THE PLAYMARKET eBULLETIN - JUNE 2019
News and opportunities for New Zealand Playwrights.

eBULLETIN

JUNE 2019

Courtney Rose Brown (via video message) wins the 2019 Playwrights b4 25 competition.

Kia ora <<First Name>>

We held our annual event for the Playwrights b4 25 Competition at The Herald Theatre in Auckland last week. This is the fifth time we have partnered with Auckland Live to present scenes from shortlisted plays and announce the winner. Congratulations to Courtney Rose Brown. It was an excellent evening and it is so encouraging to mingle with so many younger playwrights who are creating excellent plays.

Good news for the recognition of playwriting and theatre generally was the announcement of Roger Hall being awarded Knight Companion of the Order of New Zealand Merit in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Congratulations to Roger who has been a staunch supporter of other NZ playwrights and of increasing the profile of theatre in this country.

Not such good news, but terrific to have a survey completed on the topic, is the Creative New Zealand/ NZ On Air report on artists’ earnings. It is an important and useful provocation of what all artists’ are already aware - incomes are too low. You can find full information on this report in our articles section below.

A couple of weeks ago Playmarket published our 2018 annual report on New Zealand playwriting on our stages. It is exciting to know the percentage of New Zealand work being produced is high and the number of works by Māori, Pasifika and Asian playwrights, and work by women has grown. Hopefully this representation will continue to increase and develop in all theatres, however, great strides have been taken since we first began collating these figures in 2010.

The new website is refusing to be ready yet - tweaks and bugs are still being dealt with. I apologise to those who are waiting for new titles to be available on their webpages. If you’ve received a note to update your photo - or if you want to do that anyway - please supply us with a new pic (they will be much more prominent on the new site).

Salesi was away from his desk to perform in the Pop-Up Globe Summer season and was back on deck for a mere few weeks before he went off again to the Pop-Up Globe national tour. Shane Bosher will be at Salesi’s desk in the office during Sal’s extended leave. It’s all going to be ok because they both wear black and are both very up with the play and very skilled. Virtually interchangeable! Seriously though, welcome to Shane and chookas to Salesi for the tour.

Applications are of course open for submission of Plays for the Young scripts (due by 1 August). This is one of our favourite script reading times and I look forward to a bumper crop to match the increase in submissions to our first two competitions this year.

Ngā mihi mahana
Murray Lynch - Director of Playmarket

NEWS

PLAYWRIGHTS b4 25
We are thrilled to announce the winning playwright for 2019: Courtney Rose Brown for Breathless.

A wedding throws a family already under strain from grief into crisis - from which they find a way to survive. Breathless explores the importance of family, connection and love.

Congratulations to Courtney and to all our other finalists. Thanks to Auckland Live for awarding $1500 to Courtney towards developing an idea for a new work.

CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Roger Hall who was named as Knight Companion of the Order of New Zealand Merit for service to theatre. You can read Sir Roger's citation here.

Congratulations to Gavin McGibbon who has received one of the $10,000 Seed Grants from NZWG and NZ Film Commission to enable him to work on his new film script, Old Hand.

WEBINAR
The final webinar of the 2019 International Webinars for Theatre Creators Series featured Delaware-Canadian playwright Daniel David Moses, and New Zealand playwright Gary Henderson discussing what gives a play longevity or relevance over time. A recording of the webinar is available here.
The 2019 International Webinar Series was a collaboration between Playwrights Guild of Canada, Playmarket New Zealand, Playwriting Australia, and Playwrights Studio, Scotland.

KIA MAU FESTIVAL 1 - 15 JUNE 2019
Kia Mau Festival is returning to Wellington for 2019!
From 01-15 June 2019, theatre and dance will be performed by Māori, Pasifika, and Indigenous artists and their companies from across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa and the globe.
Artists, whānau, friends, communities, and audiences are invited to join in sharing contemporary performance and knowledge from an Indigenous worldview.
See their website here for more details.

BREAKING GROUND FESTIVAL 13 - 15 JUNE 2019

6.30PM & 1PM
Rehearsed Readings | Free Entry

Breaking Ground is a festival of ideas and of new writing for theatre. Calling together Māori, Pasifika, and global Indigenous playwrights, Breaking Ground develops new playscripts – reimagining storytelling for the stage.

Ōtautahi playwright Hōhepa Waitoa (He Kura E Huna Ana) is developing his new play Henare, a work inspired by the life and compositions of acclaimed Ngāti Porou composer Henare Waitoa. Hōhepa is joined by celebrated poet and playwright, Apirana Taylor, who takes on the role of dramaturg for Breaking Ground.

The multi-talented actor and playwright Kiki Rivera (Puzzy) is travelling from Honolulu, Hawai’i, to join Breaking Ground 2019. Kiki is only the second playwright from Hawai’i to present in Breaking Ground – playwright Tammy Haili’ōpua Baker was the first in 2017. Kiki is working alongside Sydney-based director and dramaturg Dr. Liza-Mare Syron.

