Supports the creative development of a play by an emerging South Australian writer with the support of the State Theatre Company of South Australia. The play can be from a broad range of theatrical genres including musicals, works for children and youth and cross-artform collaborations.
Prize: $10,000
7 nominations – Judges: Adam Cook, Caroline Mignone, Michael Hill, Terry Crawford
Winner
This Place by Nina Pearce
This Place is an intelligent play showing great clarity and richness. Eliza, a manic depressive, and Olivia, an artist, are two highly sensitive characters who share a relationship with Dr Gareth Hume, one his patient, the other his wife. This Place is an ambitious and inventive script and proof of Nina’s potential as a clever and sensitive playwright. Nina is ripe for this opportunity. Her writing is exciting, courageous and passionate and touches on an issue all too often thought of as taboo. Nina has used her own experiences as a patient and placed her illness in the context of a wider drama, displaying great maturity and showing evidence of burgeoning talent as a writer. Nina is dedicated to her vision of the process of creative development and her don’t tell me, show me mantra shows her commitment to a hands on approach to her craft. This Place is sensitive and brave and will propel Nina into the next chapter in her long life as an important South Australian playwright.
Shortlisted
The Embryos by Alan Grace
The judges agreed that Alan Grace’s The Embryos is an interesting and engaging script. It has it all – love, religion, humour – all the drama of a strong contemporary Australian play. It grasps at the real. The characters are genuine and the dialogue substantial. Alan writes in a clear and individual style with the resulting work evoking strong imagery with lovely distinct voices. It will sustain interest with its energy and vitality.
And Burn My Shadow by Duncan Graham
The judging panel considers And Burn My Shadow to be a courageous theatrical and poetic triptych of meditation on erotic love, aging and death. Three couples of different ages struggle with the end point of a love affair, each one culminating in a death. The vulnerability, suffering and tenderness of each relationship is magnified by the impending death, drawing out the cruelty and compassion of each person. Duncan deliberately take’s himself out his comfort zone with this ambitious and inventive script which will captivate it’s audiences with an intriguing sense of the mysterious.
