Duologue 2023 – Recipients Announced
APT is excited to announce the recipients of Duologue 2023. The recipients will work throughout the year with leading dramaturgs to produce new works for the stage.
Mararo Wangai (WA)
Mararo Wangai is a Kenyan-born writer, performer and media graduate, with a passionate interest in diverse forms of storytelling. His work avoids simplistic narratives, assesses society critically and strives to remains adaptive, organic and alive through its development and eventual encounter with an audience.
Attracted to stories that deal with issues of humanity, Mararo challenges himself to wade far from his comfort zone and produce material that confronts, caresses and sometimes punishes an audience.
Short-listed for the Patrick White Award 2018, Sydney Theatre Company, Mararo performed and wrote ‘Black Brass’ for the 2021 Perth Festival, produced by Performing Lines WA which was nominated for Best Mainstage Production and Outstanding Performer in a Leading role at the 2022 Performing Arts WA Awards (PAWA). Mararo was the recent recipient of the Arts Award from the Western Australian Multicultural Awards 2023.
His past credits include Best Supporting Male Actor, The Advisors – 2017 PAWAs, Nominated for Best Supporting Male Actor, Improvement Club – 2018 PAWA
Mararo will be working with Matt Edgerton
Morgan Rose (VIC)
Morgan Rose was born in New Orleans, grew up in New Mexico, and currently lives in Melbourne. She is an internationally produced playwright, performance maker, and dramaturg. Her work is contemporary and darkly funny, with an element of absurdism. She is interested in everyday people with extraordinary stories (or perhaps extraordinary people with everyday stories). In addition to her text-based work she has a background in physical theatre and devising. She has studied with SITI Company (NYC, USA), Pacific Performance Project (Seattle, USA), Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre (Brisbane, Australia), and Dairakudakan (Hakuba, Japan). She completed a Master of Writing for Performance at VCA in 2013. In 2020 she was a dramaturgy placement with Malthouse Theatre as part of the Besen Family Artist Program. She was a recipient of the INK writing commission with Red Stitch Actors Theatre in 2014 and again in 2018. Recent works include: Virgins and Cowboys (writer, Theatreworks, Griffin Theatre), Everyone Is Famous (writer, Riot Stage/Speakeasy), Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise (writer, MKA/MTC NEON), The BachelorS17E05 (co-creator, The People/La Mama), desert, 6:29pm (writer, Red Stitch/Wuzhen Festival/Currency Press), and little girls alone in the woods (Canberra Youth Theatre/Currency Press). She was resident writer at youth company Riot Stage (riotstage.com) for 10 years and co-founder of the company The People (thepeoplemaketheatre.com). She the current co-artistic director of Melbourne-based company Rawcus (rawcus.org.au). More info on her work at roseisnotarose.com. She is left handed.
Morgan will be working with Ibrahim Halacoglu
Cathy Petőcz (ACT)
Cathy Petőcz is a Canberra-based theatre artist—a playwright, director, performer, and musician—who lives and works on Ngunnawal & Ngambri Country.
Cathy writes plays (The Initiation, Canberra Youth Theatre, published by Currency Press, 2022; Unbecoming, Canberra Theatre Centre, 2019; Lysistrata, play & thesis awarded First Class Honours, 2018, Australian National University), art experiences (The People’s House, Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, 2023; Lit Windows, You Are Here Festival, 2020), and experimental music performance (Exquisite Corpse, Live Art Lab, Ainslie + Gorman Arts Centres, 2021; Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, a literary-themed punk band, You Are Here Festival 2013 and Melbourne Writers’ Festival 2014).
Cathy holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a Master of Primary Teaching and has worked with young people as a theatre educator for over 15 years for companies like Canberra Youth Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, and Australian Theatre for Young People.
Cathy recently co-founded youth performance arts company A—Z Theatre with Anna Johnstone which has been awarded a place in Resident Street 2023, a yearlong company residency at The Street Theatre, Canberra. This residency provides strategic and structural support towards the company and the works Cathy is writing for young actors this year.
www.cathypetocz.com // @cathypetocz // www.a-ztheatre.com // @a_ztheatre
Cathy will be working with Finegan Kruckemeyer
Emilie Collyer (VIC)
Emilie Collyer lives on Wurundjeri Land, where she writes poetry, plays and prose. Her writing is widely published both in Australia and internationally. Her poetry collection Do you have anything less domestic? (Vagabond Press 2022) won the inaugural Five Islands Prize for a first book. Emilie’s plays, including Dream Home, Contest and the multi-internationally produced The Good Girl, have won and been nominated
for multiple awards including the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award (London), Queensland Premier’s Drama Award, Green Room Awards, George
Fairfax, Patrick White and Malcolm Robertson. Emilie is currently under commission with Red Stitch Actors Theatre and is the 2023 Melbourne Athenaeum Library Playwright-in-Residence. She works as a dramaturg, teacher and text consultant and is a current PhD candidate at RMIT where she is researching feminist creative practice.
