Playwrighting Australia Directions

A bumper crop of news from PlayWriting Australia to share with you, including the announcement of the six plays selected to participate in this year’s National Script Workshop. Don’t miss the special offers for you to join us at two very special masterclasses in the Directionsseries in Canberra!

As always, details of these programmes and all of PlayWriting Australia’s activities can be found on our website at www.pwa.org.au.

Enjoy!

National Script Workshop 2008

Six new plays have been hand-picked from over 80 submissions from across the entire country to participate in the second National Script Workshop in Canberra this July. They are:

The Son of the Sun by Afeif Ismail Abdelrazig (WA)

One Night the Dead… by Angela Betzien (VIC)

Thomas Murray and the Upside Down River by Reg Cribb (WA)

Hypatia by Marcel Dorney (VIC)

Maestro by Peter Goldsworthy and Anna Goldsworthy (SA/VIC)

Dirtyland by Elise Hearst (VIC)

Thank-you to everyone who submitted work for consideration for the Workshop. As always, the range of submissions was of very high quality, making the task of selecting just six to go to Canberra as challenging as ever.

DIRECTIONS SERIES

We are pleased to announce details of Directions – a series of special events to coincide with the National Script Workshop to engage and inspire artists and audiences in Canberra.

Sunday 29 June

Launch celebration and 48-Hour Play Generator performances

Join PlayWriting Australia to celebrate the launch of the National Script Workshop 2008. Meet our company of over 30 of the country’s finest playwrights, directors, dramaturgs and actors.

48-Hour Play Generator

Can you make a new play in 48 hours? Four teams have taken up the challenge to write, rehearse and present a brand new 20 minute play in one weekend. Can it be done? Come and find out.

 

7.30pm

Theatre 3, Ellery Crescent, Acton

$10/$5 | Tickets available at the door

Ticket price includes a complimentary glass of Arrowfield Estate wine following the launch.

Saturday 5 – Sunday 6 July

2-day masterclasses

Active Analysis Workshop

With Egil Kipste (Head of Directing NIDA) and NIDA student directors

In his last working years, Stanislavski began exploring alternate ways of dealing with texts, rehearsals and approaches to acting. This approach has become known as Active Analysis. This workshop aims to give participants the confidence to use the insights of Active Analysis in their future theatre work.

Suitable for actors and directors

10am – 1pm Saturday, 10am – 5pm Sunday

Lecture Theatre 1, School of Music, ANU

$225 | Bookings: www.thestreet.org.au|(02) 6247 1223

SPECIAL OFFER: PlayWriting Australia e-mailing list subscribers save $25 off the cost of the Active Analysis Workshop when you book before Friday 27 June. $200 enrolment available for phone bookings only when you quote “PWA Earlybird Offer”.

How do I get my play to work?

With Francesca Smith (Director/Resident Tutor NIDA Playwrights Studio)

This weekend workshop includes practical exercises and explores issues arising from participants’ own work, focusing on clarity and structure.

Suitable for writers with some experience of writing for theatre

2pm – 5pm Saturday, 2pm – 5pm Sunday

Lecture Theatre 1, School of Music, ANU

$175 | Bookings: www.thestreet.org.au|(02) 6247 1223

SPECIAL OFFER: PlayWriting Australia e-mailing list subscribers save $25 off the cost of How Do I Get My Play To Work? when you book before Friday 27 June. $175 enrolment available for phone bookings only when you quote “PWA Earlybird Offer”.

More information

View attached Directions e-flyer or online here.

Support PlayWriting Australia

PlayWriting Australia supports Australian theatre artists to create and tell Australian stories.

As the end of the financial year and tax time approaches, why not consider making a tax-deductible donation to support PlayWriting Australia in our work to see more opportunities for Australian plays to make it onto the country’s stages? Our mission and range of programmes are vast, from grassroots outreach to major national festivals. We can’t do it without support and we thank our government, industry and philanthropic partners for their assistance.

You, too, can make a difference by making a donation to PlayWriting Australia. Help us discover tomorrow’s talented artists by creating an outreach programme that reaches deeper and further into untapped creative communities across Australia. Help us inspire young and emerging playwrights by delivering masterclasses with inspiring local and international arts leaders. Help us bridge the gap between training and industry by offering programmes for performing arts graduates.

Your donation, whether big or small, will help us ensure a vital future for Australian playwriting. Donations can be made by cheque or postal order payable to PlayWriting Australia and sent to us at PO Box 914, Newtown NSW 2042 with your contact details. All donations over $2.00 are fully tax-deductible and a receipt will be provided.

Reminder: Playwright Exchange (New Dramatists)

In conjunction with New York's famed New Dramatists, this programme awards an Australian playwright a three-week period of research and development in New York city, including theatre visits, meetings with key local industry figures and a workshop and public reading to an audience of local producers.

The closing date for entries is 5pm, Friday 20 June.

More information

Download full details and application info from the PlayWriting Australia website here.

Max Afford Playwrights’ Award

PlayWriting Australia partners with Trust as trustees for the Max Afford Estate to deliver the Max Afford Playwrights’ Award, a biennial award for young writers. The Award is open to writers between the ages of 18 and 40 and offers a cash prize of $7,500 and the opportunity for the winning play to feature at the National Play Festival.

The closing date for entries is 5.30pm, Friday 4 July.

More information

Download full details and application info here.

Congratulations: Creative Development Studio

Alana Valentine’s new play Doing Dawn was selected to participate in PlayWriting Australia’s first Creative Development Studio. Doing Dawn is a play about young adult Australian and New Zealand pilgrims who travel to the Anzac Cove site in Turkey to commemorate the landing of troops during the first world war. It will undergo three days of intensive scrutiny and practical exploration here at PlayWriting Australia’s home at Sydney’s CarriageWorks in October.

More information

Creative Development Studio sessions allow playwrights to undertake a 3-day period of intensive practical problem-solving on a new play in development. PlayWriting Australia facilitates time, space and resources for writers approaching final draft stage.

Applications for Creative Development Studio opportunities in 2009 will be invited from July.

Full details on the PlayWriting Australia website here.

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PlayWriting Australia

CarriageWorks
PO Box 914
Newtown NSW 2042

telephone
(02) 8571 9177

fax
(02) 8571 9171

email
info@pwa.org.au