National Play Festival 2016
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Welcome
Tim Roseman, Artistic Director, Playwriting Australia Welcome to the 2016 National Play Festival, four days of magic and wonder courtesy of many of Australia’s most thrilling playwrights. This year’s program is rich in imagination, overflowing with individuality and loaded with insight. To see July out with a bang we’ll present playreadings of the most incendiary new works for the stage, complemented by panels, forums, lectures and masterclasses. We’re delighted to be back in Melbourne, the source of so many of our great stories, and home to over one third of all Australia’s playwrights. There’s something alchemical about this city, how it nurtures artists, creates new worlds and pushes at the boundaries of what theatre can be.
The Playwrights’ Program is a vital part of the National Play Festival as leading playwrights share their expertise with newer writers in masterclasses and forums. If you’ve always fancied writing a play but have no idea where to start, everyone is welcome to join a free introductory masterclass, Playwriting 101. And after all that it’s just possible you’ll have space left for a late night drink with us here at the Malthouse. Our thanks to Creative Victoria and Malthouse for their wondrous support of this special event. Great artists inspire us to think bigger, bolder thoughts and grapple with seismic questions. This Play Festival is crammed with both. I look forward to welcoming you to something magical this July. Tim Roseman Artistic Director, Playwriting Australia
www.nationalplayfestival.org.au
There are six major works in the core program this year, exploring escape, survival, safety, invasion and outer space. The plays are rich, generous, hilarious and tragic, each one the fusion of something provocative and something sacred. I’m particularly excited that we’re presenting excerpts from our Lotus program, working with a new generation of Asian-Australian playwrights.
The Keynote Address has become a pivotal national statement about our culture and society, and I’m overjoyed that this year it will be delivered by Michael Gow, a writer of immense vision, talent and acclaim. Alongside this, panels look at what fuels artists, and how they strategise to save and survive in the world.