Monday 25 August 2014

Vanessa Bates

Ursula Yovich in THE MAGIC HOUR by Vanessa Bates photograph by Jon Green

Relentless energy and humour – THE MAGIC HOUR, written by Australian playwright Vanessa Bates, is full of damsels in distress, but they are bleeding, coarse, filled with rage, hope and hot desire The Guardian

…a mouth-watering confection laced with genuinely biting satire. Funny, disturbing and utterly in tune with the zeitgeist PORN.CAKE is a bold step forward in contemporary theatre. 
The Age

Bates’ script (of EVERY SECOND) is compact, nimble, wryly funny and convincingly voiced.
The Sydney Morning Herald

Vanessa Bates is an award-winning Australian playwright.

In 2014 her play The Magic Hour toured Australia. Every Second premiered at the Eternity Theatre in Sydney. Her newest play Chipper was shortlisted for the 2014 Patrick White Award and the 2013 Griffin Award. A short play The Source was produced by Rock Surfers Theatre. Vanessa was playwright on Diving Off The Edge Of The World  produced by Tantrum Youth Arts. She was also Director of the 2014 Playwrights Festival for NSW Writers Centre.

Vanessa's plays include: Chipper, Every SecondThe Magic HourPorn.CakeChecklist for an Armed Robber and Darling Oscar as well as monologues and short plays for several multi-playwright shows including: The Blessing, Petunia Takes Tea, Hunger, The Night We Lost Jenny, Confetti, World’s Tiniest Monkey, First Light, A Lightbulb Moment, This Train, HomeMade and WishBone.

Her work has been produced by most Australian companies including Malthouse Theatre, Theatre@Risk, Darlinghurst Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, atyp, Belvoir B Sharp, Griffin, Deckchair Theatre, Black Swan, Vitalstatistix, Tantrum, Freewheels, Reginald Theatre (Seymour), True West/Riverside and New Theatre.

Published works: Checklist For An Armed Robber (Currency Press), Porn.Cake (online - Red Door Imprints), Darling Oscar/STC 1 (5 Islands Press), Hunger/Short Circuits (Currency), First Light/The Voices Project (Currency), World's Tiniest Monkey, Nobody Famous, Farmer Frank is In Show Business/No Nudity, Weapons or Naked Flames (Federation Press) Legs Up & Laughing (Murdoch Books)

Vanessa won a 2012 NSW Premiers Literary Award for Porn. Cake. She won an AWGIE award for Checklist For An Armed Robber. She has won  Inscriptions awards for Every Second and Lakes of Death and Dreamers, and City Of Newcastle Drama awards for Match and here is the beehive. Vanessa has been shortlisted for the STC/Patrick White Award (Chipper, A Little Bit Each Night) Griffin Award (Checklist For An Armed Robber, Newton’s Cradle, Porn.Cake, Chipper) AWGIE award (Porn.Cake, 900 Neighbours,) New Dramatists award(Checklist For An Armed Robber) Victorian Premier’s Literary Award (Checklist For An Armed Robber). In 2013 Vanessa was also shortlisted for a Newton John Award at the University of Newcastle for her body of work.

Vanessa worked for several years as an artist to create works with marginalized community members with national arts organization BIG hART on various projects.

Vanessa is a graduate of the NIDA Playwrights Studio.

This play (EVERY SECOND) is the first play I have ever seen and I loved it. And now I want to see more theatre.
Random Audience Member (unrelated)

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