2014 playwriting australia
we seek, develop and champion new australian stories for the stage
Winyanboga Yurringa by Andrea James, from left Kylie Farmer, Lynette Narkle, Miranda Tapsell, Rae Johnston, Ursula Yovich, Elaine Crombie (photo Lisa Saad)
welcome
Welcome to Playwriting Australia’s 2014 program
For seven years now, Playwriting Australia has been the national leader in the development of new plays. We seek out work of uncommon promise from writers of singular vision and interrogate, pummel, promote and celebrate its potential. Our aim is clear: to ensure the quality of work on Australia’s stages is the very best it can be. I passionately believe that playwrights imagine the world anew for us. But vivid ideas alone don’t make a great play. Playwriting Australia’s extensive development models surround writers with the opportunity to push at the boundaries of their craft. Our National Script Workshops are one of the very few places writers can become fully immersed in their play, and around 70% of the scripts developed go on to receive full productions. Exceptional new plays aren’t made by writers in isolation and in 2014 we further our commitment to nurturing artists who work alongside playwrights with the expansion of our dramaturgy programs and the launch of our new directors’ course. We acknowledge there is still so much to be done to create a playwriting culture that reflects the Australia we live in. We start building a long-term diversity program, focusing in 2014 on Indigenous dramaturgy and training a new generation of Asian Australian writers. In June, Sydney will host a National Play Festival that reflects all these bold intentions, overflowing with inspiring new plays and provocative conversations. This year Playwriting Australia will employ its 1000th artist, and each one has made an invaluable contribution to building a legacy of Australian plays that is dynamic, invigorating, challenging and entertaining. As Playwriting Australia enters a new phase, we look to the future: to the wealth of stories we want to see produced; to the vast range of voices currently absent from our stages; to a fusion of craft and vision equal to anywhere in the world; to a society where our playwrights are cultural beacons. Take this program as the next stage in a mission to seismically change Australian playwriting within a generation. I hope you’ll find plenty in this program to inspire you. Tim Roseman Artistic Director
national script workshops
National Script Workshop 2013
cultivating excellence
cultivating excellence More info
The National Script Workshop sits at the heart of Playwriting Australia’s mission: writers collaborating with directors, dramaturgs and actors to improve the quality of new plays. Plays aren’t written, they’re wrought. The National Script Workshop is a flexible, writer-led process that is invariably revelatory. An early draft of a new play is explored and evolved with a focus on ambition, imagination and craft.
Submission closing dates 3 Feb
All playwrights
21 Mar
RE Ross Trust Award Vic playwrights
26 May Max Afford Award All playwrights 11 July
In 2014, we will offer more workshops than ever: Three open national submission opportunities, including the Max Afford Playwrights Award A workshop for writers from diverse cultural backgrounds including Indigenous playwrights A new Western Australian script development program and the RE Ross Trust Award in Victoria Re-Gen workshops for unproduced emerging playwrights Short Rapid Fire Sessions to give playwrights the chance to hear their script and receive immediate feedback.
All playwrights WA playwrights Theatre companies
Where Sydney Perth When March August October November Website www.pwa.org.au/workshop
pwa lab
Director, dramaturg, playwright: Leah Purcell (photo Lisa Saad)
a brand new opportunity for exploration Playwrights have an essential role to play in all kinds of performance. The PWA Lab will be a new workshop encouraging artists to examine the possibilities of including playwrights in innovative processes, aiming to bring the unique skills of a writer to an ever-widening theatre-making practice. This might mean established writers experimenting with new forms or genres; cross-artform collaborations with artists working in other disciplines; adding writers into devising ensembles; or creative teams looking to explore a new idea or working methods. We’ll be inviting proposals from artists, collectives and companies with a desire to workshop a new idea, a new partnership or a new form. Proposals must have a writer involved and include details of other creative team members attached to the project.
