2 July 2019
Dear Donna, Vanessa, Hilary, Noelle, Verity, Ned and Catherine,
Thanks for your letter, which we were very pleased to receive. We’d like to take up your invitation to make a few things clearer.
We took the decision to open up space for a new way of supporting the Australian playwriting culture not because we thought it was ‘mission accomplished’, but because complex operational challenges faced by PWA had become insurmountable. We mentioned issues of sustainability in our announcement, and they are real. We reached this conclusion after a great deal of thorough investigation and soul searching.
It remains true that over the last two or three years there have been very significant, positive shifts in Australian playwriting. Indisputably, there is a wider diversity and companies are generally better at play development than they have been. This gave rise to the idea that maybe there was different and better way to respond to this improved landscape.
We can’t see that it will ever be ‘mission accomplished’ – that’s an unhelpful phrase – but we can see that it’s imperative to respond responsibly to what’s before us, both internally and externally.
We are glad that you agree that a wide-ranging review of play development in Australia is needed. This will happen, and in a methodical and open way. We trust that it will tell us all what needs to best be done.
It’s not true to say that we will be without a national play development organisation for the first time since 1972. That role will continue to be played – albeit through a different way of delivery, probably with the operational support of Griffin (but not drawing on their resources) – up until after the findings of the national review, at which time a new, and we trust better, shape will be implemented. We expect to be able to announce details of the review within a week.
In fact, we have worked very hard to ensure that government and other funders will continue to be supportive, so that a play development agency will continue to exist in Australia, even in a new form.
There is no need for you to insist that playwrights are central to the review process. It’s entirely up to you to what extent you wish to participate in the review. We really do hope that you do so fully and constructively. As you say, you should be central in the process of developing what happens next.
We have been heartened by many messages of support, and only ask that everyone is respectful of all parties and careful not to spread misinformation. Our focus is firmly on the future, and we believe that, together, we will find the best future if all are similarly focused.
Yours sincerely,
The PWA Board
Dear Donna, Vanessa, Hilary, Noelle, Verity, Ned and Catherine,
Thanks for your letter, which we were very pleased to receive. We’d like to take up your invitation to make a few things clearer.
We took the decision to open up space for a new way of supporting the Australian playwriting culture not because we thought it was ‘mission accomplished’, but because complex operational challenges faced by PWA had become insurmountable. We mentioned issues of sustainability in our announcement, and they are real. We reached this conclusion after a great deal of thorough investigation and soul searching.
It remains true that over the last two or three years there have been very significant, positive shifts in Australian playwriting. Indisputably, there is a wider diversity and companies are generally better at play development than they have been. This gave rise to the idea that maybe there was different and better way to respond to this improved landscape.
We can’t see that it will ever be ‘mission accomplished’ – that’s an unhelpful phrase – but we can see that it’s imperative to respond responsibly to what’s before us, both internally and externally.
We are glad that you agree that a wide-ranging review of play development in Australia is needed. This will happen, and in a methodical and open way. We trust that it will tell us all what needs to best be done.
It’s not true to say that we will be without a national play development organisation for the first time since 1972. That role will continue to be played – albeit through a different way of delivery, probably with the operational support of Griffin (but not drawing on their resources) – up until after the findings of the national review, at which time a new, and we trust better, shape will be implemented. We expect to be able to announce details of the review within a week.
In fact, we have worked very hard to ensure that government and other funders will continue to be supportive, so that a play development agency will continue to exist in Australia, even in a new form.
There is no need for you to insist that playwrights are central to the review process. It’s entirely up to you to what extent you wish to participate in the review. We really do hope that you do so fully and constructively. As you say, you should be central in the process of developing what happens next.
We have been heartened by many messages of support, and only ask that everyone is respectful of all parties and careful not to spread misinformation. Our focus is firmly on the future, and we believe that, together, we will find the best future if all are similarly focused.
Yours sincerely,
The PWA Board
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