Don’t get me wrong- I’m not just about short plays. I believe in (as Timothy Daly once said to me) in being “a miniaturist”- but I also believ in the juicyness of a full length play. I love watching the intertwined stories within a full length play… and Australia does fabulous stories, for example… Bang, When the Rain Stops Falling, Cloudstreet, Blackrock, The Man From Mukinupin, Bran Nue Dae etc, etc.

In Australia, and in particular in Sydney, the opportunities to have a full length play developed or workshopped can be relegated to the lucky, the few at larger high profile conferences – or on the other end of the spectrum – people’s lounge rooms. Rarely do emerging writers have the benefit of focussing in on their play, with a director of their choice. And THAT’s what Off the Shelf is about.

When I was thinking about Off the Shelf, I wanted there to be time and space available to writers and directors to test out a play- and test out their aesthetic language. I wanted it to be safe place… a place where you could be free to discover and develop as they wanted to. Off the Shelf is not a course – no one tells you how to write, or how to use the space… everyone uses the time and space in a different way: sheets of butchers paper spread out on the floor with words and scenes; actors warming up- doing exercises or improvisations; directors and writers huddled together drinking coffee and looking over the tops of laptops… Script in hand readings- sometimes costumed- sometimes accompanied by music- everyone is free to develop how they want, what is best for their play.

Offered to the teams is a Toolkit workshop – this OFF THE SHELF offered Kate Mulvany, Tahli Corin and Rick Viede- three amazing and very different practising writers who have very different journeys and slants on how to: and that is largely the point… Off the Shelf offers perspectives- offers feedback – offers support: but not didacticism. Queen Street is run by artists who support artists: we all know how personal, how difficult it can be… and how unique each story is.

Off the Shelf # 4 includes four bright new scripts by the four emerging writers developed by 4 dedicated, passionate directors…

Crushed
Writer: Melita Rowston
Director: Lucinda Gleeson
Synopsis: On December 12, 1988, Sunny Girl Susie turned sweet sixteen. Her boyfriend Jason gave her a Poison t-shirt, her best-friend Kelly gave her a name necklace, Kelly’s boyfriend Dazza gave her a handful of pills. On December 12, 1988, Susie disappeared. Her body has not been found. Twenty-two years later, developers excavating nearby scrubland discover evidence that drags Jason, Kelly and Dazza back for the bleakest of high school reunions.

The Loser of Hornsby
Writer: Andy Leonard
Director: Helen Tonkin
Synopsis: Shane is quite the proverbial arsehole. After an accident he moves home to convalesce at his mother’s urging. His hen-pecked father, Jim, puts a six-week time limit on the stay, for everyone’s sake. Many, many years on, however, Shane is still there, inflicting SBS Russian news on his poor old dad, steadfastly ignoring the jobs and real estate sections of the paper that his dad leaves out for him every week, and bullying his mother into driving him to the pub so he can piss his pension up the wall. When the shady Booner comes to stay and Frank Sargeant joins the fray, the stage is set for disaster on an epic scale.

Small Life
Writer: Zoe Hogan
Director: Paige Rattray
Synopsis: Small Life is about finding families in challenging places – on the streets and far away. A girl makes a living as a beggar and manager of beggars. Across the road from a famous cinema, she struggles to manage new relationships and old debts.

In the Company of Dead Cats
Writer: Emrys Quinn
Director: Carolyn Eccles
After desperately seeking relief in any form from the grief caused by the death of a dear friend, Michael – Ray, Lily and Daniel are meeting for the first time since Michael’s funeral, three months ago, in the flat the four of them had shared. Never the most stable judges of social etiquette, the three find there’s comfort to be found in the accidental maiming of domestic pets.

If you are keen to come along and check it out… or you want to know more about the programme, please email me on augusta@queenstreetstudio.com