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Artistic Director Appointed for PlayWriting Australia

25 January 2000

Christopher Mead, the current Literary Manager for the Sydney Theatre Company, has been appointed the inaugural Artistic Director of PlayWriting Australia. This new national organisation was established in December to support the development of new Australian writing for performance.

PlayWriting Australia will pool the resources of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre (ANPC) and Playworks into one body and will be responsible for the development, advocacy and diversity of Australian drama and to facilitate national discussion about writing in performance. One of its first tasks is to reinvigorate the National Playwrights' Conference in Canberra in July.

Michael Gow, chair of PlayWriting Australia and Artistic Director of the Queensland Theatre Company, said Mead's experience as STC's Literary Manager and as past curator of the ANPC conference meant that "he has an acute understanding of the problems that playwrights face in every state and territory of Australia".

"I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity to respond to the many challenges of promoting new Australian writing for the theatre," Christopher Mead said. "Having worked for companies large and small and having started a company that produces only new Australian work I feel that I am well-placed to get cracking on this important work."

Christopher Mead believes that "we have great stories in Australia, real and imagined. We have extraordinary theatrical intelligence at work and this new organisation will bridge the gap between ambition and execution, between writer and company, between the text, the body and the stage".

Christopher Mead's previous experiences also include work as Literary Manager of Company B Belvoir, Festival Director of the International Festival of Young Playwrights as well as completing a study of international and national theatre companies in the advocacy of playwriting.

PlayWriting Australia is supported by $330,000 in annual funding from the Australia Council for the Arts, with additional support from ArtsNSW. Performing Lines is initially managing the establishment of PlayWriting Australia.