Curators of AustralianPlays.org's first
collection of Indigenous plays warmly invite
submissions of playscripts suitable for inclusion.
The collection will be a digital publication of ten plays, supported by community protocols, teaching resources, playwright interviews and other culturally appropriate content. It will be hosted on australianplays.org
Submissions are invited from playwrights, theatre companies, theatrical agents, directors and Indigenous arts organisations.
Scripts may be submitted for the collection using our online form . Please read the following information before submitting your script:
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
In March 2011, the Australian Script Centre (ASC), in
partnership with the Australia Council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander
Arts Board (ATSIAB) will launch a unique online collection of Australian
Indigenous performance writing.
The showcase collection of ten plays will be hosted on the Australian script portal australianplays.org. Plays will be presented in an appropriate cultural context, together with protocols, teaching resources and background information.
The collection aims to:
- Showcase outstanding Indigenous playscripts to the world
- Educate producers, drama teachers, students and theatre-makers in the cultural protocols associated with the use and study of Indigenous plays
- Provide a ‘one-stop shop’ where people with an interest in studying or producing Indigenous performance writing can be guided and supported
- Broker production opportunities for the featured plays with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous theatre companies.
All creative content will be determined by an Indigenous Curatorial Group comprising:
- Liza-Mare Syron, Coordinator, Theatre Performance and Practice, Eora Centre of Aboriginal Studies, Redfern
- Raymond Kelly, playwright, community leader and former ATSIAB Director,
- Diat Alferink, performer/producer and manager of Community Programs, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute.
The project has wide-ranging support in principle from
Indigenous stakeholders; expressions of support have been received from
Yirra
Yaakin, Kurruru Youth Performing Arts, Magabala Books, Black Words, Eora
College and others. The 
distinguished Indigenous playwright/director,
Wesley
Enoch has expressed support by accepting a position on the ASC board and
providing guidance in the conceptual development and implementation of
the
project.
Project Coordinator is Dr Maryrose
Casey of Monash University,
author of Creating Frames: contemporary
Indigenous theatre (UQP 2004).
This project is assisted by ATSIAB under its National Indigenous Arts Infrastructure Program. The Australian Script Centre is proud of its status as the first organisation to gain accreditation as an Affiliate Partner of ATSIAB, reflecting the organisation’s concerted efforts to integrate Indigenous protocols into its organisational governance, program delivery and creative control.
ELIGIBILITY
Eligible playwrights will be of
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island descent and identified as such by both the
community and themselves.
Submissions must be production-ready performance scripts for stage or radio, which meet the following criteria:
- You hold publication rights - in other words, the script is not currently licensed exclusively to another publisher
AND at least one of the following;
- The script has received a professional production and/or an independent production,
- The script has been through a professional script development workshop,
- The script has received a favourable written assessment by an industry-recognised professional,
- The writer has a letter of support from an industry-recognised professional,
- The script has won or been shortlisted for a major Australian prize, or
- The script is written by an established playwright.
Please note that we will consider plays with music (where most of the text is dialogue with occasional songs) but musicals, where all or nearly all the
text is sung, are not eligible.
We reserve the right to disqualify plays with music if the score and usage
rights are not readily available.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Plays for the collection will be drawn from both new submissions and plays already in the Script Centre catalogue as well as plays previously published elsewhere (subject to the availability of rights). Plays which rate highly against the selection criteria may be accepted for publication – subject to the playwright’s permission - in an online hub of Indigenous performance writing to be developed as part of this project. It is important to note that only ten scripts can be accepted for inclusion in the showcase collection.
Eligible plays will be assessed by the Curatorial Group against the following criteria;
- Importance in the ecology and diversity of Indigenous writing
- Literary merit, understood to encompass writing ability, style, skilled use of language, appropriateness of form, stagecraft, characterisation, clarity of expression and sustained development of themes or ideas.
- Potential to engage the intended audience
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SUBMITTING A SCRIPT
If your play is accepted, we may ask you to send us further materials for inclusion in the collection, including:
Submissions are expected to be properly proofread, paginated and checked for other mistakes. Scripts should be clearly formatted and easy to read. If you are unsure of an appropriate format, please see our sample script format. |
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION
Submissions must be received by 30 September 2010.
Any questions? Send us an email, or telephone +61(0)3 6223 4675.
Visit our online form to submit your script.
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The Indigenous Collection is an initiative of the Australian Script Centre; proud owners and operators of AustralianPlays.org |
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This project has been assisted by the |
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| The Australian Script Centre is an accredited partner to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts under the National Indigenous Arts Infrastructure Program. | |
