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Theatre, Writing and New Media

Home > Arts in Queensland > Theatre, Writing and New Media

Theatre, Writing and New Media Sector Development Plan (PDF 1413KB)

Arts Queensland funds artists, companies, festivals, community organisations and events in the areas of theatre, writing and new media. Some of the organisations and initiatives funded in 2007-2009 are:

  • Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts External Link - The Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts is a Registered Training Organisation developing and training Indigenous Performing Artists in acting, singing, dance and music.
  • APAM - Arts Queensland is committed to showcasing Queensland artists and arts organisations at the biennial Australian Performing Arts Market 
  • Bell Shakespeare Company External Link – towards taking the Bell Shakespeare Actors At Work and workshop programme into the communities of Hopevale and Arukun in Cape York and to Thursday Island
  • Benjamin Julien – to attend Clarion South Writers Workshop
  • Franz Ehmann - Attendance at Art Forum Berlin
  • Gayle McGregor – to attend the Costume Colloquium: A Tribute to Janet Arnold In Florence, Italy.
  • Indigenous Theatre Fund - a joint initiative of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government's arts funding and advisory body, offers a total of $259, 000 for distribution in 2010.
  • Interplay External Link - International Festival of Young Playwrights
  • Jacinta Yelland – to study the workshops "Le Jeu", "Neutral Mask and Text" and "Characters" at Ecole Philippe Gaulier
  • Keith Armstrong – towards the second and third stages of the interactive installation, Triple Bypass
  • Kristine Olsson – towards undertaking a workshop in biography and memoir with Arvon Foundation, tutored by eminent biographers & teachers
  • Kooemba Jdarra Indigenous Performing Arts
  • MAPS for artists - New Queensland arts initiative tests alternative support structure for independent artists - view release (PDF 172KB). MAPS External Link (Managing and Producing Services) is funded in Queensland as a joint venture between the theatre and dance boards of Australia Council and Arts Queensland.
  • Michael Futcher External Link - to create a digital video recording of Matrix Theatre's latest production of "The Wishing Well"
  • National Play Festival  External Link - A hothouse for ideas, workshops, forums and showcase performances of eight new cutting-edge plays from the country's most promising playwrights. Arts Queensland has entered into a three-year partnership (2008 - 2010) with the National Play Festival, positioning Queensland as a key centre for new performance writing in Australia.
  • Nerissa Heath – towards creating an innovative new work of theatre called Fools, Freaks and Femme Fatales.
  • Prulisa McEvoy – to undertake a two week Varuna Longlines Residency in Katoomba, NSW and be mentored in the development of her poetry manuscript – Artist, Mother and Other Women.
  • Queensland Premier's Literary Awards External Link - The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were inaugurated in 1999 and have grown to become a leading literary awards program within Australia, with $225 000 in prize money offered across 14 categories. The awards offer Australian established and aspiring authors the opportunity to gain recognition in the literary community as well as providing financial assistance to support the development of high quality writing.  Arts Queensland sponsors three awards: the Unpublished Indigenous Writer David Unaipon Award; the Judith Wright Calanthe Poetry Collection; and the Steel Rudd Australian Short Story Collection.
  • Regional Writes – Sunshine Coast Regional Council - towards engaging a professional writer in residence in the lead up to the opening of the new library in Cooroy. In addition to researching and writing her own work, the resident writer will provide advisory services and workshops to the community with outcomes being presented in the library.
  • Roland Thring – funding the production phase of a new play for children/families to be presented in Bundaberg and Cairns in December 2009.
  • Sarah Houbolt – to attend and perform at the Auckland Fringe International Collaboration.
  • Shiereen Magsalin - to participate in a unique theatre project in Sweden, the International Theatre Laboratory, under the guidance of the world-renowned director, Mathias Lafolie.
  • Tamara Whyte – towards rehearsing and presenting a new play 'Red Sanctuary' by independent Indigenous playwright and director Tamara Whyte.
  • Theatre made in Queensland External Link - This is theatre made in Queensland. These companies reveal a new confidence in Queensland theatre with the courage to push physical, emotional and intellectual boundaries.
  • Val Vallis Poetry Award External Link - Named after the late iconic Queensland poet Val Vallis [open in a new window with link to: and sponsored by Arts Queensland, this award presents a total of $4000 prize money to Australian poets for unpublished work
  • Wilde Applause – towards the creative development of "Caliban's Box", a unique Object Theatre project to be produced by Wilde Applause Creative Productions through the eclectic collaboration of highly successful local visual and performance artists.
  • Write About Art - Senior students from across Queensland are invited to participate in Arts Queensland's Write About Art competition by submitting an essay, interview or feature story about art or design.

