eBULLETIN
NOVEMBER 2014
"Just after my play Disco Pigs opened in 1996 and was being picked up everywhere, I was walking over Patrick's bridge in Cork and I stopped dead still and felt absolutely terrified that I was alive and had to keep on living. The moment lasted maybe five seconds and I kept on walking. But it's a playwright's job to explore that feeling that, however many good days you may have, you are still ultimately alone and walking around in your own private universe." Enda Walsh
Kia ora <<First Name>>
The 2014 Playmarket publications have gone off to the printer today. Stage Adventures: Eight Classroom Plays and Two Verbatim Plays – which includes Verbatim by William Brandt and Miranda Harcourt, and Portraits by Stuart McKenzie and Miranda - are terrific books that will be fine additions to the Playmarket New Zealand Play Series. We also have two eBooks coming out – Best Playwriting Book Ever by Roger Hall, full of excellent advice, and Caring for Your Theatre Archives by Theatre Archives New Zealand - a practical handbook on saving theatre ephemera for future generations. These four books will be launched at the Playmarket Accolades and available online in late November but can be pre-ordered now. We will also be announcing the winner of the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award at our Accolades event being held at the Hannah Playhouse. If you’d like to attend please contact us.
We have been receiving very positive responses to the Playmarket Annual and several of these are from overseas. It is always gratifying to know that the Annual is being read and appreciated. Most importantly, to know that it is informing readers about the wonderful work of New Zealand playwrights.
There are many exciting plans afoot for overseas productions of New Zealand work and for partnerships, events, and master classes. These are occupying our time at present too.
Don’t forget to send in your Adam New Zealand Play Award entries. The judges are no doubt sharpening their metaphorical pencils in readiness to mark the submissions while they enjoy the usual huge range of content and style. It is very gratifying to note recent productions of plays that have won categories in the Adam NZ Play Award competition.
Nga mihi mahana
Murray Lynch - Director of Playmarket
PLAY SERIES
We are thrilled to announce the 2014 Play Series
STAGE ADVENTURES: EIGHT CLASSROOM PLAYS
This collection of eight wildly diverse and entertaining plays for children by Richard Finn, Holly Gooch, Philippa Werry, Mark A. Casson, Michelanne Forster, Leilani Unasa, Stephanie Matuku and Claire Ahuriri is perfectly pitched to unleash your imagination and take you on your own stage adventures. Available for pre-order here.
TWO VERBATIM PLAYS
These two verbatim plays examine the culture of violent crime, and confront us with the authentic voices of those most deeply affected.
William Brandt and Miranda Harcourt’s widely studied and performed Verbatim has been presented in prisons across New Zealand and Australia. It is based on over 40 interviews with families of offenders, families of victims and with the offenders themselves.
Stuart McKenzie and Miranda Harcourt’s Portraits tells of the rape and murder of a teenage girl in a small community. Heart-rending, it casts light on the nature of family on both sides of a terrible crime. These groundbreaking verbatim works tackle their subjects with unflinching honesty. Available for pre-order here.
BEST PLAYWRITING BOOK EVER
Roger Hall is a New Zealand theatre icon, the author of over thirty plays for adults and children, a dozen musicals and pantomimes, and numerous screenplays. In this book he shares tips and tricks that have helped him become our most successful writer for theatre and a household name.
Published as an eBook, this new and improved edition of his acclaimed guide offers a wealth of insight about breaking into the playwriting scene and finding a unique style. The book covers the principles behind crafting a winning plot, creating engaging characters, and atmosphere that will have audiences glued to their seats. A must-have for playwrights and scriptwriters alike. Available for pre-order here.
NEWS
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ARTICLES
YES MORE DRAMA
Dan Kois for Slate
Thoughts on the deep and unique pleasure of reading plays.
Read more here
I’LL DISBAND MY ROVING GANG OF THIRTY ASIAN PLAYWRIGHTS WHEN YOU STOP DOING ASIAN PLAYS IN YELLOW FACE* (*EXCEPTION: DAVID HENRY HWANG’S PLAY YELLOW FACE)
Mike Lew for HowlRound
I would posit that when it comes to writers of colour, we’re being subjected to an anthropological gaze that places our plays under the context of “ethnic work,” some kind of category apart from other new plays and judged by a separate criteria. There’s this burden of expectation that all we have in us is stories from our homeland.
Read more here
SYDNEY PLAYWRIGHT ON 'RADICAL' ART OF RADIO DRAMA
Elissa Blake for BBC News
In an era seemingly dominated by the Twitterverse and YouTube videos of cats in parachutes, writing plays for radio seems like an ancient art. But a Sydney playwright has injected new life into the medium.
Read more here
UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY OF WRITING A MUSICAL: A CONVERSATION WITH CARSON KREITZER AND MATT GOULD
Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould, creators of the new musical Lempicka, discuss their process with Polly Carl.
Read more here
SIMON STEPHENS: WHY MY CHERRY ORCHARD IS A FAILURE
Simon Stephens for The Guardian
Any English-language version of Chekhov is doomed. The nature of translation means that to think otherwise is folly.
Read more here
EVERYONE’S CREATIVE: DAVID ADJMI AND SOHO REP'S PLAYWRITING WORKSHOPS
Douglas Howe for HowlRound
It was clear from the first gathering on September 30, 2013 that this was not going to be your typical playwriting class. It was not about process, but ontology. It was specifically designed to demystify the writing process by encouraging everyone’s personal creativity.
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Image: Phillip Merry
SHORTLAND STREET WRITERS' MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMME
KATHRYN BURNETT WORKSHOPS
FINDING YOUR CREATIVE VOICE WITH ANGIE FARROW
2015 PASIFIKA INTERNSHIPS
ASB COMMUNITY TRUST PARTICIPATION FUNDING
WHEELER’S LUCK by Nigel Collins, Toby Leach and Damon Andrews.
