PLAYWRIGHTS ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND (INC)

ONE-ACT PLAY COMPETITION 2024

RESULTS

1st Place - How are You Going? by Bronwyn Elsmore

2nd Place - A Playwright Writes a Play by Lindsey Brown

Highly Commended - Rain Stops Play by Julia Pointon

Why These Plays?

There are a few themes that emerge in these winning plays: an element of surprise through the revelation of information either humourously or profoundly (or both), absolutely delectable roles for New Zealand actors, and a generosity of will toward their characters that shines through despite the subject matter. Two of the plays (How are You Going? and Rain Stops Play) have hilarious and cheeky parts for older women, and A Playwright Writes a Play invites a small ensemble cast to celebrate and lovingly skewer backstage drama in a manner that creative teams and audiences alike will relish. All three plays masterfully utillize stereotype as a shorthand and as a brilliant weapon for subversion.

How are You Going? is a delight to read. It is surprising, hilarious, and sustains the audience’s attention and goodwill throughout. With a relatively straighforward premise, the playwright manages to up the ante and give each of their characters a sense of growth and evolution – not to mention a welcome sense of humour. It is so refreshing to see a character like Margaret. She is blunt, curious, wry, loving, and brave all at once, and she’s a role that I imagine a number of women will jump at the opportunity to play. The playwright strikes an excellent balance here as they navigate a sensitive topic with grace and humour. In addition to its entertainment value, with its subject matter the play invites audiences to have a kōrero about (spoiler alert) end of life preferences and priorities with family. And to me, a play that manages to entertain as well as foster communication within whānau is a winner.

A Playwright Writes a Play is a bright and moving play that skewers a few stereotypes within theatre but also takes a sincere look into the vulnerability of creation. The playwright has included just enough theatre-speak to make this play a love letter to the theatre but has maintained a level of accessibility in the script so that “civilian” audiences will not feel excluded. The quickly paced, incisive dialogue drives toward a surprising conclusion that, once revealed, tempted this reader to a second read. This play reminds us that at heart theatre is a communal art form, and though we are creative individually we need one another to pull off the real magic.

Rain Stops Play is hilarious and goofy (in the best way), with fun roles for older actors and great opportunities for inspired direction and design. In the course of about eighteen hours, lifelong desires reveal themselves, hopes are violently dashed, torrid affairs are kindled, and Lycra makes an appearance all for the sake of comedy. It is a play that capitalizes on expectations and then thwarts them - there is a reassuring, old-fashioned nature about the play’s setting and set-up but these are not old-fashioned characters. The roles of Joan and Annie would be a blast to bring to life onstage, and Carol and Derek just round out the fun. They are quirky and memorable, and full of surprises.

Allison Horsley

Adjudicator

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