2023
NeW PLAY AWARD
Co-Artistic Directors Mark Barford, Connor Delves and Jillian Geurts announce
Sally Alrich-Smythe the winner of the 2023 New Play Award for "Wavelength".
Wendy Mocke was named runner-up for "REALish".
Sponsored by Shane & Cathryn Brennan
“Wavelength” by Sally Alrich-Smythe - WINNER
As winner, Sally Alrich-Smythe will receive $7500.00 USD, developmental support and a staged reading of “Wavelength” in the 2023 festival in NYC.
“Wavelength” - Georgia and Marcus, best friends and coworkers at a right-leaning radio station, confront a sexual assault allegation. Using spoken word poetry, the play delves into questions of consent and blame as Georgia, navigating her own past trauma, takes a stand to support the victim, sacrificing her career and friendship in the process.
“I’m overjoyed that my play Wavelength is the winner of The 2023 New Play Award. Having worked on this one through the pandemic, I’m hungry to see it finally lifted off the page, and where better than on a stage in New York City?! Thank you to the team at Australian Theatre Festival, and sponsors Shane and Cathryn Brennan, for granting this opportunity. The recognition of the award alone is a huge privilege. ”
Sally Alrich-Smythe, a Sydney-based screenwriter, playwright, and performer, holds a Masters degree in Writing for Performance from NIDA. Currently a full-time storyliner on Channel 7's HOME AND AWAY, her TV pilot script recently received Highly Commended for The Australian Writer's Guild's Monte Miller Award (2022). Sally's theatre writing credits include THE STARGAZERS PROJECT (2020) and HOMESICK (2019) . She has performed internationally in Russia, Scotland, and America. @Sally.alrich_smythe (Instagram)
📌 “REALish” by Wendy Mocke - RUNNER-UP
“REALish”- 30-something Stella is having a very bad day. Barricaded inside her apartment, all Stella wants is to be left with her own thoughts – the problem is, her thoughts keep talking back. And they’ve brought KFC. REALish is a wild new comedy about dealing with the outside world by looking within.
Wendy Mocke is a Papua New Guinean playwright, screenwriter and a NIDA Acting graduate. Wendy’s plays have been in development programs at Melbourne Theater Company, Queensland Theater Company, Griffin Theatre Company and Darlinghurst Theatre Company. Wendy is currently a Writing Fellow at Queensland Theater Company. One of Wendy's quests as an artist is to make alive what is quiet and asleep in Melanesian stories and unpack the myriad of layers within Black Pacific Islander identity. @relentlesslywendy (Instagram); WendyMocke (Twitter)
“Yiraway (Mirage)” by Bronte Gosper - FINALIST
””Yiraway (Mirage)" is a tragicomedy that delves into the perils and comforts of settler Australia's illusions, set itself in the realm of theatre. As a "well-meaning" white director stages a play that distorts and romanticizes colonization, Dora, a young Wiradjuri woman in the cast, observes the unfolding spectacle while trying to keep afloat in her tumultuous home life. "Yiraway" invites the audience to confront the often performative nature of care towards Indigenous narratives, prompting amusing self-reflection in the face of such absurdity and inconsistency.”
Bronte Gosper is a documentary filmmaker, playwright and actress. She recently graduated with her MA from Columbia University and is interested in the intersections of oral history and theatre, especially as it relates to Indigenous art-making. She performed in last year's ATF in Hannah Belansky's Don't Ask What the Bird Look Like. Her recent documentary entitled 'The Everywhen' will be screened soon right here in Manhattan. She is a proud Wiradjuri woman.
“The Past is a Wild Party” by Noëlle Janaczewska - FINALIST
“The Writer takes a journey through archives, sexual politics and their own queer history. 'The Past is a Wild Party' is about falling in love with a nineteenth-century poet, censorship, silences and mental health. About reading The Well of Loneliness looking for-let's call it 'technical information' about girl-on-girl sex.”
Noëlle Janaczewska is a Sydney-based playwright, poet and author. The recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the 2020 NSW Premier's Digital History Prize for her audio work Experiment Street and a Windham-Campbell Prize from Yale for her body of work as a dramatist. Noëlle's most recent productions are Mrs C Private Detective (ABC Radio National, 2022) and The End of Winter (Siren Theatre Company, Sydney, 2022 and touring 2023). https://noelle-janaczewska.com/; @njanaczewska (Twitter)
“Noah’s Daughter” by Hannie Rayson @hannierayson - FINALIST
A young woman, Charlotte (24), shows up uninvited at a Winter Solstice party at the home of Noah Ashton (44) and his family. She announces herself as his daughter. Twenty-four years ago, when Noah was a university student, he donated sperm to a fertility clinic which guaranteed his anonymity. (But this was before cheap online DNA tests made it possible for donor-conceived children to find their biological fathers.) Now Noah has a wife Emma (42) and a grown-up family, Dom, Kitty and her boyfriend Tim. And the arrival of this beautiful young woman unleashes an emotional tsunami. It is only Gordon, her non-biological father, who can see what's happening. This is a modern-day Greek tragedy.
Hannie Rayson is a multi-award-winning Australian playwright, screenwriter, memoirist and newspaper columnist. She is the author of sixteen plays which have been performed throughout Australia. Internationally her work has been staged in London's West End, Japan, Canada, Finland, and many theatres in the UK, Europe and New Zealand. Her play Extinction was developed with the Manhattan Theatre Club in NYC and adapted for radio with LA Theatre Works.
Now in its fourth year, the Australian Theatre Festival NYC 2023 New Play Award has celebrated 8 new plays over 4 years, with distinct Australian voices. With over $60,000 USD of Prize Money awarded and 3 New York premiere performances of the winning plays, as judged by Connor Delves, Mark, Barford & Jillian Geurts, as Chief Judges, along with an assisting panel of 10 industry expert judges.
This year, the award offered a total prize pool of over $14,000 USD for two unproduced, full-length plays/musicals written by Australian writers, over the age of 18. The winning play or musical will be developed with ATF Co-Artistic Director Mark Barford and presented as a staged reading in New York City as part of the 2023 Australian Theatre Festival NYC.
This year we have increased the winner’s cash prize to $7,500 USD. One runner-up will receive a cash prize of $2,500 USD.
The award is the only performing arts prize for a New Australian work to be featured live in New York City, along with a cash prize component.
In last year’s festival, we showcased our 2021 winner, ‘Hubris & Humiliation’ by Lewis Treston, and our 2022 winner, ‘Paradise Lost’ by Melissa-Kelly Franklin. Lewis’ play has since gone on to receive a production at the Sydney Theatre Company.
The Award is now considered one of the most prestigious for Australian creatives working in the international performing arts sector.”