Welcome to 2021!
We are truly excited about the year of writing and theatre-making that lies ahead of us.
2021 begins with MWT’S long-awaited theatrical season THE BEST, THE FAIREST, THE FIRST which was necessarily rescheduled due to the events of 2020 and will now be presented at Gasworks Theatre from 3rd – 6th March. This brand-new production has been especially created as a celebration for International Women’s Day, and features scripts and performances by MWT playwrights and actors. Tickets are now on sale at https://www.gasworks.org.au/whats-on/best-fairest-first – it promises to be an uplifting season of theatre and we’d love to share this creation with you.
Our monthly workshops will be held on TUESDAYS in 2021. They will be presented in a mix of face-to-face events and Zoom events, so that all members can participate according to their preferences. The dates and details for our 2021 workshops are listed BELOW.
Working together, we turned 2020 into a productive year of workshops and online events, and were delighted to be able to present a successful Season 2020/ at The MC Showroom from 17th – 22nd December. If you missed this innovative Season, a double-bill consisting of The Metropolis Monologues followed by The City Park Plays, take a moment to check out the show photos.
2021 is set to be another rewarding year for our playwrights and artists, and we hope you will join us on our creative journey.
2021 CALENDAR
In 2021, all monthly workshops will be presented on TUESDAYS from 7 – 9pm. Workshops will be delivered alternately via Zoom and at the Kensington Town Hall.. Full details regarding each of these workshops will be posted on the EVENTS page prior to the workshop. At a glance, they are as follows:
Tuesday February 2
Workshop #1
Writing at Length – The Craft of the Full-Length Play
Kensington Town Hall
*This first workshop for 2021 was preceded at 6.30pm by the AGM.
Tuesday March 9
Workshop #2
Writing at Length – The Craft of the Full-Length Play
*This time offered on Zoom
Tuesday April 6
Workshop #3
A Bunch of Scripts #1 – members’ plays are read and workshopped
*Kensington Town Hall
May 4
Workshop #4
Play Analysis – in-depth discussion of a selected work
*Kensington Town Hall
June 8
Workshop #5
The Art of the Monologue
*Kensington Town Hall
July 6
Workshop #6
The 2021 Monologue Soiree
*Offered on Zoom
August 3
Workshop #7
The Craft of the Short Play
*Kensington Town Hall
September 7
Workshop #8
The 2021 Short Play Soiree
*Kensington Town Hall
October 5
Workshop #9
A Bunch of Scripts #2
*Offered on Zoom
November 9
Workshop #10 (Final)
*Kensington Town Hall
2020 show photos, from top right:
Marli van der Bijl – The Forgotten Return by Michael Olsen
Tim Clarke – The Wave by Lois Maskiell
Sue Rosenwax and Amir Rahimzadeh – Out of this World by Bruce Shearer
Lansi Feng and Kyle Roberts – Under a Rock by Mazz Ryan
Curtain call – The Metropolis Monologues
Curtain call – The City Park Plays
Season 2020 Show Poster
Photos by John A. Edwards
P a g e
t o
STAGE
2 0 2 1
Q & A with MICHAEL OLSEN ‘The Forgotten Return’ & ‘Sapling’
Michael’s monologue ‘The Forgotten Return’ and his short play ‘Sapling’ will both be performed in MWT’s Season 2020 (November 2020). We asked Michael for an insight into his playwriting life and journey.
Q. You have a lot of produced plays to your credit. Which of these would you describe as your favourite – and what makes it so?
Isn’t that like asking a parent who their favourite child is? The parent is supposed to say they love all their children equally. In a sense I’m the same: I love all my plays equally—but even without a blowtorch to the soles of my feet there are some more equal than others. My favourite pieces go back to the beginning: Cannibals of the Heart (eight scenes all based around the theme of betrayal); Double Tap (my first one-act play) about two young men about to graduate from assassin school; and of course Two Women & A Chair (because this one went around the world, was so theatrical, and was the first of my works to be published).
Q. Where does a play ‘start’ for you? With an idea, a character, a line, a question needing an answer – where?
A play can start from anything, anywhere, at any time. You really need to be awake to all possibilities. That’s why the notebook and pen are an essential part of this writer’s toolbox: it doesn’t really mean anything until it’s down on the page. Once it’s down on the page, that’s when the hard work really begins. As Hemingway once said: “The first draft of anything is shit.”
Q. Tell us about other jobs you have done in your life, and how they rank in relation to your role as a Playwright.
Nothing has equalled the role of writer. I haven’t really seen myself having a career. I have usually seen each of my jobs (public servant, administrator, factory worker) as a means to support my passion. The challenge, as always, is to write the best you can, communicate the best you can, give an actor a challenge, hand over to a director a piece and say: “Make this work even better.” The thrill is always to finally see and know your work is making that essential connection with the audience
Photos:
Michael Olsen, pictured with his author photo at Daring Dog Monologues (November 2019)
A scene from Two Women and a Chair
A scene from The Last Dance of the Plum Sisters
Photos supplied by Michael Olsen.
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