South-West Shorts 2020

 

South-West Shorts is an initiative of Edge Performance Writers
to foster relationships between Perth and South-West writers
and to create opportunities for our work to be seen.

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THE PERFORMANCE

Saturday 1st AUgust 2020 at 7:30pm

We sold out the live performance - twice!

We also produced a live stream
direct from Margaret River HEART.

THIS EVENT WAS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY
MARGARET RIVER HEART AND MELTING POT GLASS STUDIO

 
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THE FINALISTS

Edge Performance Writers Collective are thrilled to announce
the 2020 finalists. In alphabetical order, they are:

  • AUDREY POOR (perth)

  • CAROLYN FORTE (SOUTH-WEST)

  • DONNA HUGHES (Perth)

  • SULLIVAN RHODES (SOUTH-WEST)

  • TED WITHAM (SOUTH-WEST)

  • THERESE EDMONDS (PERTH)

Congratulations to the finalists and all those who entered.
Once again, it was a wonderful field of authors who have written
fabulous plays about life in our own region.

 

OUR SPECIAL GUEST

  • SARI ELLEN BENNETT (MOLLOY ISLAND)


Sari Ellen Bennett is a WA writer and emerging performance poet who lives on Molloy Island with her partner and 4-year-old daughter.

She is a collector of moments and a seeker of the sacred hidden within in the mundane.

Her writing style is unique in the way it weaves whimsical imagery with hard hitting concepts, challenging the status quo and questioning human behaviours.

With a background in dance, martial arts and physical theatre, Sari's embodied performances breathe life into her heartfelt poetry.

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Sari Bennett
 


Thank you to everyone for sharing your story.

 

THE WRITERS WORKSHOP

The South-West Shorts 2020 Writers Workshop was held on 2nd May 2020. It was a fabulous day of play readings, feedback and constructive discussion. All six finalists were able to attend along with Lorna Mackie of Grey Lantern Productions, contributing her expertise as director and playwright, and Andrew Turk, a founding member of Edge and previous finalist contributing his skill as a playwright and actor.

The finalists have three weeks after the workshop to further develop their script before submitting their performance draft to the local theatre group who will produce it for the performance on 1st August 2020 at Margaret River's new HEART main auditorium.


Thanks to everyone who took part, it was wonderful to share the day with you: (from left) Donna Hughes, Lorna Mackie, Carolyn Forte, Therese Edmonds, Andrew Turk, Sullivan Rhodes, Ted Witham and Audrey Poor.

 

THE PERFORMANCE

All six plays will be performed by local actors at the new HEART main auditorium in Margaret River.

THE AWARDS

Judge's Award: the script chosen by the three judges prior to the performance
People's Choice Award: the audience will be invited to vote for their favourite play after the performance.
Best Performance Award: chosen by a judge on the night of the performance.

 

THE COMPETITION

Perth and WA’s South-West writers were invited to submit a monologue or duologue about life in WA’s south-west. A panel of independent judges chose the best three scripts from Perth plus the best three from the South-West region.

WRITE ABOUT

Life in the south-west region of Australia.

You are welcome to write on any subject, in any setting and with any character/s you choose but your play must make reference to and include something about life in the south-west of Western Australia, which includes Perth.
That can be about our history, a current topic, our quirks, an in joke only people from this region will get, a place setting - let your imagination run. Just make sure you include an aspect of life that’s particular to this region. Entries that meet this criteria will be favoured.

Entries that meet this criteria will be favoured.

TO THE 2020 THEME

Look on the Funny Side

Entries that do not meet this theme will be disqualified.

DURATION

8 - 11 minutes (as a guide, 11 minutes for a play is usually no more than 2,000 words)

CONDITIONS

Entrants must be a permanent resident of Perth or the South-West region of Western Australia.

Please read the Terms and Conditions before submitting, and the Guidelines for a summary.

The best way to see what the judges have enjoyed is to buy the anthology from previous years.

We look forward to hearing your story about life in our wonderful State.

COMPETITION CLOSED

at 10.00pm on Sunday 23rd February 2020.

ENTRY FEE

Entry is $20 for non-members or $10 for Edge members, students and the unwaged.
You can apply for an Edge Performance Writers membership here.

 

THE JUDGES

We are once again honoured to have three outstanding judges in 2020:

  • Vivienne Garrett, actress

  • Kimberley Shaw, Independent Theatre Association

  • Dr Suzanne Ingelbrecht, playwright

  • Shortlist Judge: ROBYN McCARRON

 

THE ANTHOLOGY

Each year the six finalist are published in the South-West Shorts anthology.

Copies are held in the State and Battye libraries in Western Australia and the National Library in Canberra, and distributed to local writers, groups and at arts events.

We now have three editions of these award-winning plays: 2017, 20 18 and 2019.

BUY THE BOOKS

  • You can see details of each edition here and order your copies here.
    The current 2020 edition is $20 each plus $5 postage within Australia.
    Earlier editions are $15 each plus $5 postage within Australia
    Ebooks for all editions are $15 each.

    Right now you can buy any two editions of the book for $30
    or all four editions for $45, plus $5 postage within Australia.

  • All editions are also available on Kindle.