More info Application closing date 30 April When August November Website www.pwa.org.au/pwa-lab
national play festival 12-15 June 2014 Carriageworks, Sydney A celebration of richness and imagination, the National Play Festival is a glorious palette of new Australian stories. Curated from work developed through Playwriting Australia’s core programs, the Play Festival is an explosion of unseen invention for industry and audiences. Showcase: Over four days in Carriageworks we present public readings of a selection of the most dynamic new plays in Australia from our leading artists and freshest new voices. Public Forums: We ignite the National Play Festival with a provocative exploration of the purpose of art in our wider society and the role of the writer in inventing new lenses to view the world. Writers’ Program: This year playwrights are invited to bespoke sessions to discover new frontiers in craft and ambition. Industry Program: The Play Festival remains a key annual gathering of creatives and producers working with new writing from around the country. The 2014 National Play Festival is presented in partnership with Carriageworks. The full program will be announced in late April. Read more at www.pwa.org.au/nationalplayfestival2014
Playwright Dan Lee (photo Lisa Saad)
creatives academy Playwright Angela Betzien and director Leticia Caceres (Photo Stephen Henry)
We lead the industry in our support for those working with new writing, filling a skills gap found in both training and professional environments through a series of programs for creatives.
Directors Studio A new six-day course for emerging artists on the particular dynamic of directing new plays. Led by many of Australia’s most celebrated playwrights, directors, dramaturgs and artistic directors, the program will investigate the writer’s process and how best to serve it in production. Participants will gain tools for creative development, vocabulary for production, and techniques for working with text to implement and enhance a writer’s vision.
Dramaturgy Our six-month Dramaturgy Internship provides training in script assessment, playwright feedback, creative development and programming. This highly successful program will be led in Sydney by Playwriting Australia’s Artistic Director, Tim Roseman, and this year we partner with Melbourne Theatre Company and their Literary Director, Chris Mead, to launch a new Victorian intake. In 2014 we will also offer a series of advanced sessions for more senior artists across the sector to continue to build dramaturgical skills and practice, and devote a significant portion of our research and development to the dramaturgy of Indigenous new plays.
More info Directors Studio Where Sydney When 3-8 November
Dramaturgy Internships Application closing date 24 March Sydney artists Where Sydney Melbourne When April - November
Website www.pwa.org.au/creatives
diversity The new plays on our stages must reflect the Australia we live in. Too much theatre feels familiar and narrow and we must think boldly and creatively about who writes our stories. One of Playwriting Australia’s key aims is to cast the widest net to discover and nurture new playwrights whose voices we don’t often hear. To do this, we work with schools, community groups and cultural organisations on a series of training and mentorship programs. In 2014 we have a particular focus on Indigenous dramaturgy and Asian-Australian playwright training. We also prioritise diversity in the National Script Workshops and in our research and development work. This is a long road. Our goal is a theatre that captures the experiences of all Australians within a generation. Read more at www.pwa.org.au/diversity
More info Lotus Asian-Australian Playwriting Project Working across three states in an ambitious new partnership with Performance 4a, we are creating a groundswell in contemporary Asian-Australian playwriting, inspiring the freshest artistic voices to write new plays. We’ll be holding free playwriting workshops in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne for Asian-Australian writers, theatre-makers and performers interested in learning how to get their stories on stage.
Where Sydney Brisbane Melbourne When March-December Website www.pwa.org.au/lotus-playwriting
leaving no stone unturned
to find the best stories PWA Outreach Coordinator, Teik-Kim Pok
national travel grants Our travel funds connect the country. Grants are open to individual artists, small to medium theatre companies, regional producers and venues as a way to encourage playwrights to find new ways to collaborate and wider audiences for their work.
More info State Exchange Facilitating national careers for Australian playwrights, State Exchange provides up to $2,000 for artists at all stages of their careers working on a new play across state borders.
Erin Thomas Playwright Fund This new fund has been established in memory of playwright Erin Thomas and provides travel bursaries for emerging playwrights residing outside major cities to participate in our programs or attend other career development opportunities or events.
