APT’s National Playwriting Groups embed a national playwriting group model within the Australian theatre ecosystem. Connecting playwrights nation-wide, this online program forms a supportive peer community that actively engages in honing their skills, fosters robust dialogue and puts artists in dialogue across the country.
With industry leaders at the helm, this groups will meet fortnightly for six months to work on a new play.
“As a national program, it’s a game-changer.“ — Mary Anne Butler, Mid-Career Playwright Group Participant
Apply for the 2026 Program
PROGRAM DATES: September 2026 – January, 2027
ELIGIBILITY: Mid-Career Playwrights nationally
APPLICATIONS OPEN: 20 August
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: 11:59pm AWST, Monday 7 September
ONLINE INFO SESSION: 6pm AEST, Monday 31 August. RSVP Essential, RSVP here.
Applications for the National Playwriting Group: Mid-Career Playwrights are now open.
If playwrights have already applied for the Playwrights Living with Disability Group (now closed) and indicated in the application form that you’d like to be considered for the Mid-Career playwrights group, they do not need to apply again.
Group leader & Times
- Mid-Career Playwrights Group Leader: Courtney Stewart
- Monday evenings, a mix of weekly and fortnightly sessions
- This program begins on September 21, 2026
What to bring to the program:
- A burning idea or play that you want to work on. This could be; the play idea that won’t leave you alone, the play that you need peers to motivate you to push it further, the play that is pushing you in a different direction (form or content) and you want test it in a safe space.
- A sense of collaboration, openness and willingness to share your work and to support the work of others.
- Respect for different ways of working and willingness to share your process with others.
Engaging in this Program:
- The intention is to create a safe and robust peer group environment in which you, with the guidance of your Group Leader progress a play you are working on for a 6 month period.
- Consider your availability over the period of the program. You will be paid for the group sessions every two weeks. We do not however have the capacity to pay you outside of these hours. So, we ask you to consider whether you will have time to work on your play outside of these hours.
- This is not a “learn to write” program. This is a group of peers who have an existing playwriting practice.
What group should I nominate for?
Good question! We know it is a tricky thing sometimes to fit into the different categories that we use in the arts. We acknowledge that identities are intersectional and shift in different contexts. We have provided some guidelines and definitions below, if you still have questions after reading them please reach out to us to discuss.
- Definition of Mid-Career: playwrights with a body of at least two professionally produced full length works and industry recognition.
- Definition of professionally produced work: the work has been staged by a theatre company that operates on a professional basis, meaning it pays its artists and staff, has a formal organisational structure, and is recognised within the industry.
- You could identify as a “Mid-Career playwright with disability” and be asking which group should I nominate for? The answer is: this is up to you. We would like you to nominate whichever group you feel most suits your practice at this time and makes you feel most comfortable. You can nominate for both “Mid-Career” and “Playwrights Living with disability” and we can contact you to discuss this as the groups are formed.
Do you have questions about this program? Join us for an online info session at 6pm AESTon Monday 31 August. RSVP essential. Register here.
You can also send us an email at apt.writers@apt.org.au and we’ll get back to you within 3 business days.
Want to know more?
In this interview award winning playwright Mary Anne Butler shares some insights from her time in the Mid-Career Playwriting group and how the experience connected her back to theatre.