For-Artists

The 2011 Griffin Award is definitely, for me, the must-see, must-attend playwright’s event. With the generous support of PKF Chartered accountants and business advisers, the Griffin Award offers a $10,000 prize to an unproduced play – and so far has supported many of Australia’s remarkable playwrights as the honour Board shows –

1998 Catherine Zimdahl Clark in Sarajevo
1999 Neil Cole Alive at Williamstown Pier
2000 Ian Wilding Below
2001 Verity Laughton Burning
2002 Noëlle Janaczewska Songket and Patrick Van der Werf Presence.
2003 Brendan Cowell Rabbit
2004 Debra Oswald Mr Bailey’s Minder
2005 Ian Wilding The Carnivores
2006 Mary Rachel Brown Australian Gothic
2007 Damien Millar Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures
2008 Rick Viede Whore
2009 Lachlan Philpott Silent Disco
2010 Aidan Fennessy Brutopia

We mustn’t underestimate what the gesture of a company like PKF to donate prize money means to artists. Also what faith it shows in Sam Strong and the Griffin team. It’s a very significant cash award (now eclipsing the Patrick White Award, yes?) and has provided much needed inspiration and recognition to Australia’s playwrights.

This year, the award was presented a little differently – and this is, I think, a stroke of genius, really – instead of the winning play being read in full after the announcement – excerpts from all shortlisted plays are read. I think this is great in two ways:

1. it allows the audience/industry to get a taste of the plays currently out there and in “play” and shares the playwright’s style/flavour.
2. It provides us with a teaser, so that when we see the production there is still room for discovery and ah-ha! moments.

This year shortlist was incredibly diverse and rich and featured playwrights from different backgrounds and experience:

Melissa Bubnic – Beached
Duncan Graham – Wolf Hunger
Noelle Janaczewska – Third Person
David Mence- The Gully
Catherine Ryan – Copybook No.6
Rick Viede – A Hoax

In this shortlist (and everyone knows I prefer a shortlist to a prize!) I really was quite spell bound by the opening monologue of Duncan Graham’s Wolf Hunger, and romanced by the imagery in Catherine Ryan’s Copy Book no 6… I was also pleased to see that despite her Patrick White Award, Bubnic was amongst the shortlist with Beached, and I was very happy to be exposed to Mence’s The Gully and Janaczewska’s Third Person. I had seen a brief reading of a scene from Viede’s A Hoax and have been a big fan of his work for sometime… and it feels good to watch as playwrights become known and recognised for their talent!

When Rick Viede was announced as a winner I thought it a wonderful demonstration of his development as a writer – Whore was an incredible explosion of energy – witty, robust in yer face writing – sharp and devastating – I remember sitting in the theatre crying (at the readiing!!!!) – and now A Hoax is a more sophisticated, slow reveal – it’s a confident and intelligent piece of writing – more measured and considered – yet still piercingly astute and hilarious. Wonderful!

Congratulations to all the writers who have written a play this past year – and well done to the shortlisted folk and a double thumbs up for Mr Viede! Hurray!

The press release:

RICK VIEDE WINS 2011 GRIFFIN AWARD

Griffin Theatre Company last night announced that writer and performer Rick Viede is the winner of the 2011 Griffin Award for his play A Hoax.

The Griffin Award is an annual $10,000 prize offered for an outstanding new Australian play or performance text displaying an authentic, inventive and contemporary voice. Now in its 14th year, the Award celebrates the bright future of Australian drama.

For the first time in the Award’s history Griffin presented a selected reading from each of the shortlisted plays before announcing the winner. The audience was blown away by the raw talent and diversity of the six works presented.

Following the readings, the Award’s generous sponsors PKF Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers announced Rick Viede as the winner of this year’s Award.

Viede is no stranger to the prize, having won the Griffin Award in 2008 for his debut play Whore, which went on to have seasons at Belvoir Street Theatre and the New York Summer Play Festival in 2009. Viede’s latest work, A Hoax, is a complex, funny and thought provoking comedy-drama about otherness, appropriation, greed and fame in the world of Australian literature.

Griffin Theatre’s Artistic Director Sam Strong said “We are thrilled that Rick Viede has won the Griffin Award for a second time. There was an outstanding shortlist, which it was wonderful to celebrate by presenting extracts from all six works on the night. A Hoax is a fresh and daring interrogation of identity politics and the lengths people will go to to get what they want. The judges responded to the play’s vivid characterisation, its wicked sense of humour, and its unique capacity to provoke as well as entertain.”

The Griffin Award is one of Australia’s most prestigious playwriting honors and has a long history of highlighting new talent and cementing the careers of emerging writers. Previous recipients of the prize include Aiden Fennessy (Brutopia, 2010), Lachlan Philpott (Silent Disco, 2009), Damien Millar (Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, 2007), Mary Rachel Brown (Australian Gothic, 2006), Ian Wilding (The Carnivores, 2005), Debra Oswald (Mr Bailey’s Minder, 2004) and Brendan Cowell (Rabbit, 2003).

Rick Viede is an accomplished writer and performer. As a playwright, he has been commissioned by Griffin Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare and has received a fellowship from the Australia Council to develop new works. As a performer, Viede has experienced huge success with his alter ego; the satirical character Glace Chase. Glace has performed to critical acclaim throughout Australia and internationally at venues including the Public Theater NYC, Belvoir Street Theatre, Darlinghurst Theatre, The Butterfly Club and festivals including The Melbourne Comedy Festival, Mardi Gras Festival, Midsumma and Feast Festival. Viede holds a B.A. from Monash University and has completed a Grad. Dip. in Screenwriting at AFTRS.