State Exchange Application closing dates 8 January 16 June Website www.pwa.org.au/state-exchange
Erin Thomas Playwright Fund When Year-round applications Website www.pwa.org.au/erin-thomas
Playwright Erin Thomas (photo Thomas Family)
advocacy We connect all levels of the industry in a conversation about the role of playwrights in the Australian cultural landscape. To represent playwriting nationally in 2014, Playwriting Australia will hold a series of national playwright consultations to share ideas, information and find solutions to industry-wide questions. These conversations will be as much about art as mechanics, and we will create room in our program to respond to the issues raised. We play a critical role in advocating for playwrights and play development throughout Australia, including: Presence at major industry events, conferences and sector-wide meetings Maintaining a network of PWA Advocates to act as a contact point for local artists Working with companies to encourage investment in new plays and playwright development Script sharing and promotion, nationally and internationally Lending our expertise to assessment, programming or selection panels.
Stay up to date, subscribe to our e-news www.pwa.org.au/subscribe
the chain play
National Play Festival 2008
One of the most ambitious projects we've ever created to support our vital work: a celebrity gala crammed full of what Playwriting Australia does best, filling stages with the greatest Australian voices. A chain of Australia's most exciting and vivacious playwrights each write a scene of a brand new play. They pass the script on for the next writer to take forward in their own unique style. Performed for one night only by the cream of Sydney's actors, the Chain Play promises to be a raucous and delicious night of hilarity, surprise and invention. Tickets will go on sale in August. Contact amanda@pwa.org.au if you would like to sponsor a scene of this play.
More info Where Sydney When October Website www.pwa.org.au/chain-play
pwa supported plays on stage in 2014 jan
Flood by Chris Isaacs (WA) Black Swan Theatre Company Perth, 17 January - 2 February Re-Gen WA National Play Festival 2013
mar
This Year’s Ashes by Jane Bodie (NSW) Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre Melbourne, 19 March - 19 April Commissioned by PWA + Griffin Theatre Co National Script Workshops 2011 Wulamanayuwi and the Seven Pamanui by Jason de Santis (NT) National Tour, March - June State Exchange 2009 National Script Workshop 2010
apr feb
The Night Guardian by Jessica Messenger (WA) Blue Room Theatre & PICA Perth, 4 - 8 February Re-Gen WA 2012 Re-Gen WA National Play Festival 2013 Jump for Jordan by Donna Abela (NSW) Griffin Theatre Company Sydney, 14 February - 29 March Creative Development Studio 2013
may
Music by Jane Bodie (NSW) Griffin Independent, Stories Like These Sydney, 2 - 26 April National Play Festival 2011 Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography by Declan Greene (Vic) Griffin Theatre Company Sydney, 2 May - 14 June Perth Theatre Company Perth, 2 - 12 July National Script Workshop 2012 National Play Festival 2013
jun
Bastard Territory by Stephen Carleton (Qld) JUTE Theatre Company Cairns, 6 - 21 June National Play Festival 2011
The House on the Lake by Aidan Fennessy (Vic) Black Swan State Theatre Company Perth, 6 - 22 June National Script Workshops 2013 M. Rock by Lachlan Philpott (NSW) atyp and Sydney Theatre Company Sydney, 12 - 28 June National Play Festival 2013 Every Second by Vanessa Bates (NSW) Darlinghurst Theatre Company Sydney, 27 June - 27 July National Play Festival 2012
jul
Big Baby: Boss of the World by Van Badham (Vic) Terrapin Puppet Theatre Tasmanian Tour, 4 - 16 July State Exchange 2013 Pale Blue Dot by Kathryn Marquet (Qld) La Boite Theatre Company 19 July - 9 August State Exchange 2013
aug
Unholy Ghosts by Campion Decent (Vic) Griffin Indie & White Box Theatre Sydney, 27 August - 20 September Creative Development Studio 2011 Therese Raquin by Gary Abrahams (Vic) TheatreWorks, Melbourne 14 - 30 August National Play Festival 2012
sep
Kryptonite by Sue Smith (NSW) Sydney Theatre Company Sydney, 11 September - 18 October State Theatre Company of South Australia Adelaide, 22 October - 9 November Commissioned by PWA + Sydney Theatre Co
support us Our essential work with Australian playwrights can only happen with the support of extraordinary people. We invite you to invest directly in the creation and development of new plays through co-commissions and script workshops as well as specialised outreach programs to find and nurture a new generation of great Australian playwrights.
