At NIDA’s Master of Fine Arts (Writing for Performance) live readings, the Ken Healey Innovation in Writing Award was presented to emerging writer Nicholas Duddy.
Photo: Head of Writing for Performance Dr Stephen Sewell, Nicholas Duddy and Ken Healey.
Nine talented students from NIDA’s Master of Fine Arts (Writing for Performance) course presented their final works to the public in a series of live rehearsed readings in October in NIDA’s Luminis Studio Theatre.
To add to the celebratory feel of the readings, the legendary writer, director and narrator Ken Healey and Head of Writing for Performance Dr Stephen Sewell were on hand to present the Ken Healey Innovation in Writing Award. The award was won this year by MFA writer, Nicholas Duddy.
Nicholas wrote We Three, The Sea, a mosaic of memory, which traces the love and loss, longing and loneliness of three couples connected � and disconnected � by a coastal Australian town through time. He was awarded for his online application pitch ‘earth’ saying, ‘It’s now or never. Our existence is under immediate threat. We know this. Or, at least, we should. Facts don’t lie.’
Photo: Readings of Play On, written by MFA (Writing for Performance) student Kazia Vickery.
Photo: Readings of People Fingers, written by MFA (Writing for Performance) student Thomas Owen.
Photo: MFA (Writing for Performance) student Enoch Mailangi reading his piece Platypus.
Photo: MFA (Writing for Performance) student JoJo Zhou introduces her work Porpoise Pool.
As excerpts from larger works, the readings included issues around gender, sexuality, liberal democracy and political transparency. Presented across 10 days, the story plotlines ranged from refugees in an alternate universe, a young woman’s roller derby team in their grand final, a dark comedy about organised crime, the impact of ever-present technology, an exiled Holy man and the journey of love through the ages.
Brought to life by trained actors, the stories reflected the issues of our time, with the writers encouraged to explore and experiment within the genre by playwright and Course Leader Writing for Performance Dr Stephen Sewell.
Read more about this year’s Master of Fine Arts (Writing for Performance) students here.
For more information about NIDA’s courses and for tickets to the October Student Productions Season, go to nida.edu.au
