October 9, 2014

TROLLS, DRAGONS AND MAJOR LIFE DECISIONS 

The annual PLAYMARKET PLAYS FOR THE YOUNG competition attracts submissions of the most innovative, provocative and original NZ plays for young people. 

Previous winners of the competition, now in its sixth year, include Sarah Delahunty, Richard Finn, Joey Moncarz, Emily Duncan, Holly Gooch and Stephanie Matuku. PLAYMARKET, the agency and service organisation for New Zealand playwrights, is delighted to announce the winning playwrights and we congratulate them and all who submitted.

The winner of the 3 – 8 year-olds section is The Laughalot Tribe by Ronnelle Short. Ronnie lives in Golden Bay where she has run her drama school for children and young adults for the past 21 years. 

Mike Hudson won the 8 – 12 year-olds section with his play Wide Awake. Mike is an Auckland based playwright and teacher. His first play Beautiful Losers premiered at Silo Theatre 2003 and has toured for a number of years.  

The Teenagers section winner is The Quiet Room by Renee Liang. Renee, a second-generation Chinese New Zealander, is a playwright, poet, paediatrician, medical researcher and fiction writer.

Two plays were also awarded Highly Commended in the Teenager category; Le Sujet Parle: And Then He Shot Me by Emily Duncan; and The Twenty Seven Last Days of Childhood by Tom McCrory.

In November 2014 Playmarket will publish Stage Adventures: 8 Classroom Plays,a volume of plays for the young including previous competition winners and finalists: The Boss of the Beach by Philippa Werry, Cinderella and the Pirates by Richard Finn, A Story of Rona by Steph Matuku, Spilt Milk by Claire Ahuriri, Sapai and the Yam Snatchers by Michelanne Forster and Leilani Unasa; and Space Circus by Holly Gooch.