PAGE TO STAGE is an intensive six-month dramaturgical program offered every year by Melbourne Writers’ Theatre. Submissions for Page to Stage 2023 opened on 1st March and closed on 30th April. The following five playwrights participated in the 2023 program:
BARBARA YAZBECK ‘Immodest Acts’
LEO TAYLOR ‘Ken and Brenda Make a Baby’
NATALIE FRIJIA ‘The Great Kelleys’
BOB TYERS ‘All Fall Down’
PETER FARRAR ‘Who I’m Doing This For’
Between June and November, these playwrights met regularly with their partnering dramaturges – Enya Daly, Michael Olsen, Cathy Hunt, Brooke Fairley and Elizabeth Walley respectively – to develop their scripts through a process of collaboration and redrafting. The scripts then received workshopping in The October Workshops prior to public presentation in The Stage Door Readings, presented at Theatre Works on 18th & 19th November.
2023 SCRIPT SELECTOR: K E Z I A H W A R N E R
Keziah is a playwright and dramaturg. In 2023, her adaptation of FW Murnau’s NOSFERATU, as well as HOUR OF THE WOLF, a new immersive show created with Matthew Lutton, both premiered at Malthouse Theatre. She has won Sydney Theatre Company’s Patrick White Playwrights Award, has been shortlisted for the Griffin Award, the Martin-Lysicrates Prize, the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award and the Max Afford Award, and longlisted for Soho Theatre’s Young Writers Award. Her credits include POONA (Next Wave, 2021), CONTROL (Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre, 2019), HELP YOURSELF (MTC’s Cybec Electric, 2019), LUNA (VCA, 2019), and HER FATHER’S DAUGHTER (Hotel Now, 2018). Keziah is an alumna of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Women in Theatre Program, Malthouse Theatre’s Besen Family Artist Program, Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s INK Program, Playwriting Australia’s Post-Production Program & Soho Theatre’s Writer’s Lab, UK.
2023 SELECTION REPORT
SELECTED
Ken and Brenda Make a Baby by Leo Taylor
Life on the Edge by Bob Tyers
The Great Kelleys by Natalie Frijia
Who I’m Doing This For by Peter Farrar
COMMENDED
There are No Nice Silences by Bruce Shearer
The Bunyip Aristocrats by Neale Irwin
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A real range of themes and topic again this year. The intersection of personal and political seems to
be a recurring theme – climate change and housing, politics and relationships, grief and financial
hardship. Overall the scripts felt timely and with a clear sense of passion or urgency from the writer.
I was impressed with the boldness of several of the dramatic premises – cloning, resurrection,
kidnap, a collapsed house. The inciting incidents were by no means small and it was fun seeing how
different writers tackled such life-altering states, often with particular focus on interpersonal
relationships under the stress of wider forces.
Character particularly would be an area of focus for all the writers, with complex plots often
meaning a lapse into stereotype and women being particularly weakly drawn.
Overall, an interesting and engaging selection of stories. – Keziah Warner, May 2023
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TIMELINE for the 2023 PROGRAM
STAGE 1: Selection April
Submitted scripts are sent to our 2022 independent selector for reading, feedback and selection of scripts.
STAGE 2: Reading of scripts by Dramaturges May
Each playwright is paired with a dramaturge, with whom they will work closely on the further development of their script.
STAGE 3: Meeting between Playwright and Dramaturge June
The playwright and dramaturge meet for a one-on-one discussion of the script.
STAGE 4: Playwright submits 1st revised draft to Dramaturge July
Using feedback received at the Meeting, the playwright completes and submits a 1st revised draft of their script
STAGE 5: Feedback from Dramaturge July
The dramaturge provides feedback on the 1st revised draft.
STAGE 6: Playwright submits 2nd revised draft to Dramaturge August
The playwright completes and submits a 2nd revised draft of their script.
STAGE 7: Directors receive Scripts September
The scripts are sent to Directors, who cast and prepare them for reading at The October Workshops
STAGE 8: The October Workshops October
Closed workshopping of the scripts over four nights – attended by playwrights, dramaturges, directors and actors
3rd – 5th October 2022 6pm – 9pm each night
STAGE 9: The November Rehearsals November
A rehearsal of the final scripts, in preparation for The Stage Door Readings
6th – 9th November 2022 6pm – 9pm each night
STAGE 10: Playwright submits 3rd revised draft (‘final’ draft) to Dramaturge November
Based on feedback received from the Workshops and Rehearsals, the playwright completes a ‘final’ draft.
STAGE 11: THE STAGE DOOR READINGS November
The scripts are presented to audiences in rehearsed readings on 18th and 19th November, at Theatreworks.
Below: Images from The Stage Door Readings 2023, presented at Theatre Works on 18th – 19th November.
PAGE TO STAGE 2023 was administered with a grant from the Rodney Seaborn Playwriting Support Fund.
We gratefully acknowledge the ongoing support of The Rodney Seaborn Foundation for this program.
