Silver Gull Play Award Announces 2025 Shortlist

The shortlist has been announced for the 2025 Silver Gull Play Award, following a record-breaking number of entries. Each script was evaluated anonymously by multiple judges, ensuring the final selection was based solely on merit. The shortlisted plays reflect New Theatre’s ethos of “Plays With a Purpose,” showcasing a breadth of voices and styles from across Australia.

The five shortlisted works are The Crypt Dialogues by Peter Fleming, Lavender Sky by Jack Kearney, First, Do No Harm by Grace Malouf, Brief Candle by Simon Thomson, and The Vanya Variations by Steven Vidler. Two additional plays were highly commended: Hiding Lights in Dark Places by Meg McDonald and The Bureau of Imagined Genealogy by Zoe Hogan.

The 2025 award offers a prize pool of $7,000 courtesy of sponsor Joy Minter. The winning play will be announced at an awards night on Monday, October 13, which will feature rehearsed readings of excerpts from the shortlisted scripts. Members of the public are invited to attend the event at New Theatre by RSVP to publicity@newtheatre.org.au.

Founded to encourage new Australian writing, the Silver Gull Play Award has become a platform for emerging and established playwrights whose work engages with urgent social themes. This year’s playwrights include Fleming, known for his collaborations with Allan McFadden and his radio dramas for ABC; Kearney, a lawyer and filmmaker whose plays have sold out seasons at Adelaide Fringe and Redfern; Malouf, a Katie Lees Fellowship recipient and finalist for the Griffin Award; Thomson, a writer-director exploring multicultural Australian narratives; and Vidler, an award-winning actor and filmmaker whose debut feature Blackrock premiered at Sundance.

The award night will also celebrate the contributions of highly commended playwrights McDonald and Hogan, highlighting the continued strength of new playwriting in Australia.

Australia - Sydney Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. MJ THE MUSICAL (Sydney Lyric Theatre)

8.1% of votes

2. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (Gosford Musical Society)

6.8% of votes

3. A CHORUS LINE (Curtain Bounce)

6.4% of votes

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