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The Holidays wins Queensland Premier’s Drama Award

A Brisbane writer and composer has won the 2018-19 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award.

The Holidays,  a drama exploring dementia, by David Megarrity was announced as the Award winner this evening.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Dr Megarrity’s work had been chosen from an original pool of 92 entries.

“This is an amazing achievement and I congratulate Dr Megarrity for writing such a thought-provoking piece that will help Queensland Theatre celebrate 50 years on our cultural landscape,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“His family-orientated play, The Holidays, will now become an Australian premiere production and will form a key part of Queensland Theatre’s 50th anniversary program in 2020.”

Ms Palaszczuk also congratulated the artists behind the theatre pieces Don’t Ask What the Bird Look Like by Hannah Belanszky and Slow Boat by Anna Yen, which made the shortlist for the Drama Award. 

“Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award, it is wonderful to see such a diverse range of stories and styles demonstrating Queensland’s rich, varied and evolving cultures,” she said.

“The Queensland Premier’s Drama Award started in 2002, assisting writers and artists to develop their works into a world premiere professional production, and I am proud my Government is continuing to support this Award.”

The Holidays is a story about 12-year-old Oliver Holiday and his Mum and Dad who travel to his grandfather’s beachside cottage. However, it soon appears that the Holidays have taken on a burden, or legacy, that challenges the family.

Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said the Palaszczuk Government was furthering its commitment to ensuring a vibrant and diverse arts sector for Queensland.

“The Queensland Premier’s Drama Award is a long-term investment in the arts sector and in new Australian work,” Minister Enoch said.

“Since its inception, the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award has developed 30 plays, generated audiences of more than 30,000 and employed more than 180 actors, writers and directors.

“It is wonderful to give our storytellers a national platform for their work.”

David Megarrity described his winning play as a visual theatre piece.

“It combines live performance, projection, audience participation and music to explore the impact of dementia as experienced by one family, focusing on the connections between son, father and grandfather told through the eyes of a young person,” Dr Megarrity said.

QT’s Artistic Director Sam Strong said it would be exciting to see The Holidays become a mainstage production. 

“It’s a delicious combination of high-tech ambition and low-fi theatricality, and David’s unique imagination and command of all of the elements of storytelling will create a deeply affecting sensory experience for audiences when we bring it to the stage,” Mr Strong said.

The Queensland Premier’s Drama Award is an initiative of the Queensland Government, delivered in partnership with Queensland Theatre. No other playwriting award in Australia provides commitment to develop and stage the winning work, in addition to publishing the written script.

For more information, visit www.qld.gov.au/about/events-awards-honours/awards/drama-award