UNE > News and Events > Browse by article > Young 'bards' see their works staged at UNE

Next Seminar to discuss UNE's 'built and landscape heritage' September 14, 2006  

Previous Linguist to speak on the “hybridity” of the Israeli language September 12, 2006 

Young 'bards' see their works staged at UNE

September 13, 2006

Bards.thumb.JPGThe winning entrants in a newly-established competition for school-age playwrights saw their works acted before an appreciative audience at The University of New England on Friday evening [8 September].

The presentation of the three dramatic monologues followed the announcement, earlier in the evening, of the prize winners in the inaugural UNE School Drama Monologue Prize (UNESDP) competition. The UNESDP awards evening was held in UNE's Arts Theatre.

First prize ($200) went to Alexandra Hahn, who is in Year 10 at Lismore High School. Her monologue, titled The Gift, presents an old woman reminiscing about her childhood. It was directed by Martin Mantle and performed by Kate Coward.

Roxy Seater, who is in Year 12 at Coffs Harbour High School, won second prize ($150) for In the Blood, directed by Jo Drake and performed by Nindy Meyer-Gleaves; Ross Murray - The Armidale School, Year 12 - won third prize ($100) with Numero Uno, directed by Peter O'Donohue and performed by Nick Curnow.

Alexandra Hahn and Roxy Seater, together with their families, travelled to Armidale from Lismore and Coffs Harbour for the UNESDP awards evening. "It was a wonderful experience for each of the playwrights to see their piece interpreted by a director and performed by an actor," said the competition's organiser, Dr Lynn Everett. "A play can be interpreted in so many ways, and there is always the possibility that the author will see their work in a new light - perhaps seeing aspects of it that they didn't know were there." She explained that the actors of the monologues were all Theatre Studies students at UNE, while the three directors were all affiliated with the University.

Dr Everett, Lecturer in Drama Education in UNE's School of Education, said that Roxy Seater (second prize) and Ross Murray (third prize) had performed their own monologues for their Higher School Certificate Drama assessment, but that the winning monologue, by Alexandra Hahn, had never been performed before. "The standard of the pieces was very high," she said.

Speaking during the awards evening, Dr Everett said: "It is my hope that the establishment of the UNE drama prize will present many opportunities. For the young writers who enter their work, it is an opportunity to see their script performed in front of an audience - perhaps for the first time. The monologues they write may be a trial for something bigger; they may contain a seed - the germ of an idea - that is later developed into a full-length playscript. It is an opportunity for these young writers to be celebrated and encouraged in their creative endeavours."

"It is also my hope that the drama prize will continue to foster strong relationships between UNE and the schools in the region," she continued. "This is the first UNE drama monologue prize, but I'm sure it will be the first of many." She thanked the Executive Dean of UNE's Faculty of Education, Health and Professional Studies, Professor Victor Minichiello, and the School of Education for their support.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows (from left) Ross Murray (third prize, The Armidale School), Nick Curnow (UNE actor), Alexandra Hahn (first prize, Lismore High School), Dr Lynn Everett, Kate Coward (UNE actor), Nindy Meyer-Gleaves (UNE actor), and Roxy Seater (second prize, Coffs Harbour High School).

Posted by Jim Scanlan at September 13, 2006 04:05 PM