Victoria University Theatre Company is calling on VU students to pitch an idea for a play that could be transformed into a full-scale live show.
All VU students are invited to enter the competition, which will see the winner’s work taken from page to stage.
Victoria University Theatre Company (VUTC) executive member Brittany Moore said the student theatre wants to include a show from the winning-pitch in its 2015 season to draw attention to the range of ethic and cultural backgrounds that house untapped personal and social narratives of VU students.
“Theatre productions often cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to bring to the stage and most companies don’t take gambles on untested scripts. Our pitch competition is a unique opportunity for VU students who want to get their work published in performance.”
Students can pitch a work of any genre and do not need previous playwriting experience.
Entrants simply devise a pitch and a short synopsis for a play before the 30 June deadline. VUTC’s five-member executive will mentor the winning author and help them develop the idea into a one-to-two hour production for the company to stage later this year.
VUTC made its debut in 2014 at a sold-out performance of the musical Bare during Melbourne’s Fringe Festival with about 25 VU students in acting and backstage roles. It produced its first student-written work, The Poison at Footscray’s Dancing Dog Café in November 2014, a darkly funny Jekyll & Hyde retelling of student prescription drug abuse.
After finding its feet with those first two performances, VUTC plans to stage four shows in 2015, beginning in late April with Christmas in July, written by VU Bachelor of Arts student Mia Robinson.
VU’s professional writing course co-ordinator John Weldon says that it’s crucial for students to publish at university if they want to publish afterwards.
“A degree is not a ticket to a career: it’s a ticket to stand in a line, and publishing gets you further up that line. A successful theatre production, for example, can help a writer get work in the film or TV industry.”
For more information about the Pitch Competition visit the VUTC website or email [email protected]. Entry is free.
About VU Theatre Company
VUTC is a VU-funded student club with free membership. It currently has about 80 signed-up members. The company sees itself as a creative outlet for acting (and more) for students who may not get the opportunity to express these talents in their own field of study.
