THE SILVER GULL PLAY AWARD 2024
AND THE WINNER IS…
We’re thrilled to announce that the winner of The Silver Gull Play Award for 2024 is MIRANDA MICHALOWSKI for her play MACARONI AND DEAD THINGS.
The Silver Gull Play Award is a competition open to NSW and ACT-based writers over the age of 18 for an unpublished and unproduced original play of 60 minutes or more duration that speaks to New Theatre’s ethos of ‘Plays With a Purpose’.
This year we received a record number of entries, displaying a wide variety of subject matter, and the judges praised the quality and originality of the writing. Six plays which the judges considered outstanding were shortlisted: 6069 and Counting by James Balian and Roger Vicker; Fortress by Erica J. Brennan; Noah’s Ark by Campion Decent; Rehearsing Julie by Noel Hodda; Roslyn Gardens by David McLaughlin and Macaroni and Dead Things by Miranda Michalowski. In addition, three plays were Highly Commended: The Mountain Remembers by Daley Rangi, The Incorrigibles by Melita Rowston and She Threaded Dangerously by Simon Thomson and Emma Wright.
On Monday 14 October, in front of an enthusiastic audience, excerpts from the six shortlisted plays were presented by actors Saif Alawadi, Kate Bookallil, Barry French, Luisa Galloway, Will Mears and Helen Tonkin, under the direction of Joseph Tanti.
Miranda received a prize of $5000 and the other shortlisted writers received $500 each, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Joy Minter, who has supported The Silver Gull Play Award since its inception in 2015.
ABOUT THE WINNING PLAY
Macaroni and Dead Things follows Charlie, a neurotic primary school teacher with a newfound passion for funeral crashing. While attending a service, Charlie meets an elderly man called Teddy and lies to him about her deep friendship with Darla, the deceased. As this friendship blossoms, so does Charlie’s relationship with Kiana, her best-friend-turned-lover who has just returned from a year-long trip to Greenland. But Charlie’s been acting strange lately, and Kiana can’t figure out why. When Charlie takes her morbid fixation a step too far, she is forced to confront the grief in her own past, and the guilt that has been haunting her.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Macaroni and Dead Things is a brilliant monologue, incorporating other voices occasionally to enrich the sound. It is so beautifully written that even before the drama gets underway we are riveted by the protagonist’s personality and expression, and the humour in the telling. It is deeply moving, with a wonderful redemptive and healing end. It throbs with the richness, kindness and love of human nature. In short, a superb piece of theatrical writing.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Miranda Michalowski (she/her) is a writer and performer living on unceded Gadigal land. She is passionate about telling heartfelt, funny and strange stories about women and queer characters. In 2021, Miranda was selected as one of 20 young writers for the esteemed ATYP National Studio. Her first play, Young Bodies/Somebody’s, debuted at Flight Path Theatre in 2022 and is published by Playlab, with recent productions on the Central Coast and in Brisbane. Miranda’s second play, Saturday Girls, was shortlisted for the Rodney Seaborn Playwright’s Award and debuted at Belvoir Downstairs in 2023, leading to a mentorship with acclaimed playwright Suzie Miller. Miranda was recently selected for ATYP’s 2024 Fresh Ink program. She is currently developing comedy projects across stage and screen, including a magical realist play about pregnancy, The Kid.
SUBMISSIONS FOR NEXT YEAR’S SILVER GULL PLAY AWARD WILL OPEN IN APRIL 2025
Previous winners and finalists of The Silver Gull Play Award:
2023
Next To Godliness by Alastair Brown – winner
Chicken In A Biscuit by Mary Rachel Brown and Jamie Oxenbould
Burning by Christopher Bryant
The Mews by Joanna Erskine
The Dragonfly by Simon Thomson
2022
Inside Out by Christopher Bryant
Fighting by Xavier Coy – winner
God in Space by Jeanette Cronin
Miriam by James Elazzi
2021
Off The Record by Chris Aronsten
Sanctuary by Margaret Davis
Cloudsurfing by John AD Fraser
The Scammer by Wendy Lewis
Fitson and Dan by Mark O’Flynn
The Other End of The Afternoon by Bokkie Robertson – winner
2020
Victim by Jeanette Cronin
God’s Gruesome Shadow on The Wall by Kian Farzam
The Scream by Justin Fleming
Gods and Little Fishes by Jamie Oxenbould and Richard Sydenham – winner
The Park by Simon Thomson
2019
I Damo by Pauline Bleach
The Deal by Kel Vance
Breathless by Deborah Mulhall
Son of Byblos by James Elazzi
Field of Vision by Joanna Erskine – winner
2018
Disinhibition by Christopher Bryant
Alabaster Burning by John AD Fraser
People Inside Me by Katie Pollock
Superheroes by Mark Rogers
Lions and Tigers and Bears by Phillip James Rouse – winner
2017
The Bees Are All Dead by Kit Brookman
Dead Wen by Elias Jamieson Brown
For Unknown Reasons by Zoe Cooper – winner
A Spy in the House of Love by Zoe Hogan
Human Activity by Katie Pollock
The Blackbird and the Whale by Alison Rooke
2016
People Will Think You Don’t Love Me by Joanna Erskine – winner
A Matter of Life and Death by John AD Fraser
The Ink Trail by Louis Klee
This, This Is Mine by Duncan Ragg
I sat and waited but you were gone too long by Olivia Satchell
2015
Between the Streetlight and the Moon by Melita Rowston
Furthest West by Michael Collins
The Block Universe (Or So It Goes) by Sam O’Sullivan
The Last Executioner by Mark Swivel
TickTickBoom by Melissa Lee Speyer – winner