NATIONAL PLAY FESTIVAL 2015 IN ADELAIDE

Staged in a different Australian city every year and producing its eighth event in July, the National Play Festival is a must for theatre lovers. Lesley Reed reports.

In 2015 the National Play Festival, a fine showcase of contemporary new plays by Australia’s leading playwrights together with new works-in-progress by talented homegrown emerging playwrights, will be hosted by Adelaide.

“I’m delighted that this year’s National Play Festival comes to Adelaide for the first time,” Playwriting Australia’s Artistic Director Tim Roseman said. “Adelaide has a rich tradition of pioneers and visionaries in the arts and I’m proud the Play Festival can be part of this inspiring legacy.”

Throughout the four-day Festival, Adelaide and National audiences will have the opportunity to witness staged play readings, industry forums and the crafting of Australian playwrights’ brand new plays that have been curated from Playwriting Australia’s core programs. Playwriting Australia is a national organisation that supports new writing for performance, invests in the creative development of new works and offers professional development for writers at all levels and from all backgrounds.

Playwriting Australia presents this year’s Play Festival in partnership with Adelaide Festival Centre, State Theatre Company SA, Flinders University and Adelaide Festival. The full program of events will be announced on June 22.

Playwrights in this year’s Play Festival include Albert Belz, Ben Ellis, Michele Lee, Maxine Mellor, Luke Mullins and Lachlan Philpott. South Australians amongst the group are Ben Brooker, Elena Carapetis, Phillip Kavanagh, Sophia Simmons and Emily Steel. These five South Australian writers will be of particular interest to their hometown audiences.

Playwriting Australia Artistic Director Tim Roseman said, “The program contains some of the most exhilarating, electrifying and thought-provoking new plays you are likely to see in a long time. From movie stars to media moguls, videogame arcades to internet chatrooms, from ski slopes to war zones; think of this Play Festival as fireworks for your imagination.”

Keith, by Ben Ellis, is one of many Festival highlights and is the story of an ambitious newspaperman, a man born into his business. Keith is presented in partnership with State Theatre Company SA. Staged in collaboration with Flinders University and Adelaide Festival, Phillip Kavanagh’s Deluge includes ten characters who attempt to find meaning and connection in a world flooded with information. In Maxine Mellor’s The Silver Alps three lost souls go on a Brisbane to Melbourne journey of discovery, motel hopping along Australia’s Great Divide. Koori kid Jimmy Djalu is Geelong’s local Galaga game genius and in Albert Belz’s Astroman he’s about to tackle an upcoming games tournament. Michele Lee’s Rice tells the tale of Australia’s biggest rice company as it stands on the brink of controlling India’s rice distribution system.

Adelaide has enjoyed a number of excellent arts events in the first half of 2015, including the Adelaide Festival and currently the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, but locals will always welcome another top notch arts event.

By hosting the 2015 National Play Festival South Australians join audiences from all over Australia for the opportunity to witness fine theatre creation at a unique and absorbing workshop level.

Images (from top): Ben Brooker, Elena Carapetis, Emily Steel and Sophia Simmons.

Early Bird passes are on sale from BASS until June 22. Go to www.bass.net.au or call 131 246.

When: July 22-25, 2015.

Where: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.

Bookings: Early Bird Passes www.bass.net.au or call 131 246

Further information: www.nationalplayfestival.org.au

Full program available from June 22