Māori and Pasifika writers’ collective, Maranga Mai, also returns to Breaking Ground in 2019. Featuring women from throughout Wellington, Maranga Mai presents new work from new writers refining their craft. Created to support mothers, community leaders, tertiary students, and full time workers, who at nights and in weekends, are also committed writers. Featuring dramaturgy by multi-award winning writers Whiti Hereaka and Mīria George.
See here for more details.

2018 PLAYMARKET ANNUAL
Free to all subscribers, clients and associates and friends. If you'd like a copy just email us here.

OPPORTUNITIES

PLAYS FOR THE YOUNG COMPETITION 
We're searching for the best new plays to inspire and excite young audiences.  Let your imagination run riot! It could be an original story or an adaptation of a classic tale, hilarious or heartfelt. It could be a play for adults to perform to children or a play for young actors to perform themselves.  We’re also keen to read any work created specifically for the classroom, whether by teachers or students themselves.  There are three categories.
 Plays written for:

3 - 8 year-olds
8 - 12 year-olds
teenagers

See our website here for more details. 
Submissions close 1 August 2019

ŌTEPOTI PLAYWRIGHTS' PROGRAMME
The Ōtepoti Playwrights’ Programme is now open to three new and emerging local playwrights (18 years +) who are paired with a dramaturg to support them in the development of a playscript. A combination of individualised support and collaborative lab sessions, playwrights will have their script developed with a professional director and actors across 2019, followed by a public reading.
See here for more information:
Submissions close 7 June 2019

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & BUSINESS SKILLS SEMINAR PROGRAMME FOR ARTISTS
Toi Poneke, Wellington, 5 June – 10 July
Professional Development: These seminars are aimed at graduates and emerging artists practitioners.
12 June - Project Planning and Writing Proposals
26 June - Negotiating Contracts

Business Skills – upskilling: These seminars are aimed at more established arts practitioners.
5 June - Business Structure & Tax Know How
3 July - Entrepreneurial Thinking
10 July - Accounting & Budgeting Essentials

$20 per seminar
See the Facebook page here for more information.

LET’S GET WRITING WORKSHOP WITH KATHRYN BURNETT
Auckland 15 June 2019
This workshop includes two separate sessions - and you can choose to come to one or choose to come to both.
In the morning session (9.30-12.30pm), you'll generate ideas, test and expand your favourite story idea in an interactive Idea Clinic. In the afternoon (1.30 - 4.30pm) you'll take your ace idea and spend the afternoon plotting your story!
See here for more information.

WRITING MUSICAL THEATRE LIBRETTO WITH
CASSANDRA TSE
Wellington, Saturday 29 June 2019
This one-day workshop is aimed at introducing writers to the musical theatre form, and helping musical theatre writers develop their skillset, with a combination of text analysis and practical exercises. Writers with a current musical theatre project in development are encouraged to participate, but this is not a requirement for the course; librettists who also compose music for their works are welcome, as are librettists who work with musical collaborators.
Lunch and morning tea will be provided. This workshop is limited to 20 participants.
$80 per participant, or $60 for students, Playmarket clients and Wellington Footlights members.
See here for more information.

ARTICLES

ROGER HALL'S KNIGHTHOOD WRITES A NEW CHAPTER FOR NZ THEATRE
Dionne Christian for NZ Herald
In a career spanning 50 years, Roger Hall has written around 46 plays and pantomimes and played a key role in the development of New Zealand theatre.
Read more here

A TRIUMPH OF PERFORMATIVE EXPERIMENTATION
David O’Donnell for The Theatre Times
Celebrating 30 years of Wellington’s iconic BATS Theatre.
Read more here

AT HOME WITH A DUNEDIN THEATRE COUPLE
A brief profile of playwright Abby Howells and director Alex Wilson.
Read more here

RESEARCH REFLECTS SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES OF MAKING A LIVING AS A CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL IN AOTEAROA
New research by Creative New Zealand and NZ On Air is the first of its kind in almost 20 years, asking close to 1,500 people working in creative professions questions about their income, training, means of support and wellbeing to better understand barriers to sustaining a creative career.
Read more here

AUSTRALIAN PLAYS: OUR LOST CANONS
Robert Reid for Witness
‘We cannot keep pulling up the past behind us as we go’: Robert Reid on the rolling cultural disaster of unpublished Australian plays
Read more here

WRITING AT RISK OF BECOMING AN 'ELITIST' PROFESSION, REPORT WARNS
Alison Flood for The Guardian
Though the average writer earns £10,000 a year, mean household earnings are more than £81,000 – a result bestselling author Kit de Waal calls problematic
Read more here

QUI NGUYEN IS TELLING THE STORY OF ASIAN AMERICA
Diep Tran for American Theatre
Qui Nguen’s plays Vietgone and Poor Yella Rednecks subvert the Asian-as-foreigner trope to tell a distinctly American story.
Read more here

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHTS, ACTORS, AND DIRECTORS RADICALLY RESHAPING BROADWAY
Adam Green for Vogue
A rush of new productions written and directed by artists with a distinctly downtown sensibility are reshaping the Broadway landscape.
Read more here

WHAT'S ON?

