2008 St Martins Playwriting Competition

[Talie Helene]

The 2008 St Martins Playwriting Competition is here! For almost 30 years, St Martins has been dedicated to developing the unique voice of emerging Australian playwrights and this proud history continues in the 2008 St Martins Playwriting Competition.

Open to any Australian playwright aged 13-30 years (13-17yrs section and 18-30yrs section), this competition boasts an impressive list of previous award winners including Angus Cerini, Lally Katz and Robert Reid. In 2008 alone, former competition winners have gone on to have
their work featured at the Malthouse Theatre, La Mama and of course as part of the St Martins own Season of New Australian work.

The winning play will receive a rehearsed reading directed by St Martins' own Artistic Director, Sarah Austin. Industry professionals and peers will be invited to see your fabulous play! Exposure like this is a very rare opportunity and getting your name out there is invaluable for your career! On occasion, previous competition winners have had their works professionally produced at St Martins as a result of winning this competition.

Industry professionals will read your work - entries will be read by professional theatre practitioners - if the person reading your script sees potential in your work, who knows what fantastic opportunities might follow? It doesn't matter whether you win or not, the support of great professional contacts and mentors is imperative for an emerging playwright to make the leap into the professional playwriting arena.

St Martins Emerging Playwrights' Studio - selected St Martins Playwriting Competition entrants who show potential (regardless of winning) may be invited to join this exclusive playwriting studio. Participants meet weekly all year to generate ideas, culminating in a
co-written work which is given its very own full production at St Martins in late 2009.

Play Readings - if StMartins see great potential in a writer's entered work, they may decide to develop it in-house at St Martins, with the possibility of a play reading to follow.

The St Martins Seal Of Approval - St Martins has a wonderful reputation in the professional arena - having your play ear-marked by St Martins as 'showing enormous potential' carries a lot of weight out there in the big bold theatre world.

Fee entry - no-one will ever put on your play if they never get a chance to read it! Get that budding masterpiece out of your bottom drawer and send it our way. With free competition entry - why not?

Dramaturgical feedback - this competition also offers a special opportunity for emerging playwrights to receive highly subsidised professional dramaturgical feedback on their work (only $50). With dramaturgical script consultations often costing over $500, this is an
opportunity that we encourage all emerging playwrights to consider as a means of greatly improving their craft.

Remember - competition closes August 15.

For more info and a competition entry form, contact St Martins:

p: 03 9867 2477
f: 03 9866 2733
e: [e-mail]
w: www.stmartinsyouth.com.au

Source: Meg Courtney, Workshop and Office Co-ordinator St Martins Youth Arts Centre

[Robert Stephenson]

I could never really financially justify spending time on this type of writing. The whole playwriting thing still seems to be a hell of a lot of sweat for not much real return. There are those who have the stamina for play writing and film writing, I'm just not one of them. Dabbled with film scripts quite a few years back, didn't like it.

[Talie Helene]

Horses for courses!!