Ryan Enniss announced as winner of the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2022-23 From over 200 entries for the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2022-23, and three finalists announced earlier this year, playwright Ryan Enniss has been announced as the winner with Drizzle Boy, a story about a young autistic man trying to make his way in a world filled with miscommunications, misnomers, and misunderstandings. Enniss’ work was selected ahead of fellow finalists Phoebe Grainer for Sugar Cane (previously titled Burning House) and Anthony Mullins for his work, The Norman Mailer Anecdote. Delivered through Queensland Theatre, the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award is a prestigious and important award for Australian theatre guaranteeing a professional production of the winning entry in the Company’s 2023 Season, as well as a $16,000 fee to develop their play ahead of the premiere production and a $30,000 cash prize from Queensland Premier’s Drama Award prize sponsor Griffith University. Through Drizzle Boy, Ryan directly confronts the misunderstandings and common ideas expressed in the public about neurodiverse people with a warm humour that identifies this play as uniquely Australia. Written over a period of years, Ryan mixes his own experience with the public conversation to create a tongue-in-cheek story of growth and acceptance that he hopes will grow to educate as well as entertain. “Drizzle Boy is a hopeful play. I like that out of all the difficulties of the past two years – Covid, floods, global confusion, and darkness – there is a play that reminds us that our writers can take our darkness and make light. Ryan Enniss gives us a different perspective that offers real hope for how we can evolve and become a more inclusive society,” said Queensland Theatre Artistic Director, Lee Lewis. “Ryan’s experience is centered in the play, but the world of the play is filled with all the absurdities of our fears. Ryan sees the world as the afraid, confused and angry place that it is, but he turns it into comedy not at his own expense.” Inspired by his experiences as a neurodiverse creative, Ryan Enniss hopes Drizzle Boy sparks a national conversation about the recognition and acceptance of neurodiverse people in our culture. “This play is of importance to audiences all across Australia, but particularly in Queensland where key figures have made several claims that children on the spectrum or those with a disability should be removed from classrooms. It’s my hope that Drizzle Boy brings to light the absurdity of this way of thinking in an enjoyable and heartfelt way,” said Enniss. Professor Scott Harrison, Pro Vice Chancellor of the Arts, Education and Law at Griffith University, is excited by Ennis’ celebrating the opportunity to share and elevate a unique and important point of view to the Australian public. "Griffith University recognises the importance of an inclusive and diverse community and are proud to support the winning production Drizzle Boy. To be part of a prize that provides a safe space for young artists, like Ryan, to explore different perspectives and bring them to broader audience is a wonderful opportunity and we look forward to seeing the play grace the stage in 2023," said Professor Harrison. Launched in 2002, the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award facilitated by Queensland Theatre has developed 34 new Australian plays, employed over 260 local actors, writers and directors, fostered audiences of more than 34,500 to engage with new theatre works and helped 10 captivating original works make the leap from page to stage. Previous winning works include Return to the Dirt by Steve Pirie (2020-21), The Holidays by David Megarrity (201819), Rice by Michele Lee (2016-17), Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore by Daniel Evans (2014-15), Trollop by Maxine Mellor (2012-13) and Fractions by Marcel Dorney (2010-11). Judges for the 2022-23 Awards include Co-Founder and former Artistic Director of Moogahlin Performing Arts, Frederick Copperwaite; Professor of Creative Arts at Griffith University, Dr Julian Meyrick; former Executive Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts at Australia Council, Lydia Miller; Queensland Theatre Artistic Director, Lee Lewis; and Theatre Director, Sanja Simić. The Queensland Premier’s Drama Award is an initiative of the Queensland Government, delivered in partnership with Queensland Theatre.
PREVIOUS WINNERS 2022–23 Ryan Enniss, Drizzle Boy (winner) Anthony Mullins, The Norman Mailer Anecdote (finalist) Phoebe Grainer, Sugar Cane (previously Burning House) (finalist) 2020–21 Steve Pirie, Return to the Dirt (winner) Anna Loren, Comfort (finalist) Maddie Nixon, Binnavale (finalist) 2018–19 David Megarrity, The Holidays (winner) Hannah Belanszky, don’t ask what the bird look like (finalist) Anna Yen, Slow Boat (finalist) 2016–17 Michele Lee, Rice (winner) Kathryn Marquet, Furious Creatures (finalist) Suzie Miller, I Looked Up and There You Were (finalist) 2014–15 Daniel Evans, Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (winner) Tim Benzie, The Overflow (finalist) Megan Shorey, One in Seven (finalist) 2012–13 Maxine Mellor, Trollop (winner) Stephen Carleton, Bastard Territory (finalist) David Megarrity (for The Human Company), The Empty City (finalist) 2010–11 Marcel Dorney, Fractions (winner) Rebecca Clarke, Belongings (finalist) Philip Dean, Unreliable Bodies (finalist) 2008–09 Richard Jordan, 25 Down (winner) Katherine Lyall-Watson, Tinder (finalist) Sven Swenson, Dangerfield Park (finalist) 2006–07 David Brown, The Estimator (winner) Anthony Funnell, The Tram (finalist) Michael Riordan, String (finalist) 2004–05 Adam Grossetti, Mano Nera (winner) Stephen Carleton, Constance Drinkwater and the Last Days of Somerset (finalist) Philip Chappell, Welcome to Dreamland (finalist) 2002–03 Sven Swenson, Road to the She-Devil’s Salon (winner) Kathryn Ash, Flutter (finalist) Bruce Clark, The Kaufman Letter (finalist) Simon Ratcliffe, Conurb (finalist) Hugh Watson, The Valley (finalist) Gayle Wilkinson, Goat Head Burs (finalist)