Queer Playwriting Award Info & Submission

Creators of new or developing works of theatre are invited to submit their proposals for consideration by a panel of supportive industry professionals. If you have an idea for a show, a completed script, or anything in between, we want to hear from you. 

One work will be selected to receive ongoing support and development with a view to becoming a full-scale work to be presented in Midsumma Festival 2027 or beyond.

Submit your work here

Expressions of Interest close on Friday 4 July 2025

If you have any access needs and you need additional support to submit an application, please contact Gasworks Arts Park on 03 8606 4200 or email [email protected]

• Queer Playwriting Award call-out commences: Sunday 1 June 2025
• Call out closes: Friday 4 July 2025
• Selection Panel Meets (to select finalists): Mid-July 2025
• Applicants notified and participation/details confirmed: Late July 2025
• Queer Playwriting Award & Showcase: Monday 19 January 2025
• Selection Panel Meets (to select Award recipient): February 2026
• Award recipient announced: Late February/early March 2026

Queer themes

It is important that your work incorporates an exploration of queer themes in some way. Obviously how you achieve this is up to you. The panel will be looking for works that progress audience understanding of queer issues.

Audience appeal

While you are welcome to tell your personal story, remember to transcend personal expression in order to create work that is of interest to an audience. To ensure the longevity of your work, it is vital that it appeals to a range of audiences.

Think about why a general audience might buy a ticket to a full length version of your show. This doesn’t mean that everyone has to love it, but consider where this show may be seen in the long-term - for example, your show may end touring regional Australia, it may end up playing to a variety of age groups, and so on. If your work only appeals to a very specific market segment, it will be challenging to expose it to a broad audience. The panel will be looking for works that have a broad appeal, and that can be experienced by a range of audiences.

Authenticity

We are eager to uncover original, unique and authentic stories. The panel will be looking for works that clearly communicate engaging stories or captivating commentary upon current or historical events.

Style

While your work may not have a design concept in mind, it is important to consider the look of your work. The panel will be looking for works that aim for arresting style in design and/or visual presentation. Remember that a dynamic visual presentation and design does not necessarily mean a huge budget! The panel is looking for creative ways of creating dynamic productions. Design elements are not expected to be realised If your work is selected for the showcase, as this takes the format of rehearsed readings. Think about style in terms of how the work might look if it were to go on to a creative development and full-scale production.

Excellence

The panel will be looking for dedication to excellence in craft. Consider how you can demonstrate dedication to your idea, passion about the arts and queer issues, and commitment to creative development.

Creative team

The panel will be looking for a creative team which radiates energy and passion. A proven track record (evidence of having presented work in a theatrical context) will bolster your application so please mention previous credits or experience.

Capacity to tour

The long-term aim for this program is to tour your work, so keep this in mind from the very beginning. If your show features a cast of ten people and takes three days to bump in, it will be difficult to create an efficient and affordable tour.

Be conscious of the logistics of your show; particularly complicated tech requirements, large scale casts and set/design requirements.

Click here for a PDF version of the Guidelines and Conditions of Entry

Conditions of Entry

• Entries are welcome from people who identify as GSD (gender and sexually diverse) as well as allies (provided there is sufficient evidence of collaboration with and representation of people with lived experience of queer issues and from the queer community).

• The key contact and ideally, the cast and creative team must be based in Victoria and generally available during January to develop and rehearse in readiness for the public showing on Monday 19 January 2026. As the super objective of QPAS is to develop a work further and initially present it in Melbourne, a Victorian-based team is preferred in the interest of the project’s viability.

• Your submission must be an original Australian work that has yet to be professionally produced.

• If your application is successful, you will be required to sign a document outlining the Terms and Conditions of the opportunity on offer. You will also be required to confirm that if any music or script rights clearances are required for public presentation of your work, those licenses have been obtained.

• If your work is selected for the showcase, Midsumma Festival and Gasworks Arts Park will provide the venue, MC, Front of House staff and operating technician free of charge. While the event will be promoted in the Midsumma Guide and on the Midsumma and Gasworks Arts Park websites, selected artists are encouraged to contribute to event promotion through their own networks.

• Applications are accepted via the online portal only.

• The panel’s decision is final and no communication or correspondence will be entered into regarding the selection or judging of the selected applications.

