About
Western Australia is known for nurturing incredible talent across all the art forms and has produced many exceptional playwrights, among them Jack Davis, Dorothy Hewett, Ian Wilding, and David Milroy, to name only a few.
The curated collection on this page represents a brief retrospective of 15 years of WA scripts that Stages financially supported in development through to 2013. A mixture of historical, comedic, movement-based, and dramatic works, these scripts have variously opened Perth Festivals and/or played to 6 people in an independent production, but all have proved delectably memorable in their own right.
All the playwrights showcased have achieved success – some are established, some emerging, and one is no longer with us, but all need to be congratulated on their contribution to our industry.
STAGES (WA Playwright’s Consortium Inc.) was formed in the late 1980’s with the aim to raise funds to provide script development resources. In 2013, Stages’ goals were to promote and nurture the development of Western Australian playwrights and promote the commissioning and production of quality plays written by Western Australians.
On this page you will find gems you may not have heard of before amongst those you may have read over a decade ago. We encourage you to read them all with an open heart and mind.
Enjoy!
Scripts
Gallery
Resources
About Stages
| Stages existed to help writers to produce, share and find practical outlets for their work. They offered assistance to new, emerging and established writers for performance across a range of styles and genres, through a broad ranging program of services and initiatives, including script development and assessment, playwright development and other special projects. |
Western Australian Performing Arts Companies
| Black Swan State Theatre Company is Western Australia’s Flagship Theatre Company and one of Australia’s foremost theatre companies. | |
| From world class theatre company to hands-on community development leader, Yirra Yaakin serves as Western Australia’s only Aboriginal performing arts company.
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| The Blue Room Theatre is intimate, daring and unpretentious, and is a nationally-recognised creative hub for emerging and established independent performers and theatremakers. |
Other Resources
ATSI GUIDELINES FOR DRAMA/THEATRE EDUCATION
DRAMA AUSTRALIA
The preparation of this document was commissioned by Drama Australia to foster access and participation in learning, taking in the broader context of Indigenous educational perspectives and redefining their relevance in the study of Contemporary Indigenou
REVIEW: MUSIC FROM THE WHIRLWIND BY JOHN AITKEN
DAVID ZAMPATTI, THE WEST AUSTRALIAN, 7 NOVEMBER 2011
“Theatre should give us entertainment, emotion and education. Whatever else you say about the revival of Music from the Whirlwind, WA playwright John Aitken’s powerful expose of the dangerous relationship between Dmitri Shostakovich and the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, it certainly delivers on the last of these.”
REVIEW: HEARTWORM BY SHIRLEY VAN SANDEN
ADRIENNE GROSS, AUSTRALIAN STAGE, 21 NOVEMBER 2011
“Some people get a sports car or facelift in mid-life. Others get a life. Which one are you? Heartworm is a comedy-drama about the coulda-shoulda-wouldas of our lives, leaving a sense of hope amid the humour and heartache.”
ARTICLE: THE FREMANTLE CANDIDATE
DECKCHAIR THEATRE, 2012
Production archive for ‘The Fremantle Candidate’ by Ingle Knight, directed by Chris Bendall, 2012. Includes video interviews with cast and crew.
REVIEW: THE GHOST’S CHILD BY SALLY RICHARDSON
VICTORIA LAURIE, ABC PERTH, 4 OCTOBER 2012
“There are rare times when you see a show that is so inventive, so surefooted that you marvel at its artistry.”
REVIEW: THE HAUNTING OF DANIEL GARTRELL
VICTORIA LAURIE, THE AUSTRALIAN, 6 NOVEMBER 2008
“Australian gothic doesn’t come in a more taut and thrilling form than Reg Cribb’s latest play, The Haunting of Daniel Gartrell, which surely ranks as one of his finest pieces of writing.”
REVIEW: WELCOME TO BROOME
CARRIE KABLEAN, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, 28 JUNE 1998
“Rob and Chrissy seem happy. They have a new son and are adjusting to the pressures of parenthood, but the first clue to tension is voiced early on when Rob is told, without malice: ‘You’re just a middle-class white boy who’s gone walkabout.'”
