Flinders University Young Playwrights Award Winners Revealed

Holly Brindley and Deanna Pitt are the 2015 winners of the Flinders University Young Playwrights Award, State Theatre Company's major award for the encouragement and support of new writing talent, now in its 15th year.

The 2015 Awards have been made in two categories - the Junior Award and the Senior Award. This year's Junior Award winner is 15 year old Norwood Morialta High School student Deanna Pitt, who will receive $500 cash prize; a four-play State Theatre Company subscription to the 2015 season; and a development session under the guidance of Resident Director Nescha Jelk and mentoring playwright, Phillip Kavanagh.

Deanna's play The Marvels of Peculiar Minds is set in nineteenth century London and tells the story of a young woman who gets pulled into a centuries-old battle between supernatural forces of good and evil. The judges were impressed with the epic scope of Deanna's energetic and imaginative narrative, which is packed full of humour, suspense and a large cast of fully-realised characters.

The Senior Award winner is Holly Brindley, whose play Cat is an encounter between a sex worker and a new client which gets off on the wrong foot when the client arrives with flowers. But that's not all that he has brought. Beneath the simmering menace of every word they exchange, lies the unspoken presence of their shared past.

Holly, 24, has studied Acting at Flinders University Drama Centre, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and MOVEO School of Physical Theatre in Barcelona. Her play Blue received the Flinders University Young Playwrights Award in 2013. Throughout 2015 Holly is being mentored by playwright Ross Mueller as a participant in the Australian Theatre for Young People's Fresh Ink program in Melbourne.

The judges were struck by Holly's skill in crafting dialogue and character. Set in a single location in continuous time, every second of Cat crackles with tension. Holly is an immensely talented playwright, and Cat is an accomplished work for a writer of any age.

Holly will receive $1000 cash prize; a 4-play subscription to the Company's 2015 season; script development with mentoring playwright, Phillip Kavanagh; rehearsal with Nescha Jelk and actors, culminating in a public reading of her work to be held on Monday 31 August. Entry to the reading is via gold coin donation and bookings are essential via rsvp@statetheatrecompany.com.au

State Theatre Company Resident Director Nescha Jelk said:

"For many winners of the Flinders Young Playwrights Award, it's been the first step on the road to a successful creative career. Both Deanna and Holly are two more exciting voices to add to the playwriting landscape in South Australia."

The Award is supported by the Company's University Partner, Flinders University. Head of Drama at Flinders University, Dr Anne Thompson said:

"It is gratifying to see how over the life of this Award, young playwrights are using the opportunity and encouragement to develop their writing for theatre. The Award is having the hoped-for benefits of both encouraging younger people to write for the theatre and to pursue a process of development whereby their writing improves over time."

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