Emerging Playwright Commission

Writers must be:

• an Australian citizen or permanent resident aged over 16 and under 35 at the time of applying
• an emerging artist who is in the early stages of their career and has created a modest body of work in the independent sector, but not professionally produced by a major theatre company

We strongly encourage applications from:

• ACT and surrounding regions based artists
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse artists
• Artists who identify as LGBTQIA+
• Artists with disability

• Works that are driven by and exclusively involve young characters.
• Works suitable to be performed by actors aged between 7 and 25 years (you do not need to write for the entire age range)
• Cast size should be a minimum of 8 actors, and be suited for an ensemble cast rather than being driven by one central character
• Plays that will be a minimum one hour long
• Bold ideas that are challenging, intelligent, theatrically adventurous, and give young performers sophisticated, exciting roles to perform and extend their skills
• Stories, ideas and characters that are relevant and authentic to the experiences and passions of young people
• A play that challenges audiences expectations about what theatre created by young people is capable of

Applications must be submitted as a single PDF file, and include the following:

• Your full contact details (name, pronouns, email, phone number, address, date of birth)
• A synopsis for your proposed play (1 page max)
• Proposed cast size, age group and character breakdown (½ page max)
• A writer’s statement on the inspiration for the work, its urgency, and relevance for young people (½ page max)
• A statement on why this commission is important to you at this stage in your professional career development (½ page max)
• Examples of your existing written work (up to four pages). Be sure to include material that is indicative of the style of writing you are proposing.
• Optional – No more than two pages of material as an indicative example of the proposed work.
• We can only accept one application per person

We understand that developing a submission can be a daunting process, so we encourage you to get in touch, and we can help guide you through the process.

• Shortlisted applicants will be required to participate in a Zoom/in-person interview to provide us with more information about your proposal in order for us to make a final decision
• Successful applicants must be prepared to participate in at least one script development workshop involving young people from Canberra Youth Theatre
• The applicant must exclusively own and control all copyright and all other related rights to the submitted script
• Applicants must be able to deliver a first draft by the end of April 2025, and a final performance draft by the end of July 2025. Other key deliverables will be outlined in the commission agreement.
• Canberra Youth Theatre is unable to confirm whether the successful commission will be programmed as part of our annual production season, as this will be dependent on funding, resources and other artistic considerations

Please email your submission in one PDF document to info@canberrayouththeatre.com.au

Applications close Monday 3 June 2024 at 11:59pm. Any submissions after this date may not be considered.

If you have any questions, phone 02 6248 5057.