Winner:

• Much to do with Law, but more to do with Love by Danish Sheikh

Winner:

• A Comprehensive and Profoundly Queer Accounting of The Brief (Yet GLORIOUS) History of The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands - A Gay Fantasia On (Micro)National Themes
  AKA The Queer Kingdom by Tom Ballard

People's Choice Winner:

• Day for It by Anna Lindstedt and Sally Davies

Other Finalists - 

• Sexcapades by Rosemary Cann
• Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown by Adam Fawcett

Winner -

• Waterfowl by Callum Mackay

Finalists - 

• Ramona Glasgow by Ellis Austin Finnie
• HELL FIRE, mortal boys by Henry Kelly
• Numa & Karl: Extraordinary Man That He Was by Em Chandler

QPAS 2022:

(Winner) Rory Godbold – CROSS:
CROSS is set within an inner city religious school of Christian origins. New teacher to the college Jasper quickly bonds with co-workers Sarah and David. When David does not intervene after a homophobic comment is made about Jasper by a student, the relationships between the teachers are tested and the fallout leads to the sacking of Jasper. In the wake of Jasper's sacking, the characters are forced to confront their values, actions and relationships to their sexuality and faith.

(Fastrack Award) Emmanuelle Mattana – The Reasonable Grounds: It is the biggest night of Melbourne’s academic calendar, the Grand Finale of the Year 12 Interschool Debating Tournament, and the all-boys team from the elite St Imperium College are ready to totally annihilate their sister school - until... The Reasonable Grounds is a queer black comedy about power, privilege and high school debating.

Andrew Undi Lee – No Asians: Set on the fringes of Sydney’s housing commission, we follow a delicate relationship between two Korean Australian boys and their devastating fear of letting go.  

Alice Tovey & Ned Dixon – Besties:
A musical about love & self-loathing set in the world of an on-screen romantic comedy. When two straight-presenting leading women fall in love, their gay best friends have a full-on identity crisis. 

Lucy Holz takes home the 2021 Queer Playwriting Award with “Coming Out”.

In its seventh year the Queer Playwriting Award Showcase presented to Midsumma Festival audiences at Gasworks Arts Park with the selection panellists, announcing on 11 May, that Coming Out by Lucy Holz will take home the award for Queer Playwriting 2021. Holz is set to work alongside Gasworks and Midsumma over the next year to deliver a full work for Midsumma Festival audiences.

The two other works that made up the finalists were; Mummy’s Boy by Patrick Livesey. A play about time, loss, love and mental illness. Patrick finds himself in a park looking out over Adelaide on the day his Mum is to be taken off life support. Patrick’s Mummy, Naomi Jean Fornarino, took her own life in 2015; this is her story, as told by her Boy. And, Recollection by George Ketels. Britney Spears’ Fantasy, a spent joint, a hairbrush. This is the story of Olivia, a mother, who pieces her deceased daughter's life into a perfume.

The 2020 list of finalists:

WINNER: Home Fires Burning by Maeve Marsden
Ruth and Judith are breaking up, but they’ll be damned if they let their Sunday family lunch tradition go. A lesbian divorce farce, Home Fires Burning satirises society’s obsession with the nuclear family, via food fights, fierce debates and overpriced cheese.
 
Butterfly Kicks by Jamila Main
Butterfly Kicks follows three teenage girls as they experience queer self-discovery and first love, fuelled by teenage adrenaline, salt water, and underage vodka.
 
Gravity by Bradford Elmore
Bradford Elmore’s semi-autobiographical debut play is a poignantly unapologetic story about one man’s need to understand his bisexuality, and the ways love moves us when gender is only part of the question.
 
New Wave by Margot Morales Tanjutco

New Wave is a punk-fuelled coming-of-age comedy about rebellion, rebranding revolutions, and the first love you might meet along the way.

Queer Playwriting Award Showcase 2019 featured excerpts from new plays by playwrights Angus Cameron, Rachel Edmonds and Glenn Saunders.

WINNER: Cavemen by Angus Cameron – Tim's a cub from the country, whereas Mike's an outer-suburbs otter. Oscar's more of a wolf (from the wealthy inner-east). And Chris? He's a bear from the bush. Categories. Conflict. Couples. Comrades. Change?

When You Had Braces by Rachel Edmonds – Following the death of her daughter, Lily leaves to stay with her estranged sister Paige. As childhood rivalries arise, they challenge the boundaries of sisterhood.

The Book of Ducks by Glenn Saunders – A brand new fairy tale for everyone who never got to be the main character in the old ones. When Callie and George discover a duck in their backyard, they realise they've adopted more than they expected, and learn to declare what they believe in.