Cities of Literature Short Play Festival

Posted: Monday Jul 29, 2019

Preparations are now in full swing for the Cities of Literature Short Play Festival (12 to 20 September). The Festival, inspired by the Heidelberg Festival in 2016, is a partnership between Theatre Studies at the University of Otago and Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature, and is part of the University’s 150th Anniversary programme. The Festival includes plays from the wonderful cities of Baghdad, Heidelberg, Iowa City, Melbourne, Nottingham, and Seattle!

The Festival will stage around thirty 20-minute plays, and University of Otago students will act in, direct, and produce the programme under the guidance of theatre professionals. The following keynote speakers will participate in a range of workshops, readings, and script-advice sessions (also open to everyone):

• acclaimed playwright Victor Rodger, who has held several writing residences and currently teaches scriptwriting at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington;
• playwright and dramaturg Fiona Graham, who directs the MA in Dramaturgy and Writing for Performance at Goldsmiths College, University of London;
• and Tanya Palmer, who has commissioned and developed more than 150 new plays, and is the Producer/Director of New Play Development at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

The talented University teams are all hard at work to produce this student-led Festival, and the programme will be available soon!