BEHIND THE SCENES
VANESSA BATES - WINNER OF THE 2022 STODDART PLAYWRIGHT AWARD
Vanessa Bates is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her produced plays include A Ghost In My Suitcase (the play)(AWGIE), Trailer (AWGIE nom, CONDA nom), The Magic Hour, PORN.CAKE (AWGIE nom, NSW Premiers Literary Award), Checklist For An Armed Robber (AWGIE, Louis Esson Award nom), Darling Oscar, Small Hard Truths, and most recently The One. Vanessa has been produced by The Ensemble Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, Barking Gecko, Sydney Theatre Company, Darlinghurst Theatre, Black Swan Theatre, Griffin, Deckchair, Theatre@Risk, atyp, Tantrum, Freewheels TIE and many others.
Chipper is a new play about old themes. Following the relationship between two estranged sisters, the conflict between the “good” and the “bad” child, themes of loss, grief, and regret bounce around in this sureal and slightly black comedy. Chipper is about finding the strength to say goodbye to the past and the joy in facing the future.
You can catch Chipper in July at the Civic Playhouse when it receives a staged reading.
A huge congratulations to Vanessa, and to all the shortlisted writers in this year's Award. Thanks also to the generous support of the Stoddart Playwright Award by the Stoddart family.
Entries for the 2023 Stoddart Playwright Award will open in 2023.