The Silver Gull Play Award was the initiative of leading independent production company subtlenuance, which hosted the award for five years, receiving and assessing over 200 plays, and subsequently presenting the short-listed works as rehearsed staged readings. However, earlier this year, Artistic Directors Paul Gilchrist and Daniela Giorgi felt the time was right for them to pass the baton.
The Silver Gull Play Award has been sponsored since 2015 by The Buzz from Sydney and they have agreed to continue their association with this important literary award for new theatrical writing.
Artistic Director, Louise Fischer, is excited that New Theatre is to be the new home of The Silver Gull Play Award and to have secured this partnership. “I’ve always been passionate about developing new work but it is often cost-prohibitive,” says Louise, “so New Theatre is hugely grateful for The Buzz’s generosity.”
This year the total prize money for the award will be $5000. The winning playwright will receive $3000 and the remainder of the prize pool will be split evenly between the shortlisted writers.
The Silver Gull Play Award 2020 will recognise an outstanding play by a NSW-based writer that aligns with New Theatre’s commitment to producing ‘Plays With A Purpose’.
“We’ll be looking for plays that support our ethos, provoke thought and discussion about the human condition, reflect on contemporary society, and engage with the challenges that concern us all,” explains Fischer. “We want flights of imagination, buttons being pushed, and fire in the belly.”
The project will be headed by New Theatre’s Artistic Associate, Helen Tonkin, who has been involved with The Silver Gull Play Award since the start, as a member of the judging panel.
We are really looking forward to our first award night later in the year. Due to the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, no date has been set for the presentation of the short-listed finalists and announcement of the winner. As soon as the situation is clearer, we’ll be back with more details and that all-important date for your diary.
In the meantime, we want to encourage playwrights to sharpen their pens/boot up their laptops and start writing now! Deadline for submissions is midnight 31 July 2020.
Details of entry terms and conditions can be found on our website:
https://newtheatre.org.au/the-
Last years finalists and winners of The Silver Gull Play Award:
2019
I Damo by Pauline Bleach
The Deal by Kel Vance
Breathless by Deborah Mulhall
Son of Byblos by James Elazzi
Field of Vision by Joanna Erskine - winner