Ladies Night
by Stephen Sinclair and Anthony McCarten
Australian Tour 28 May – 22 June 2019
The story of four unemployed guys, motivated by The Chippendales to form a male stripping act, in order to make some fast cash. They pitch the notion to a local club owner and take lessons from a slightly shop-worn, dance instructor with a heart-of-gold in all manner of things, including what women really want from a male stripper (and how to deliver it).

Shortland Street The Musical
Book by Guy Langford and Simon Bennett, music & lyrics by Guy Langford
Centrepoint Theatre 1 – 30 June 2018
Doctors commit adultery, teenagers get struck by lightning, a whole bus full of rugby players might perish… and is that really a picture of Harry’s p#$@%!? Featuring Dr. Ropata and Dr. Chris Warner plus a cast of car jackers, money launderers, addicts, arsonists, killers and ACT voters.

Heat
by Lynda Chanwai-Earle
Basement Theatre 4 – 8 June 2019
Isolated at the bottom of the world, married scientists John and Stella find themselves wrestling with more than the harsh and unforgiving climate. As they share their hut with an unexpected roommate, they discover that they can no longer stay frozen in the past. In this surreal play by Lynda Chanwai-Earle, you’ll find out if one penguin can save a marriage.

Pakaru
by Mitch Tawhi Thomas
Hāpai Productions at Kia Mau Festival BATS 4 - 8 June 2019
Jess, a solo mother, is trying to survive on the breadline. Burdened by bills, social welfare, and a small pay packet, she faces huge expectations and two teenage twins eager to explore the world without her. While battling to provide a life for her family with dignity, she decides it is time to think about herself for a change and meets Tahi online.

Over my Dead Body: Little Black Bitch
by Jason Te Mete
Kia Mau Festival BATS 4 - 8 June 2019 & Basement Theatre 2 - 6 July 2019
When Matiu took his own life, his little dog Toto took off with the suicide note. The whole community has been turned upside down. When the dog turns up outside Rangi’s window he knows he must help. He must adopt her - whāngai - and he must protect and hide her. But as he feeds her, his tōtō (blood) begins to run deeper and darker than ever before.

What Have You Become?
by Bala Murali Shingade
Proudly Asian Theatre at The Basement 5 June 2019
The surprise arrival of their grandparents forces a dysfunctional Indian New Zealand family to front an image painted by expectation - that of a normal, happy Indian family. In the ensuing weekend chaos, secrets are spilled, relationships are broken and true identities are revealed. A Fresh Off the Page reading.

Au Ko Tuvalu
by Tavita Nielsen-Mamea
Kia Mau Festival 6 - 8 June 2019
God Promised Noah that he would never flood the earth again. Now the land lays barren, the water polluted, food scarce and the future dim. Three siblings must abandon their homeland to survive. Does hope lie across the sea, with the promise of a new life... In lands which they must call “home” but can never call their own.

Ka Tito Au
by Apirana Taylor
Kia Mau Festival various venues 6 - 12 June 2019
Kupe, the great Pacific explorer and navigator, is the hero of this solo show by renowned poet and storyteller Apirana Taylor. Legend has it that Kupe discovered Aotearoa after pursuing Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, a giant octopus that was endangering his people’s fishing grounds in the Pacific. This is an enchanting tale of Kupe’s many exploits.

Cellfish
by Rob Mokaraka, Miriama McDowell and Jason Te Kare
Taki Rua National Tour 6 – 22 June 2019
Eight counts unlawful entry using imagination, four counts possession and cultivation of Shakespeare, and one count dangerous operation of a voice class. Hardened inmates come face to face with a whole new nightmare: Shakespeare classes with Miss Lucy! Some are looking to improve their parole chances, others want to kill some time and one just wants to kill.

Maniac on the Dance Floor
by Natasha Lay
Basement Theatre 11 - 15 June 2019
A comedy, dance and lip sync extravaganza about bipolar disorder; MANIAC is a bangers-fuelled, hour-long rave making a song and dance about recovery. Shortlisted for 2018’s Playwrights b4 25 competition and based on lived experience, Natasha Lay's story is a lesson in burning calories, burning bridges and burning out.

An Unseasonable Fall of Snow
by Gary Henderson
Simple Truth Theatre at The Pumphouse 22 June 2019
A bewildered young man is questioned by a ruthless interrogator, who circles like a predator, forcing him closer and closer to an awful admission. A compelling investigation of truth, consequences, and the ultimate value of human life.

Astroman
by Albert Belz
Finborough Theatre, London, UK 27 June 2019
New Zealand in 1983 and it’s on like Donkey Kong! ‘Jimmy’ Te Rehua is the king of the Whakatāne Astrocade Amusement Parlour. But while there’s no limit to his domination of the video arcade and the Pac-Man high-score charts, this Māori boy genius hasn’t yet worked out how to beat the game of life.

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