What will YOU write in 2025?
Whether you are an aspiring or established playwright, MWT is the place to be in 202. Regardless of what you will write or have just written, chances are we have a dramaturgical program, production opportunity, showcase event or online workshop that is a perfect match for your script and your skills and will help you, creator of the first and owner of the second, to grow bigger and shine brighter.
We will hit the ground running in 2025 with an exciting season of new MWT writing, to be presented from 12th – 18th March at THE STABLES, Meat Market Melbourne. The opportunity to enjoy Lyceum Highway – winner of The 2025 Amethyst Award – in a double-bill event with the scripts selected for showcasing in Metropolis Monologues is an opportunity that doesn’t come along every day. With 11 playwrights, 11 actors, 2 directors and a talented crew, the person we need now is You in our audience! Tickets for both shows will be on sale from 22nd January.
Our intensive dramaturgical program Page to Stage is returning for a fifth year in 2025, with submissions opening on 1st March. EOIs for Gasworks Script Lab, to be presented again by MWT in partnership with Gasworks Arts Park, will open on 1st May. And in between these opportunities are our free monthly online Workshops, which provide both skills and an opportunity to meet and connect with MWT playwrights and artists.
We’d love you to be a part of the MWT journey, so take a moment to wander through our website and find out what we can offer you. If you’re not already a member of Melbourne Writers’ Theatre, we encourage you to join. If you’d like to be added to our Playbill mailing list, click here. For all other queries, please contact us.
Whichever part of Victoria you come from, whoever you are, whatever you have written and whatever you will write in 2025, MWT is here to support you and your creative aspirations.
2025 CALENDAR
Our free monthly Workshops are held on Zoom on the first MONDAY of the month from 7pm – 8pm. They are created especially for MWT members, though non-members are also welcome to come along and see what we do at MWT! After each workshop, attendees may choose to stay online for an informal chat and catch-up. Details of our 2025 sessions can be found on the EVENTS page. Below is the Calendar at a glance.
February 3
Workshop #1
The Feedback Process
Featured writer: Hayden Dun
*Zoom
This first workshop for 2025 will be preceded at 6pm by the AGM.
March 3
Workshop #2
Monologues that Sing
Facilitator: Jennifer Munday
* Zoom
April 7
Workshop #3
To Plan or not to Plan?
Facilitator: TBA
* Zoom
May 5
Workshop #4
Beyond the Stage – Podcasts
Facilitator: TBA
* Zoom
June 2
Workshop #5
What Makes this Theatre?
Facilitator: TBA
* Zoom
July 7
Workshop #6
The Winter Read
Facilitator: TBA
* Zoom
August 4
Workshop #7
Selling your Script
Facilitator: TBA
* Zoom
September 1
Workshop #8
Antagonist vs Protagonist
Facilitator: TBA
* Zoom
October 6
Workshop #9
Self-promotion for Playwrights
Facilitator: TBA
* Zoom
November 10, 17, 24
UNESCO Workshop Series
Facilitator: TBA
* Zoom
Show photos by Anna Moloney-Heath, John A. Edwards and Cosima Gilbert
P a g e
t o
STAGE
2 0 2 5
Q & A with Hayden Dun
Hayden participated in Gasworks Script Lab 2024. Here he talks about the short play he wrote in the program.
What is the name of your short play and what, briefly, is it about?
The title of my short play is ‘Second Chance’. The play follows two gay male detectives in the year 2044, who investigate the mysterious death of an elderly woman found in their best friend’s apartment.What was the inspiration for it?
The play was inspired by my experience in Melbourne’s queer, particularly gay male, community, which has a strong focus on youth, aesthetics, and drug use. In my experience, this scene embraces Botox, fillers, steroids and recreational drug use more than the general population. Additionally, I’ve always had a passion for sci-fi, so this story is a combination of two topics that interest me.You have considerable writing and performing experience in various music worlds. How have you found the workshops’ focus on a new, short-form play with its dialogue-driven script?
Wonderful. I have learned many things I would never have considered. For example, my script initially had multiple settings, but I realised with the help of our mentor that keeping the story in one location made the play much more engaging—especially for a short play. I’ve learned that giving a character a repeating catchphrase is satisfying, and that having characters echo snippets from previous lines in their responses can give dialogue more punch. These little tricks are things I now notice in successful movies and shows.
Hayden’s script will be presented at Showcase Night 1 of Gasworks Script Lab.
Photos:
Top: Hayden Dun in a workshop for Gasworks Script Lab 2024. *Photo by MWT
Bottom: Hayden Dun in performance. *Photo supplied by writer
Interview by Ros Varley
Become an MWT Member
Meet writers, directors and actors, and get your work on stage!
Our Productions
Melbourne Writers’ Theatre
Established In
Members Joined
Scripts Edited
Plays Staged
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 with Deductible Gift Recipient status.