Tahli Corin and Caleb Lewis win Parsons Award

MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: PHILIP PARSONS YOUNG PLAYWRIGHT'S AWARD

Company B Belvoir is pleased to announce that the 2009 Philip Parsons Young Playwright’s Award has been given jointly to Tahli Corin and Caleb Lewis. The decision was announced on Sunday 6 December at the Belvoir St Theatre, to an audience assembled to listen to, and participate in, a panel discussion about opportunities for women in the theatre industry within Australia.

The winners will receive $5000 each to work on a script to first draft stage, as well as artistic and creative support from Company B Belvoir to develop their commissioned work.

Speaking at the Belvoir St Theatre on Sunday, Neil Armfield said, ‘We are very much looking forward to working with Tahli and Caleb. It is an exciting process to watch works grow from their early beginnings into fully-developed scripts, and to nurture the work of young writers.

‘Tahli Corin first came to Company B Belvoir as the writer of Bumming with Jane which was one of the highlights of the 2008 B Sharp season. She has subsequently had work developed by Sydney Theatre Company and has completed a commission for the NIDA Open Program.’

The decision was reached by the selection panel prior to Caleb’s decision to withdraw his entry to the competition, on 24 November. He has been uncontactable since his announcing his withdrawal.

Neil said, ‘We were impressed by Caleb’s pitch this year, and hope that he will reconsider his
decision to withdraw so we can offer him artistic and dramaturgical support to develop his work. In the meantime, we will keep his commission in trust.’

The Philip Parsons Award is given each year to a playwright whose work demonstrates an original and compelling theatrical voice, and the competition attracts the highest calibre of artists each year.

The award has a strong tradition of supporting new Australian writing and the work produced
through the Award has a remarkable track record. Kate Mulvany’s The Seed premiered at B Sharp in 2007, moved to the Company B mainstage in 2008 and toured nationally in 2009. Brendan Cowell’s Ruben Guthrie premiered at B Sharp in 2008 and a new production was staged as part of Company B’s season in 2009. Tommy Murphy’s commission Gwen in Purgatory will premiere in Company B Belvoir’s 2010 season, directed by Neil Armfield. There are high hopes for Khoa Do, the 2008 winner, whose play To 100 Years of Happiness is still in development.

The Philip Parsons Young Playwright of the Year Award is part of the annual Philip Parsons Memorial Lecture, which this year addressed the issue of women in theatre. Rachel Healy (Director of Performing Arts, Sydney Opera House) introduced a lively discussion which was moderated by Monica Attard (ABC journalist) and included Alison Croggon (theatre notes blogger and critic), Shannon Murphy (emerging theatre director), Marion Potts (Associate Artistic Director, Bell Shakespeare) and Gil Appleton (who has had a long career in broadcasting and the arts) on the panel.

The Award and Lecture commemorate the life’s work of Dr Philip Parsons AM (1926 – 1993). Dr
Parsons was co-founder of the performing arts publishers Currency Press, and an influential teacher and mentor to many of the students, actors, directors and playwrights who spearheaded the new wave of Australian theatre in the 1970s.

A transcript or audio recording of the panel discussion will be made available in early 2010. These will be made available via the Company B Belvoir website: www.belvoir.com.au

The winner of the 2008 Philip Parsons Young Playwright’s Award was Khoa Do. He has since been
working with Company B Belvoir to develop his commissioned script. He also wrote, directed and
produced Missing Water, a film about the Vietnamese refugees who travelled to Australia in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. It was presented as part of the 2009 Sydney Film Festival.