This is a re-write of the post that I published in which I poorly expressed my concerns about the originality of Bokkie Robertson’s play WISH which was performed in the first week of the Short and Sweet Festival and has been selected to play a part in this year’s Finals.
For those who did not read the original post my concerns lay with the similarity of the scene in Bokkie’s play with a scene from the movie MAP TO THE STARS.
Bokkie states that her work is original, and that she had not even seen the movie MAP TO THE STARS at the time of writing and workshopping her play.
I sincerely apologise to Bokkie and her whole team who put together WISH, for my hastily written which was not researched properly. I withdraw my allegation of plagiarism and wish them the best of luck in the finals. My apologies also extend to Mark Cleary, the Festival Director, and Pete Malicki, the Festival Literary Manager.
David Kary
Dear Mr Kary,
Thank you for your apology to Bokkie. Her play, Wish was initially written as part of Ryde Youth Theatre’s Summer Playwrighting Course in January, 2014 and performed as part of our production of original short plays, Is There Life on Mars, in April 2014. During the course Bokkie discussed her idea and characters with the group and we read successive drafts of the work. I hadn’t heard of the movie Maps to the Stars but the internet tells me it wasn’t released in Australia until November, 2014.
I’ve worked with Bokkie for three years and have seen her develop as a very talented young theatre artist and writer, she has contributed as a playwright to our last six productions and her work always comes with her distinct sense of humour and world view.
All the best,
Suzanne Hauser
Artistic Director
Ryde Youth Theatre