In a year when live events were stuffed and audiences binged themselves stupid on the small screen, the annual performance writers’ awards were delivered online. It turns out that the night really belonged to live theatre. Mind you, Suzie Miller’s play Prima Facie is a one-woman piece, developed before the pandemic.
She was awarded the David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre. This is a smart prize, as she receives $20,000 while the commissioning company gets $80,000 to commission, develop and program a new Australian work. That will make the Griffin Theatre Company very happy.
Miller went on to receive the Major Award, once known as the Gold AWGIE and the climax of the event. While it pits apples against oranges, assembled professional writers relish the opportunity to honour the whole craft and reach to the fundamentals of performed communication.
The Guild described Prima Facie thus:
The taut and compelling one-woman play holds an unforgiving mirror up to the Australian legal system, exposing its failures towards women in rape, sexual assault or harassment cases and challenging the system, as well as the play’s audience, to listen and learn. It is the second year in a row that a female playwright has received both the Major Award and the David Williamson Prize, a testament to the strength of Australian playwriting even in the face of funding cuts and industry upheaval.
Suzie Miller is a truly impressive artist. Now living in London, trailing a glitter of awards, she has made around 20 plays as she moved from lawyer to imagineer via the Playwrights Studio at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Arts, an honours degree in science and a masters in theatre/film, interlaced with wonderful international residencies, including a three year mentorship with Edward Albee.
Bryony Tresize in The Conversation covers the production while Stephanie Converie interviewed Suzie Miller for Guardian Australia. Her words to the Griffin Theatre are electric:
I am a playwright who believes in the power of theatre, believes in it with every fibre of my being. Believes in the strength of storytelling as an agent of change. Believes in audiences and in igniting imaginations so we can step into a character’s lived reality. If I am being truly honest when I ask myself: “what do I want out of theatre?”, the answer would be: I passionately want the same thing I passionately wanted as a human rights lawyer – I want to change the world. I want to work with people who believe in the power of theatre to change the world, and I want to write stories that create conversations that go beyond the theatre.
She has been writing for screen through Hoodlum, Heiress Films and Bunya Productions.
The whole ceremony is here.
It is a far cry from the 2019 Awards, which we didn’t know was the last before the end of collective innocence.
The full list of winners and nominees looks like this:
FEATURE FILM – ORIGINAL
Hearts and Bones – Ben Lawrence with Beatrix Christian
Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt) – Monica Zanetti
Unsound – Ally Burnham
FEATURE FILM – ADAPTATION
Penguin Bloom – Shaun Grant with Harry Cripps
Acute Misfortune – Erik Jensen and Thomas M. Wright
H is for Happiness – Lisa Hoppe
The Other Lamb – C. S. McMullen
SHORT FILM
Carmentis – Antony Webb
Triple Swear – Dannika Horvat
Something Has Died In The Forest (ЩОСЬ В ЛIСI ЗДОХЛО) – Eva Justine Torkkola
DOCUMENTARY – PUBLIC BROADCAST (INCLUDING VOD) OR EXHIBITION
Own the Sky – Gregory Read
Koko – A Red Dog Story – Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce
Perspective Shift: ‘Daniel’ – Genevieve Clay-Smith
Wild Butterfly – Shireen Narayanan
DOCUMENTARY – COMMUNITY, EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING (OR OTHERWISE COMMISSIONED TO A SPECIFIC BRIEF)
I am a Hazard – Christopher Burke with Distan Bach
Only one nomination
ANIMATION
Space Nova: ‘Ghost Station’ – Thomas Duncan-Watt
Alien TV: ‘Barbecue’ – Simon Dodd
Kitty Is Not A Cat: Season 2, ‘Cats’ Eye-Q’ – Raymond Boseley
Space Nova: ‘Black Hamster’ – Charlotte Rose Hamlyn
WEB SERIES AND OTHER NON-BROADCAST/NON-‘SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO ON DEMAND’ TV SHORT WORKS
Content – Anna Barnes
Halal Gurls: Episode 3 and Episode 6 – Vonne Patiag with Sara Mansour
TELEVISION – SERIAL
The Heights: Season 2, Episode 7 – Peter Mattessi
The Heights: Season 2, Episode 28 – Megan Palinkas
The Heights: Season 2, Episode 29 – Romina Accurso
The Heights: Season 2, Episode 30 – Warren Clarke
TELEVISION – SERIES OR MINISERIES OF MORE THAN 4 HOURS DURATION, INCLUDING ORIGINAL AND ADAPTED WORKS
Total Control: Episode 3 – Pip Karmel
Bloom: Season 2, ‘Blip’ – Glen Dolman
Messiah: ‘He That Hath An Ear’ – Michael Petroni
Stateless: ‘Panis Angelicus’ – Belinda Chayko
The End: ‘With Sparkles’ – Samantha Strauss
TELEVISION – TELEMOVIE OR MINISERIES OF 4 HOURS OR LESS DURATION, INCLUDING ORIGINAL AND ADAPTED WORKS
The Hunting – Matthew Cormack and Niki Aken
Hungry Ghosts – Timothy Hobart, John Ridley, Jeremy Nguyen, Alan Nguyen and Michele Lee
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ‘P’ CLASSIFICATION (PRESCHOOL – UNDER 5 YEARS), ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED, ANIMATED OR PERFORMED
Little J & Big Cuz: Season 2, ‘Goodbye Swooper’ – Erica Glynn
Little J & Big Cuz: Season 2, ‘Desert Camp’ – Dorothy West
Little J & Big Cuz: Season 2, ‘Finding Home’ – Beck Cole
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ‘C’ CLASSIFICATION (CHILDREN’S – 5–14 YEARS), ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED, ANIMATED OR PERFORMED
Mustangs FC: Season 3, ‘Mustangs Forever and Ever’ – Magda Wozniak
Mustangs FC: Season 3, ‘Level Up’ – Alix Beane
The New Legends of Monkey: Season 2, ‘Quest for Knowledge’ – Connor Van Vuuren
The New Legends of Monkey: Season 2, ‘Shadow Boxing’ – Christiaan Van Vuuren
COMEDY – SITUATION OR NARRATIVE
Rosehaven: Season 4, Episode 5 – Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola
How to Stay Married: Season 2, ‘Sexting’ – Trent Roberts
Rosehaven: Season 4, Episode 1 – Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola
The Other Guy: Season 2, ‘The Escape Room’ – Kacie Anning
COMEDY – SKETCH OR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
The Feed: ‘Anger For Women’, ‘Chloe Shorten’s Husband’, ‘Social Media Cops’, ‘Scotophile’ and ‘Bushfire Press Release’ – Victoria Zerbst with Michael Hing, Cameron James, Alex Lee and Jenna Owen
tied with
7.30: Season 2 – Mark Humphries and Evan Williams
Direct Eye Contact – Hannah Reilly
AUDIO
Ghosthunter – Ben Lawrence with Jess Bineth
Mackaroy Uncovered: Episode 3 – Paul Gartside
STAGE
Prima Facie – Suzie Miller
Mary Stuart – Kate Mulvany
Prima Facie – Suzie Miller
The Mares – Kate Mulvany
COMMUNITY AND YOUTH THEATRE
A Hymn to the Hateful – Finegan Kruckemeyer
Collapse – Grace De Morgan
THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
Cusp – Mary Anne Butler
Forgetting to Remember – Finegan Kruckemeyer
Normal – Katie Pollock
One the Bear – Candice Bowers
MUSIC THEATRE
Fangirls – Yve Blake
Flight Memory – Alana Valentine
Whiteley – Justin Fleming
