The RE Ross Trust Playwright's Script Development Awards: Winners 2004

Judges’ report

The RE Ross Trust Playwrights’ Script Development Awards support and foster Victoria’s theatre industry by providing support to Victorian-based writers to develop their play scripts. The annual Awards are an initiative of the RE Ross Trust and are administered by the State Library of Victoria.

This year the Awards were judged by Ben Harkin (convenor), Beverley Dunn and Daniel Keene.

Judges’ summary

Although the writing was quite varied in its strengths, the judges were impressed with the number of entries and the broad range of subject matter addressed in this year’s submissions. In particular, what was most exciting was the desire to tell stories that addressed current social issues and writing that reflected the broad cultural mix of our community.

There were a number of possible candidates for funding, and all the work submitted reinforced the need for such an award and the opportunity it affords writers to explore and fully develop their work prior to final production. The judges consider that such opportunities are vital if we are to develop the ability to tell stories that are current and socially relevant in the context of both the local and global communities.

The final choices for funding spoke with very individual voices, displayed a real sense of theatre and were compelling stories reflecting both an Australian experience and the greater human condition.

Winners

Shadow Passion by Anthony Crowley ($10,000)
An elderly terminally ill woman struggles with the pain and pointlessness of her suffering. Her upper middle class daughter, who is also her doctor, enacts a ritual of self-mutilation with her husband, a senior immigration public servant, as they grapple with their failure to conceive another child and the anguish of an earlier termination.

Into this volatile situation comes an Iraqi refugee recently released from Baxter Detention Centre, carrying his own scars of torture, guilt and self-mutilation. As the play unfolds each of the characters is brought to the precipice of their existence.

This epic play deals with many confronting contemporary themes. Euthanasia, the right to life, our treatment of asylum seekers, the pressures and deliberate obfuscation in the political arena and the many compromises of the soul and spirit that result from western society’s inward focus – these themes are all bravely dealt with in this riveting piece of bold, challenging theatre. A wonderfully potent piece of writing that greatly impressed the judges.

This first draft is a long play that will benefit from an opportunity for strong editing and further exploration of the character’s journeys in response to input from actors. In addition, the workshop will enable further development of the puppetry elements of the piece. It is through this world of dreams and stories that the audience experiences the true humanity and compassion of the writing.

Duets for Lovers and Dreamers by Sandra Long ($5200)
A series of six duets which celebrate the interaction between various human and non-human voices. A young girl contemplates the world around her and her place in it; new lovers embrace the passion of first meeting; old lovers reveal the life still within; a mother battles with her various ‘selves’; a terminally ill man communes with death; and a young woman and her deceased grandmother reflect on life and the journey ahead.

Duets for Lovers and Dreamers is a wonderfully poetic piece of writing. Gentle yet evocative, each story sensitively and imaginatively deals with an aspect of life, death and the human condition. Although having a strong textual base, the story is interpreted and performed through a combination of image, music, text and dance. This interweaving of simultaneous narratives deftly reflects the multi-faceted nature of each experience.

For all the simplicity of its stories, the multi-layered nature of the performance of this play will create a very full and complex piece of theatre. Close examination of the text with dramaturgical assistance and actors giving voice to the dialogue will enable a refinement of the script prior to the addition of the other elements through which the storytelling is brought to life.

Brother Boy by Nic Velissaris ($6700)
Brother Boy is the story of a Greek family coping with the loss of their mother to cancer. Three years after her passing the family dynamics remain irreparably damaged. While the eldest son threatens to break under the weight of family responsibility and the younger sibling vents his anger through illegal street racing, the boys’ father withdraws into himself and his memories of happier times.

Only when another loss threatens to tear the family apart do they face the emotional vacuum that their relationships have become.

A play of great warmth and humanity, Brother Boy explores the way Greek culture traditionally deals with the issues of grief and loss, and how the failure to face such issues affects the relationships within any family. The uncluttered writing and the use of direct address to the audience highlights the interpersonal dynamics of the piece, revealing the inner conflicts and hopes of the characters. Those conflicts are further exacerbated by the expectations and obstacles resulting from the characters’ cultural background.

A fairly short piece, the play could be enhanced by a deeper exploration of the interpersonal relationships within the family unit and how the family history has affected them. It would be valuable to see this piece as part of a double bill which juxtaposed different cultures or indeed another aspect of the Australian/Greek experience.

That’s a Good Question by Pauline Whyman ($4600)
Susan, an aboriginal woman in her mid thirties, was ‘stolen’ from her biological family when she was too young to remember and placed in the care of a middle-class white family. On the first anniversary of the death of her foster father, the young woman’s life takes a drastic turn. The discovery of hidden letters reveals that her foster mother has secretly been in constant contact with her biological mother, whom Susan had presumed dead for many years. As Susan begins a journey of reconnection with her culture and family she uncovers the bigotry that exists on both sides.

Although this is not a completed script, the overall vision of the play is strong and the writing and character relationships clear and focused.

Bigotry, homophobia, abuse, domestic violence, the distortion of history and destruction of culture are all tackled in this multi-layered piece, with the stakes for all characters incredibly high.

The workshop process will allow the writer to further explore and expand these issues and to reveal more of the shadowed history of the characters. The planned incorporation of a recurring dreamscape within the piece will enhance the play, taking the journey into a more spiritual and theatrical realm.

About the Winners

Anthony Crowley is a playwright, director and composer. In 2003 he won the Wal Cherry Award and Malcolm Robertson prize for his play The Frail Man which premiered this year as part of the Playbox 04 season.

Sandra Long’s work has been performed at La Mama, Next Wave, in venues across Indonesia and most recently in the LIFT festival, London. Her work with multilingual theatre includes Happy 1000 1000 Bahagia, winner of the Fringe ‘innovation of form’ award. Sandra is mother to two small children, Aaron and Lillian.

Nic Velissaris is an emerging playwright who graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2002. His play What the Umbrella Did Next won the Australian National Young Playwright's award and was presented in July 2003 at the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney. He is keen to continue developing Australian stories and Australian voices.

Pauline Whyman is a professional actor and emerging playwright who has appeared in television and theatre productions including The Secret Life of Us, Wonderlands, Stolen and Harry’s War.