Guild asks playwright members for their facts on funding

19 June, 2015

Tell us your story

The Australian Writers’ Guild is surveying its playwright members to boost the sector’s response to the dramatic changes to arts funding announced in the federal government’s May Budget.

The Guild has already made its headline position clear in its Budget response and it now wants to gather evidence from its members to build a compelling story based on the lived experience of the artists working in this field every day.  We want to use these facts and these real-world stories to further inform decision makers and their art support policies.

AWG Executive Director Jacqueline Elaine says the Guild was founded more than 50 years ago to support Australian performance writers and promote excellence.

“And that is what we continue to do – part of achieving that is for decision makers to understand how Australian stories actually make it to our stages.  There are no guarantees of what will resonate with audiences, but If excellence and audiences are the goal of the policy, then investment in the art and the artist, and in the theatre companies which seek and support a diversity of voices, reflecting the diversity of Australian stories, and appealing to a diversity of Australian audiences is what is needed for our stages.

“We realise that our members are one of the single biggest repositories of knowledge on the theatre in Australia, so we want to ask them directly what they benefitted most from in developing their career, including issues such as development and production funding and public financial support,” she says.

The Guild will therefore be calling on all its playwright members, past and present and others involved in writing for the sector to share their experiences.

“The AWG does not take a narrow view of what is a good or a bad Australian stories, and nor do writers when reviewing each other’s work, ” Ms Elaine says. “We support popular, commercially successful productions as well as new, innovative and cutting-edge drama testing new forms, that have great artistic potential but which may struggle for financial viability in the early stages.”  

The AWG has an outstanding success rate when searching for excellence that the industry wants and will invest in. But identifying and shining a momentary spotlight on a bright new star is not what sustains an industry, and not what brings Australian audiences the variety, diversity and excellence they deserve.  The AWG believes there needs to be support for the companies and programs that nurture and provide the opportunity for new work to be tested and honed, so a script and a writer are ready for production, for an audience.

“Although the Australian theatre is not large by the standards of many countries, our playwrights have a worldwide reputation for their creativity and the quality of their work. We want to ensure that Australian performance writers continue to enhance Australia’s reputation internationally, contribute to taking our stories beyond our most populous cities, while contributing to our national cultural and economic wellbeing.  This needs a comprehensive, considered, well informed and clearly articulated arts policy.  From all sides of parliament. Intelligent, comprehensive policy platforms presented transparently before the next election are an essential element of what Australia’s storytellers demand – and their own stories can help inform those crucial promises and plans. Policies should be built on genuine consultation.  We will continue to present our case with the storytellers’ own stories.”

Playwrights – please respond when you receive our survey – your stories need you.