HISTORY & Past Winners
HISTORY
The Australian Theatre Festival NYC New Play Award celebrates new plays/musicals with distinct Australian voices.
Beginning in the Australian Theatre Festival NYC’s inaugural year, 2019, the New Play Award is an annual award administered by Co-Artistic Directors & Executive Producers Mark Barford, Connor Delves & Jillian Geurts. This award is the only Australian writing prize that offers a unique opportunity for the winners to have their work presented in New York. In addition to the cash prize, the winning plays have all been developed with ATF Co-Artistic Director Mark Barford and presented in New York as a part of the annual festival. The Award is unanimously selected by a panel of industry experts, including Co-Artistic Directors Mark Barford, Connor Delves and Jillian Geurts.
2023
Sponsored by Shane & Cathryn Brennan
2023 New Play Award Winner - Sally Alrich-Smythe, “Wavelength”
As winner, Sally Alrich-Smythe received $7,500.00 USD, developmental support and a staged reading of “Wavelength” in the 2023 festival in NYC.
“Wavelength” - Georgia and Marcus, best friends and coworkers at a right-leaning radio station, confront a sexual assault allegation. Using spoken word poetry, the play delves into questions of consent and blame as Georgia, navigating her own past trauma, takes a stand to support the victim, sacrificing her career and friendship in the process.
“I’m overjoyed that my play Wavelength is the winner of The 2023 New Play Award. Having worked on this one through the pandemic, I’m hungry to see it finally lifted off the page, and where better than on a stage in New York City?! Thank you to the team at Australian Theatre Festival, and sponsors Shane and Cathryn Brennan, for granting this opportunity. The recognition of the award alone is a huge privilege. ”
@Sally.alrich_smythe (Instagram)
2023 New Play Award Runner-Up - Wendy Mocke, “REALish”
“REALish”- 30-something Stella is having a very bad day. Barricaded inside her apartment, all Stella wants is to be left with her own thoughts – the problem is, her thoughts keep talking back. And they’ve brought KFC. REALish is a wild new comedy about dealing with the outside world by looking within.
@relentlesslywendy (Instagram) & WendyMocke (Twitter)
2022
Sponsored by Shane & Cathryn Brennan
2022 New Play Award Winner - Melissa-Kelly Franklin, “Paradise Lost”
As winner, Melissa-Kelly Franklin received $5,000 USD, developmental support and a staged reading of “Paradise Lost” in the 2022 Festival in NYC.
“Paradise Lost”-A young Australian doctor begins her first rotation in an offshore detention center on a remote Pacific island. Here she connects with an Iranian poet fleeing persecution, and finds her legal obligation to remain silent on the cruelty of the detention center and her hippocratic oath increasingly in conflict.
“I’m thrilled to see Paradise Lost win the Australian Theatre Festival New Play Award for 2022. I’m so grateful to the people who consulted on the project, read numerous drafts, and supported the play throughout its development - to have it recognized by my fellow theatre-makers is such a privilege.” - Melissa-Kelly Franklin
2022 New Play Award Runner-Up - Jordan Shea, “They’re Not Listening”
As Runner-Up, Jordan Shea received $2,500 USD.
“They’re Not Listening” tells the story of Benji, as he returns to teach at the school that made him after ten years of working in the poorest schools in the world. Confronted by an estranged education system, an intense deputy principal, and a rowdy English class, Benji tries to find his feet in a religious institution as a queer man.
@jordyshea www.jordanpshea.com
2021
Sponsored by Andrew J. Martin-Weber and Shane & Cathryn Brennan
2021 New Play Award Winner - Lewis Treston, “Hubris & Humiliation”
As Winner, Lewis received $5000 USD, development and a staged reading of “Hubris & Humiliation in the 2022 Australian Theatre Festival NYC.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when a single mother loses her home to a predatory cat fish, she must send her only gay son to Sydney to marry rich. In this campy Jane Austen inspired odyssey, mediocre homosexual Elliott Delaney discovers that falling in love demands equal parts hubris and humiliation.”
"Love is the cause and solution to all our problems."
2021 New Play Award Runner-Up - Yvette Walker, “Seven Deadly Gins”
A trip back home to Cloncurry summons all of Magenta's childhood demons to congregate in one place where she is forced to confront what has been buried for so long. It's time for her to move forward. But her past has different ideas... Is she strong enough to handle the truth?
"We walked through the belly of the storm, you clutching your basket to your side, one step in front of another step in front of another step. Through the intestines, step, step, step and out through its bowls."
The finalists received $2,500 USD each, with the winner receiving $5000 USD.
2020
Sponsored by Andrew J. Martin-Weber
2020 New Play Award Winner - Richard Jordan, “The Tiniest Thing”
As winner, Richard received return airfare and accommodation in New York, $2000 USD cash, development support & a public staged reading in the 2020 ATF Season. Total prize is valued at over $5000 USD.
"The Tiniest Thing" by Richard Jordan is an eco-family drama about the politics of perception. It explores climate change denialism and generational inheritance within a fateful weekend for one Brisbane family. "The Tiniest Thing" asks: Do we always choose what we want to believe?
2020 New Play Award Runner-Up - Jamie Hornsby, “Python”
A workplace drama that morphs into a harrowing psychological thriller, centred on the unfathomable force of the internet.