Queensland Premier’s Drama Award

Entries now open

Queensland Premier's Drama Award 2022–23

Since 2002, Queensland Theatre, in partnership with the Queensland Government, has been inviting playwrights to put a new Australian work on our stage through this unique competition which culminates in a world premiere season of the winning entry.

Every two years the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award discovers, develops and produces outstanding Australian plays. The award recognises excellence in playwriting and is open to writers across Australia with stories that will connect with Queensland audiences today.

Thanks to new sponsor Griffith University, the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2022–23 is now the richest playwriting prize in the country.

The winner of the 2022–23 Award will receive:

• $30,000 cash prize from Prize Sponsor Griffith University
• $16,000 commission fee to develop their play throughout 2022–23
• A world premiere production of their play as part of Queensland Theatre’s 2023 Season.

Writers and performance makers from all backgrounds and lived experiences are invited to enter completed scripts for a new play that Queensland Theatre audiences need to see on our stage.

Please review the Conditions of Entry before you submit your script.

Entries close Friday 3 September 2021 at 6pm (Queensland local time).

How to enter

Using the online form below, you must submit the following documents:

1. A complete draft of your play, that does NOT include your name anywhere on the document.
2. Your CV summarising your writing/creative experience.
3. A one-page Artist Statement outlining:
   1. What inspired your play.
   2. Why your play will be of importance to Queensland audiences.
   3. What development support you believe your script requires.

Please review the Conditions of Entry before you submit your script.

Entries close Friday 3 September 2021 at 6pm (Queensland local time).

FAQ | Conditions of Entry

Enter here

Previous Finalists

2020-21
Steve Pirie, Return to the Dirt (winner)
Anna Loren, Comfort
Maddie Nixon, Binnavale

2018–19
David Megarrity, The Holidays (winner)
Hannah Belanszky, don’t ask what the bird look like
Anna Yen, Slow Boat

2016–17
Michele Lee, Rice (winner)
Kathryn Marquet, Furious Creatures
Suzie Miller, I Looked Up and There You Were

2014–15
Daniel Evans, Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (winner)
Tim Benzie, The Overflow
Megan Shorey, One in Seven

2012–13
Maxine Mellor, Trollop (winner)
Stephen Carleton, Bastard Territory
David Megarrity (for The Human Company), The Empty City

2010–11
Marcel Dorney, Fractions (winner)
Rebecca Clarke, Belongings
Philip Dean, Unreliable Bodies

2008–09
Richard Jordan, 25 Down (winner)
Katherine Lyall-Watson, Tinder
Sven Swenson, Dangerfield Park

2006–07
David Brown, The Estimator (winner)
Anthony Funnell, The Tram
Michael Riordan, String

2004–05
Adam Grossetti, Mano Nera (winner)
Stephen Carleton, Constance Drinkwater and the Last Days of Somerset
Philip Chappell, Welcome to Dreamland

2002–03
Sven Swenson, Road to the She-Devil’s Salon (winner)
Kathryn Ash, Flutter
Bruce Clark, The Kaufman Letter
Simon Ratcliffe, Conurb
Hugh Watson, The Valley
Gayle Wilkinson, Goat Head Burs