T h e 2 0 2 5 A m e t h y s t A w a r d
Awarded for a new, unproduced play of outstanding quality, originality and integrity,
THE AMETHYST AWARD provides the winning playwright with
a fully funded and supported theatrical production of their new play.
This Award is offered by Melbourne Writers’ Theatre.
Submissions for The 2025 Amethyst Award closed on 31st August 2024.
The winning script was LYCEUM HIGHWAY by K V Adams.
LYCEUM HIGHWAY was performed from 12th to 18th March 2025 at
The Stables @ Meat Market
in a double-bill season with Metropolis Monologues.
Director: Brooke Fairley | Actors: Laura Iris Hill and Kevin Dee
For photos, recordings and reviews of Lyceum Highway, click here.
To listen to the post-show Q&A with K V ADAMS (pictured)
held on Wednesday 18th March 2025, click here.
K V Adams – playwright
2025 SELECTION REPORT
WINNER
Lyceum Highway by K V Adams
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Motherlode by Jeannie Haughton
COMMENDED
Connect Seven by Emily Farrell
Transfusion by Steven Najera
SELECTION REPORT
All the plays submitted showed an impressive level of craft and demonstrated that the
writers had shaped their chosen dramatic situations and invested considerable dedication
into teasing out and realising the worlds of their plays. Fast-paced dialogue revealing
character incrementally was a clear strength of many of the writers.Successful scripts stood out for their:
– especially strong sense of place connected to the purpose of the work
– original, intriguing dramatic premise, with potential to hold audience attention throughout
– strong feel for rhythms of speech with dialogue matching the world of the play.
– characters whose predicaments compelled us to care about their choices
– immediacy – plunging us into the imaginative situation without needing explanation
– contrasting unexpected perspectives that felt equally true, contingent rather than didacticWe were impressed by the momentum and pace of the winning script – Lyceum Highway –
which operates on multiple levels, familiar from one angle yet exuding uncanny energy from
others. The actual situation and the metaphysical significance of the concerns this play
expresses resonate powerfully while also capturing the accessible energy of a heist drama.
It manages to nimbly steer clear of sentimentality despite delving into unexpected
existential questions. Many questions but no one answer. Most of all, we wanted to see
this script staged.Thank you to all playwrights who submitted scripts for this year’s Award.
Cathy Hunt
2025 Assessor
Submissions for The 2026 Amethyst Award
will open on 1st July 2025 and close on 31st August 2025.
The EOI will be posted on this page @ 9am on 1st July.