Emilie will be working with Emma Valente
Melissa Lee Speyer (NSW)
Melissa is a writer and devisor for theatre and screen. TV screenwriting credits include “The Heights” (ABC/Matchbox Pictures), “The Wonder Gang” (ABC Kids), “Parent Up” (ABC Kids/Aquarius Films), Season 2 of “Random and Whacky” (Eleven/Ambience Entertainment) and “For Real!” (Ten Peach/Ambience Entertainment). Short film credits include: “Bala” at Flickerfest in 2020; and co-writing “Jadai: The Broome Brawler” which won the 2018 Lexus Fellowship and premiered at Sydney Film Festival in 2019. Theatre credits include “TickTickBoom” (2018, The Actors Pulse) which won the 2015 Silver Gull Play Award; “A Christmas Carol” (2017, KXT Bakehouse); and “TRADE” (2017, Adelaide Fringe and Old 505 Theatre).
Melissa will be working with Victoria Falconer.
Eva Grace Mullaley (WA)
Eva Grace Mullaley is a Widi woman from the Yamatji Nation in the Midwest Region of Western Australia.She graduated from the Certificate IV in Aboriginal Theatre Course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2003.
Eva began her directing career in 2005 when she was assistant to David Milroy for the first creative development of ‘WindmillBaby’, produced by Yirra Yaakin and then she immediately went onto direct many small monologue/Duologue performances for community events.
In her 20+ year career Eva has worn many hats in the theatre industry including Director, Administration, Stage Manager, Tour Manager, Producer, Event Manager, Actor, Dramaturge, Lecturer in Character and Script Analysis, Collaborating Director, Workshops Coordinator and many more.
In March 2019 Eva was appointed as the first Female Artistic Director of Yirra YaakinTheatre Company in Perth, Western Australia.
As Artistic Director of Yirra Yaakin she delivered, programmed, directed and presented new works and festival works every year including the first queer work (2021) and the largest work ever done (2022)by the company.Eva also created hundreds of platforms and development opportunities for new First Nations works, artists, directors, poets and playwrights including creating a series of platforms to keep local artists creating, engaged and supported during the COVID lockdowns.
In April 2023 Eva resigned from Yirra Yaakin after 4 years at the helm and is currently working on several independent projects as a Writer, Dramaturg and Poet and is engaged with many national and international panels and action groups.
Eva will be working with Peter Matheson
Madelaine Nunn (VIC)
Madelaine is an award-winning actor, writer, and two-time AWGIE nominee who has worked across theatre, film and radio since graduating from the VCA in 2015. Madelaine is a co-founder of Three Birds Theatre, with whom she has written, performed and toured works with over the past five years. She is also Associate Artistic Director at Rollercoaster Theatre. She is the 2021 winner of The Martin Lysicrates Prize and the 2018 winner of The Rebel Wilson Scholarship. Her writing credits include: Cactus (La Mama & Regional Arts Victoria), The Chapel, the Fire and the Dead Cat (ATYP), Summer at Suspended Stone Camp (Jopuka Productions) Kinder Surprise (ABC Radio National & Melbourne Theatre Company’s Cybec Electric) & Bin Chicken (ATYP). Madelaine has a number of acting credits, she is currently playing Alice in Garage Girls (Three Birds Theatre & The Shift) slated for production this year. She has been shortlisted for the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award three times and has been finalist for the Martin Lysicrates twice.
Madelaine Nunn will be working with Cathy Hunt.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
There were 42 applications to Duologue in 2023. Applicants to APT’S programs have the option to self report on certain identifiers. These identifiers are not factored into assessment of applications, but help APT assess the reach of our programs.
Below is a statistical breakdown of these applications:
Female: 48%
Male: 21%
Non-binary: 11%
Australian First Peoples: 5%
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse: 30%
LGBTQIA+: 43%
Living with a disability: 12%
| ACT | NSW | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA |
| 1 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 3 |