Whether you give a little or a lot, you are helping support our greatest talent and creating a cultural legacy of Australian theatre.
Find out more: www.pwa.org.au/info-for-donors
With grateful thanks to our 2013 donors Andrew Bovell Bruce Meagher Peter Wilson
Joanna Davidson & Julian Leeser Joanna Murray-Smith Deanne Weir
Playwrights Syndicate - Betty Burstall Commission Hilary Bell Andrew Bovell Patricia Cornelius Tom Holloway Suzie Miller Kate Mulvaney Melissa Reeves Rob Reid John Romeril Erin Thomas Fund James Beach Bridget Bantick Jackie Hartley James Doumani Chris Williams
Patricia Anne Clegg Fenella Kernebone
Perth Patrons, National Play Festival 2013 John Aitken Vivienne Glance Jennifer Grove
Rhonda McIver Desmond Sweeney
Finegan Kruckemeyer Joanna Murray-Smith David Williamson
Lynne Beach Zan Rowe
Susan Daly Judith Salonga
Janet Holmes Ă Court AC
Playwriting Australia is a not-for-profit organisation endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient. All donations over $2 are fully tax-deductible.
Performer and playwright, Will O’Mahony (photo Lisa Saad)
with thanks
our team Staff
Board
Artistic Director Tim Roseman
Peter Wilson (Chair) Managing Director, Greenhill Australia
Artistic Associate Jane Bodie
Andrew Bovell Playwright
General Manager Amanda Macri
Tom Gutteridge Artistic Director, Union House Theatre
Associate Producer Alice Poujois
Julian Leeser Director, Government, Policy & Strategy, Australian Catholic University
Outreach Coordinator Teik-Kim Pok
Special thanks to the army of script readers, state advocates and interns who keep Playwriting Australia moving
Rachael Maza Artistic Director, Ilbijerri Theatre Company Bruce Meagher Director of Strategy and Communications, Foxtel Joanna Murray-Smith Playwright Desmond Sweeney Lawyer
Deanne Weir Media executive & philanthropist, Deputy Chair, Screen Australia
our partners Playwriting Australia is recognised as a Key Organisation by the Australia Council for the Arts’ Theatre and Literature sections and receives core funding from the state governments of New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia
We also gratefully acknowledge additional financial support from: Copyright Agency Limited Cultural Fund Creative Partnerships Australia The Ian Potter Foundation The Max Afford Playwrights’ Award Perpetual Trustees and the Estate of the Late James Simpson Love The RE Ross Trust Playwrights' Script Development Award Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Trust The WeirAnderson Foundation
key dates 2014 jan
State Exchange 8 Jan application closing date
feb
National Script Workshops 3 Feb submission closing date
mar
Creatives Academy Dramaturgy Interns Sydney 24 Mar application closing date RE Ross Trust Award 21 Mar submission closing date
apr
PWA Lab 30 Apr application closing date
may
Max Afford Award 26 May submission closing date
jun
National Play Festival 12-15 Jun, Sydney
jul oct nov
State Exchange 16 Jun application closing date
www.pwa.org.au
National Script Workshops 11 Jul submission closing date
join the conversation
The Chain Play Sydney Creatives Academy Directors Studio 3-8 Nov, Sydney
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