphanage in Wynnum. Through the challenges, the Mee family stayed together and when Seamus and Sean were older, life was good enough that an annual beach holiday to Pottsville was possible.
Sean says: ‘At Pottsville Seamus and I could be brothers. We walked on the beach at dusk and kicked up the phosphorescent sand with our feet before we were called in for dinner.’
The twins received the early years of their education at Saint Munchins School in Carina Heights, run by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. From Grade Four, they were enrolled in Villanova College, Coorparoo, where they completed their primary and secondary education.
Early activism against injustice
Stories abound of cruelty inflicted by some of the Augustinians at Villanova and according to a school friend, Seamus did not take it lying down. When one brother went too far while giving Seamus ‘the cuts’, Seamus said ‘Enough!’, grabbed the cane and threw it out the classroom window.
Seamus took an active part in student protests against unfair punishment administered by one brother at the school who left shortly after. This may have sown the seeds of Seamus’s union activism. Sister Dierdre says Seamus was a staunch protector of the underdog from childhood, often bringing an underfed schoolmate home for lunch.
After school, Seamus managed seismic crews in the Queensland outback for years, winning lifelong friends with his firm, fair and humorous manner with the men.
Theatre and music all-rounder
However, it was in Queensland’s arts scene that Seamus really shone. He was one of the directors of the progressive production company ToadShow and a managing producer for the Queensland Music Festival. He worked on too many productions to list but notables include The Queensland Biennial of Music, The Brisbane Festival, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo performance in Brisbane and satirical musicals: Hound of Music (1986), Sherwoodstock (1990), Phantoad of the Opera (1991) and Glamalot (1996).
The arts needs strong, capable blokes to get infrastructure happening safely. Seamus was the one driving the bobcats, gaffer-taping the set and cheerfully pushing through red tape. He was also the one sending out pithy, witty, attention-grabbing media releases promoting these arts events. The journalists loved his stories and ran them. He did these things while delivering killer one liners that made everyone feel better about whatever crisis or drama was happening.
Make ’em laugh
Seamus was a funny bloke and anyone who knew him will remember laughing a lot when he was around. He touched everyone he met because he had a way with words and a gentle knack for encouraging those around him to lift their game. He leaves a legacy of 40 years work elevating the arts and social justice.
In his final years, he took a portable speaker to the Maryborough dog park he frequented with his two little rescue dogs, Roxy and Rosie, and played an eclectic mix tape for the dogs and their human friends. His Maryborough neighbours say at night, opera music could often be heard playing at his place.
Queensland’s underground arts scene of the 80s, 90s and 2000s, brashly produced a wealth of bold, dissident theatre, political satire and exciting new music. This body of work would not have happened without Seamus Mee and people like him, making it all happen from behind the scenes.
He will be remembered for his sharp wit, high intelligence, kindness, wisdom and generosity and missed by many.
