What’s left to do in 2022? Plenty!
The 2022 home stretch is an exciting one for MWT, and packed with brand new theatre.
We’re currently rehearsing for our 4 – 8 October Fringe show HOSTAGE by Cerise de Gelder – to read about this bold new comedy and buy a ticket, click here. Our Page to Stage playwrights have now submitted their final drafts, and you can see their scripts come to life at The Stage Door Readings, to be presented at Theatre Works on 12th and 13th November. And in November, we’ll be joined by our City of Literature international playwright-in-residence for a month of stimulating workshops and interaction across the seas.
We’d love you to be a part of our creative journey, so take a moment to explore our website. If you’re not already a member of Melbourne Writers’ Theatre, why not join? Whether you are a new, emerging or established playwright, MWT is here to support you and your writing goals. Your membership runs for 12 months from the date you join … and you will receive PLENTY.
2022 CALENDAR
Our monthly Workshops are held on TUESDAYS, either via Zoom or at Kensington Town Hall. Workshop details are updated on our EVENTS page. Mark the following dates in your diary:
February 1
Workshop #1
Writing at Length – a Masterclass
Facilitator: Naomi Sumner Chan
*Zoom
This first workshop for 2021 was preceded at 6.30pm by the Annual General Meeting.
March 1
Workshop #2
A Bunch of Scripts #1 – members’ plays are read and workshopped
*Zoom
April 5
Workshop #3
The Monologue – when, where and Why?
*Kensington Town Hall
May 10
EVENT
The 2022 Monologue Soiree
*Zoom
June 7
EVENT
The MWT Theatre Quiz
A trivia event to mark MWT’s 40th year!
* Zoom
July 5
Workshop #4
The Winter Read
A discussion of a selected play
*Zoom
August 2
Workshop #5
The Craft of the Short Play
*Zoom
September 6
EVENT
The 2022 Short Play Soiree
*Kensington Town Hall
October 4 – 8
Presentation of HOSTAGE
*Melbourne Fringe 2022*
*Gasworks Arts Park
TICKETS
November 12 – 13
EVENT
The Stage Door Readings
Page to Stage 2022
*Theatre Works
Show photos captured by assorted photographers, including John A. Edwards, Anna Moloney-Heath and Cosima Gilbert.
P a g e
t o
STAGE
2 0 2 2
Q & A with Cerise de Gelder
Question:
How did you write HOSTAGE? What did your process involve?
‘Hostage’ started as a ten-minute play with a mixed gender cast performed as a part of Birnam Wood’s Play Six in 2017. Originally, it was one of a group of plays called ‘600 Seconds’ in which something of importance is going to transpire in ten minutes – in this case one person is possibly going to die. Someone suggested it would make a good full length play, and I liked the idea of a shrinking cast where someone disappears at the end of each scene but we don’t know who it’s going to be. Then I decided it would be much more fun to make the whole cast female.
Question:
HOSTAGE has an all-female cast. Is it important to you to explore female stories and experiences?
I think we can all agree that in the past strong female roles for women have been thin on the ground in theatre/TV/movies, particularly for older women. This is gradually changing as we all start to realise that women have intriguing lives and personalities too – what a revelation! As an older female writer, the varied and complex relationships between women is obviously something that I’ve experienced firsthand and always find fascinating to explore. The workplace dynamic is a particularly interesting one for me as I worked for over thirty years in a predominately female profession.
Question:
The lead character in HOSTAGE is Julia, played by Charmaine Gorman. Who, or what, inspired this feisty woman?
Julia is a potpourri of many of the spiky, powerful, fearless, funny, wonderful older women that I’ve had the honour of knowing in my life – women who have seen it all, done most of it, and lived to tell the tale. She’s a hard nut to crack but she’s the friend I’d like to have beside me in any crisis.
Photos:
Cerise de Gelder (photo supplied by playwright). Hostage (credit: Cosima Gilbert).
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Melbourne Writers’ Theatre respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung
and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and pays respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Melbourne Writers’ Theatre is a registered charity.
MWT would like to acknowledge the recent generous donation by Simon and Heather McKeon to our ACF fundraising campaign.