SEASON 2018
to be presented at La Mama Courthouse
SIX DEGREES IN MELBOURNE
12th – 25th November
THE MELBOURNE MONOLOGUES
26th November – 2nd December
Submissions for our Season 2018 closed on 30th April, and we are pleased to announce the selected works in each category. They are as follows:
Six Degrees In Melbourne
Imposture – Maree Collie
Do the Deal – Bruce Shearer
Revenge is a Dish – Adele Shelley
Take Two – Mazz Ryan
Tally and the Savages – Carmen Saarelaht
We need to talk – Katie Lee
The Melbourne Monologues
Angry Dancing – Bruce Shearer
The Unspeakable Beauty of Falling – Alison Knight
A Moment in Time – Neil McGovern
3 out of 9 – Brooke Fairley
The Charon – Martin Rice
The Diamond Bracelet – Christine Croyden
SELECTION REPORTS
Six Degrees in Melbourne
Dramaturge: Christine Croyden
Thank you for the opportunity to read your work. I have selected the above 6 plays for the MWT season. They are the ones that stood out immediately as having been written for performance.
Some of the chosen plays will require editing but all begin at a point of disturbed equilibrium, which allows them to build conflict and pace in a dramatic way and develop into interesting scenarios.
Of those plays not selected, many fell into the trap of not having much to say, and others tried to say far too much. Please note that earnest and politically correct writing is dull on stage, and the desire to overstate intentions is a huge problem for many new (and experienced) writers. We must redraft our work many times and look for repetition, and, most importantly, trust the audience to work out what the play is about. Telling too much is always a big mistake. The writer’s job is to plant seeds along the way that keep the audience interested in what is about to happen, not to ‘sign post’ and overstate points throughout the play.
For some basic instruction on dramatic writing, I suggest reading lots of plays and books about performance writing, and most of all, GO to the theatre.
Suggested early reading:
The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lagos Egri
Linda Aronson’s books for help with structure and storytelling.
Christine Croyden
Artistic Advisor & Life Member
Melbourne Writers’ Theatre
The Melbourne Monologues
Dramaturge: Elizabeth Walley
Thank you to all the writers who submitted their work for the 2018 season of The Melbourne Monologues. After much consideration I have selected the above six monologues for inclusion in this year’s programme and offer my warm congratulations to the writers of these selected works.
I would also encourage those who were not chosen on this occasion to stick with it: keep writing, reading and attending theatre whenever you can. Now more than ever we need people to tell our stories, to take action through art, and give voice to the marginalised and unrepresented. My selection process involved an initial reading of all works submitted, from which I compiled a short list of fifteen pieces. These were then reread a number of times as stand-alone monologues and also considered in relation to each other as a collection for performance. The final six monologues have been chosen for the quality of the writing, the dramatic and theatrical possibilities inherent in each, and the potential to present them together as a cohesive work for theatre.
Amongst the monologues submitted there were heart felt stories of love and loss, writing on the difficulties of ageing, the struggles of the underprivileged and unemployed, and comic scenarios around communication breakdown and the online dating scene. Much of this subject matter lends itself brilliantly to dramatic representation. The challenge for the writer is to use this material to create an active text in which your characters are ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling’ their story, in a manner that engages and surprises. Let the audience complete the exchange – don’t hand it to them on a plate, draw them in to your character’s world and make them think about your work.
My thanks again to everyone who submitted their writing for consideration. I look forward to travelling with the selected monologues through development to performance, and hope to see you all at our Season 2018 in November.
Elizabeth Walley
Resident Director
Melbourne Writers’ Theatre