  • Interplay - to present the 11th World Interplay Festival in Cairns in July 2009, bringing together more than 20 young playwrights from around the world. International partner is the Royal Court young playwrights program.

  • David Fenton - for The Human Company to adapt the children's book, The Empty City, into a live/animated performance for a target audience aged 3 to 9 with the potential to present at the 2010 Out of the Box Festival.

  • Irene Feuz - to develop the Torres Strait theatre musical Dancing the Line for a public reading for community and industry input.

  • Sue Rider - to produce new music theatre work The Pink Twins through a partnership with La Boite Theatre Company and the Queensland Music Festival.

  • Justin Marshman - to produce The Restaged Histories Project: The Greater Plague in partnership with the Brisbane Powerhouse.

  • Jane Gronow - towards Queensland writers' fees for Lowdown Magazine, Australia's only national youth performing arts magazine published six times a year.

  • Celia White - towards touring costs to present Queensland artist showcase Crash Collective: Juice at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Melbourne Comedy Festival, in collaboration with Strut & Fret Production House.

  • Lutheran Church - for Queensland authors and illustrators to participate in the annual youth literature festival, Voices on the Coast, held at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

  • Rebecca Clunn - to undertake an invitation for a curatorial mentorship with the National Review of Live Art (NRLA) Artistic Director Nikki Millican to perform 'Sentiments of War' at the NLRA alongside company Leibniz in Glasgow, Scotland UK

  • Dale Jacobsen - the funding will be used towards costs to secure the services of Craig Munro (Freelance Editor) as mentor in the completion of manuscript entitled "Union Jack" in preparation for submission to publishers.

  • Sally Breen - towards costs associated with being selected to attend the Varuna Manuscript Development Program in Sydney developing a manuscript entitled "The Casuals" to a publishable standard in partnership with the Varuna Writers Centre and HarperCollins publishers.

  • Fleur Noble - the funding will be used towards costs associated with the final creative development, publicity and performance of a filmic theatre production entitled "Work in Progress" to be performed as part of the 2008 Brisbane Festival "Under the Radar" program.

  • Sally Golding - the funding would be used towards costs to participate in a research internship in new media and film archiving; to exhibit own work in contemporary live audiovisual performance, and to present and research within new media curatorial practice.

  • Gavin Sade - the funding will be used towards costs associated with the exhibition and promotion of an interactive media artwork entitled 'Charmed' at the 2008 International Symposium of Electronic Arts (ISEA) in Singapore, and to create high quality video documentation of the work for future promotion.

  • Isabel D'Avila Winter - the funding will be used towards costs associated with attending the Lisbon, Portugal launch of the applicant's debut novel 'Dona Stella and her Rivals' and to participate in local media interviews and organise the launch's video and photographic reportage as a resource for promotional event back in Australia.

  • Kieran Swann - the funding will be used towards travel, accommodation and administration costs associated with a two month trip to North America and Europe to meet with internationally acclaimed contemporary performance groups including Societas Raffaello Sanzio, Imitating the Dog, Hotel Pro Forma, Lone Twin and Gob Squad.

  • Catherine Cockburn - the funding will be used towards costs associated with travel costs to attend the Romance Writers of America conference, finalise the publication of a novel and discuss future projects with Harlequin books, the world's leading publisher of women's fiction in San Francisco, USA.

  • Lynne Scott-Cumming - the funding will be used towards costs associated with engaging a professional appraiser to assess a fantasy novel and mentor the applicant to develop it to a publishable standard.

  • Jodie Swales - the funding will be used towards costs associated with attending 'Kidabra 2008', an international conference for professional children's performers and entertainers in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA.