At a function held in the Ensemble Theatre Company’s gorgeous waterfront theatre foyer last Friday evening 4th March Australia’s premiere playwright David Williamson announced that talented young playwright Kit Brookman was the winner of the Ensemble Theatre’s inaugural playwriting commission.
The commission is a result of a partnership between the Ensemble, the Australian Writers’ Guild and David Williamson. Williamson donated the prize money he received from winning the NSW Premier’s Special Award in early 2015 to make the commission viable. ‘Words on a page alone don’t help playwrights, but having their plays performed does, so I am happy to gift my Premier’s prize to encourage a commission and performance of a new work.’
The Ensemble’s current Artistic Director Mark Kilmurry described Brookman’s winning entry ‘The Plant’ as a ‘comedy about the fear of giving life to something and the terror of it ending uop alone.’
‘Kit takes this idea into a surreal and touching place with his trademark humour and gentleness,” Kilmurry said. “Kit is an extraordinary new talent and we are looking forward to our future partnership in presenting this highly original new play.”
One of the main terms of the commission is that Brookman’s play will have a season in the Ensemble’s 2017 subscription program.
Kilmurry went on to say, ‘theatre needs writers and the development of a writer’s craft is vitally important if we are to produce a vibrant, diverse and exciting future. Without the written word there is no actor’s voice.’
I spoke briefly to Kit who was very excited to be the recipient of the commission which had attracted a very competitive field.
Kit told me he is currently halfway through rehearsals at Belvoir Street for his new play THE GREAT FIRE to be directed by Eamon Flack and the process has been very exciting and a great learning experience. The play has been described as a big new play about middle Australia in 2016 and furthermore, ‘a comedy, a family, ten actors, a landscape (the Adelaide Hills), a great deal of conversation about politics and life, Christmas, large hopes and five tons of love.’
Kit advised that once THE GREAT FIRE has ‘launched’ he will turns his mind to writing a workable draft of THE PLANT to show his assigned director. Then the process will start all over again for one of Australia’s leading young playwrights.