Dramatic success for Monash playwright
Dr Jane Montgomery Griffiths performing at Malthouse Theatre. Credit: Jeff Busby
Modern re-imaginings of the stories of Helen of Troy and Sappho by a Monash University academic have been recognised in two major literary awards this week.
Dr Jane Montgomery Griffiths, of Monash University’s Centre for Drama and Theatre Studies (CTP), was today shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for her play Sappho…in 9 fragments. Dr Griffiths is also a recipient of the prestigious 2011 R E Ross Script Development Award for her latest work, A Little Piece for Her Sister.
Both plays demonstrate Dr Griffiths’ interest in the relationship between Greek Classics and theatre performance.
Sappho… , which ran at Malthouse Theatre last year, and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, is part of Dr Griffiths’ current Australian Research Council funded project into classical performance reception.
A Little Piece for Her Sister similarly investigates the ancient world from a modern perspective with a reworking of the story of Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra. The R E Ross Award will facilitate the further development of the play in a series of rehearsals and readings, culminating in PlayWriting Australia’s 2011 National Script Workshop.
As an actor, director and academic, Dr Montgomery Griffiths has been involved in theatre for many years, but is relatively new to playwriting.
“The R E Ross and PlayWriting Australia offer playwrights a fantastic opportunity to develop their scripts with a professional directorial, dramaturgical and acting team. It’s that sort of collaborative environment that can make all the difference, and turn a script from a promising literary entity into a vibrant piece of theatre,” said Dr Griffiths.
“As an emerging playwright – I’ve only written three plays so far – I’m still learning the craft, so I’m extremely excited at the possibilities this award offers.”
In receiving the R E Ross, Dr Griffiths follows in the footsteps of fellow CTP colleague, Felix Nobis, whose verse drama The boy out of the country was a recipient last year, and CTP PhD candidate Xenia Hanusiak, whose monologue Ward B will receive a public reading at Fortyfive Downstairs in December, before being performed at Washington’s The Studio Theatre.