ADAM NZ PLAY AWARD

The WINNERS for the 2011/12 Adam NZ Play Award have been announced.

Congratulations to:-

  the overall WINNER, Mitch Tawhi Thomas for his play Hui, which also won "Best play by a Maori playwright".

- Dawn Cheong, for Remnants of the Silk Maker's Ghosts, which was Runner up, and winner of the Best Play by a Woman playwright, and The Play Press choice for the Susan Smith Blackburn prize.

- Phillip Braithwaite, for White City, Runner up

- Jonathan Riley, for Makigi , best play by a Pasifika playwright

- Pip Hall, for Ache, PumpHouse choice for their 2 week development season.

Others on the short list were:- Jess Sayer, Beautiful Coincidences; Joe Musaphia, The Train Set; ; Ken Duncum, Janet & John; ; Natasha Maharaj, Dirty Children; Patrick Evans, Gifted; Phillip Braithwaite,  Honest to God; ; and Whiti Hereaka, Raw Men.

The winners were announced at a function at Circa Theatre on 24th March.

The next deadline for submissions is midnight, 1 December 2012.

PLAYMARKET presents this award annually for the best new New Zealand play. The award, formerly the Playmarket New Play Award and now in its fifth year, is the only one of its kind for new writing and encourages writers to banish all self censoring, all worries about what theatres want, what is affordable and what they think audiences want to see.

Take this opportunity to be eligible for a variety of prizes (see below) and to have your play read by a panel of industry professionals.

 

Entrance requirements

Open to any New Zealand citizen/permanent resident.

Plays must not have had a professional production (pending productions, readings, workshops or amateur productions are fine). If your play has been produced but you are unsure if this will disqualify it, please enquire - there are a lot of grey areas! 

Scripts may only be submitted to this competition once.

There are no limits on length, style, theme or cast size.

You may submit as many as you like.

 

How to submit

Please remove your name and address from ALL pages of the script. We now prefer that our judges read the plays 'blind'.

Please email your script in WORD or similar format (PDF is fine), to Scripts with the attached submission form. 

If you have difficulty downloading the submission form, please ensure you include with your script:-

  • a list of characters
  • a brief synopsis
  • a separate page with your name, the name of the play, and a brief bio.
  • confirmation that you are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
  • confirmation that the play has not had a professional production 
  • confirmation that the play is all your own original work
  • AND - please ensure the pages are numbered.

 

PRIZES

We are very grateful for the generosity of the Adam Foundation, The Play Press and The PumpHouse Theatre, who enable us to offer the following prizes and opportunities (all entries are automatically eligible for all prizes, as appropriate):

The Best Play: $5000 and a public reading at Circa Theatre.

The Best Play by a Maori Playwright: $1000 and development resources.

The Best Play by a Pasifika Playwright:  $1000 and development resources.

The Best Play by a Woman Playwright: $1000 and appropriate development resources.

Special Prize for a Woman Playwright:  submission by The Play Press for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize

Special Prize for an Auckland Playwright: a two-week development season plus presentation, fully funded by The PumpHouse Theatre, with a view to inclusion in their programme in the following year.

Finalists: all who make the short list will be included in our Script Register for distribution to potential producers. Should anyone want to license your play, we will offer to negotiate the licence for you.

For all queries anytime contact Jean

 

PAST WINNERS

2011 - Arun Subramaniam, for Hero. Runners-up: Courtney Meredith for Rushing Dolls Georgina Titheridge for Sliderhands. Best Play by a Pasifika Playwright: Maureen Fepulea'i for e ono tama'i pato. Best Play by a Maori Playwright: Whiti Hereaka for Rona and Rabbit on the Moon. Best Play by a Woman Playwright: Georgina Titheridge for Sliderhands & Courtney Meredith for Rushing Dolls. The Play Press submission to Susan Smith Blackburn Prize: Georgina Titheridge for Sliderhands. Special Mention (Playmarket & Circa sponsored reading): Joe Musaphia for Problems. PumpHouse Theatre Prize for an Auckland Playwright: Margot McRae for Fools' Paradise. Also on the short list (and inclusion in Script Register):- Dan Cleary, Jennifer Compton and Whiti Hereaka.

2010 - Stuart Hoar, for Pasefika.The Best Play by a Maori Playwright:-  Whiti Hereaka for Te Kaupoi. 
Special Prize for a Woman Playwright:-  Fiona Samuel for The Liar's Bible
. Special Prize for an Auckland Playwright:- Thomas Sainsbury for The Canary. Also on the short list (and inclusion in Script Register):-  Denis Edwards, Ella West, Greg McGee, Hannah McKie, Justin Eade, Lorae Parry & Pinky Agnew, Mike Hudson, and Paul Baker.

2009 -  The 53rd Victim by Pip Hall won Playmarket’s 2009 New Play Award. The 53rd Victim, and Sketch by Wellington playwright Kate Morris were also selected to be given rehearsed public readings as part of the Aotearoa Playwrights Conference NEW WRITING / NEW PRODUCING Forum at the Auckland Festival.

2008 - Ninna Tersman, whose winning play Fucking Parasites was workshopped in London, directed by Lorae Parry with script advisor Tanika Gupta. Its premiere took place at the Alcyone Festival in Chicago in 2009.