QPAS 2020 Winner Maeve Marsden
After careful consideration among the judges’ panel and analysing results from the audience survey, Gasworks Arts Park and Midsumma Festival are proud to announce the winner of QPAS 2020. The winning entry came from Maeve Marsden, who presented an excerpt of her new play Home Fires Burning.
“I’m so thrilled to have my work in progress selected for the Queer Playwriting Award. It was an honour to present the reading with such brilliant actors, and to see, through performance, what did and didn’t work, what needs polishing, how the dialogue feels in a room full of people. I’ll be developing the play this year and am excited to see where the story takes me, and I thank Gasworks for this honour and for the support of new queer work.” – Maeve Marsden
Maeve’s reading of Home Fires Burning was well received by the audience and performed by Queenie Van de Zandt, Ali McGregor, Brooke Rayner, and Wil King.
“Gasworks Arts Park congratulates the team behind Home Fires Burning for the creation of a new Australian play concept which presents a family story with broad audience appeal complete with a bucket load of humour – we are really looking forward to working with Maeve Marsden and the team to bring this to audiences in the future.” – Tamara Jungwirth, Director and CEO of Gasworks Arts Park
“Midsumma is so proud of all of the finalists who presented their works as part of the Queer Playwriting Award Showcase 2020. Each of the works presented represented a fresh new playwright each with their own unique artistic vision and insights into contemporary queer life. We would like to extend the congrats to Maeve Marsden and her team for Home Fires Burning and, together with Gasworks, we are excited to bring this new work to life.” – Felicity McIntosh, Marketing and Communications Manager – Midsumma Festival
Queer Playwriting Award
Creators of new or developing works of theatre are invited to submit their proposals for consideration by a panel of supportive industry professionals. If you have an idea for a show, a completed script, or anything in between, we want to hear from you. Up to 4 works will be selected by the industry panel, and invited to present a 15 minute staged reading on Tuesday 28 January 2020 at Gasworks Arts Park as part of Midsumma Festival. One work will be selected to receive ongoing support and development with a view to becoming a full-scale work to be presented in Midsumma Festival 2021 or beyond. The ultimate aim of the Queer Playwriting Award is to tour the work nationally to expose it to a wide range of metropolitan, regional and rural audiences.
If you have any queries, contact Gasworks Arts Park on 03 8606 4200 or email marisa@gasworks.org.au
Tickets for the Queer Playwriting Award Showcase on Tuesday 28 January 2020 at Gasworks Arts Park will be on sale from mid-November 2019 in line with the official Midsumma 2020 program launch.
For updates and more information, keep an eye on the Gasworks and Midsumma websites, and follow us on social media.
“Midsumma is proud to support new artistic voices. Each of the works presented as part of Gasworks’ Playtime Staged Readings represents a fresh new playwright each with their own unique artistic vision and insights into contemporary queer life.” – Daniel Santangeli, Midsumma Program Manager
It is no easy feat for artists to present a work in development to an audience, especially during its very early stages. It was especially gratifying to see how enthusiastic and generous the artists were in offering feedback and assistance to each other. I think that this is one of the most beneficial parts of Playtime – it offers the opportunity for independent artists to network with each other and potentially even find opportunities to collaborate.”
Marisa Cesario, Programming Coordinator, Gasworks Arts Park
