Scene Theatre Sydney has discovered a talented generation of playwrights !
The plays were selected from 164 amazing entries to Scenes from the Sage Age, a national competition for Australians aged 60 and over.
The eight selected entries are
Connery Brown
Bend It Like Beckett
Paul Clarke
The Team
Katrina Samaras
The Museum of Tears
Paul Bucci
Allocateeism
Kerri Gay
Ubuntu
Donna Spillane
Blowing the Whistle
Sally Bartley
Walk a Mile
Stephen North
The Last Rehearsal
SAGE to STAGE
Five wonderful actors will perform moved play readings of the eight short plays
Sandy Gore
Sandy is a prominent figure in Australian entertainment with notable roles on TV and film in iconic shows such as Prisoner, Brides of Christ, Rake, Evil Angels and Australia. She has performed in over 80 stage plays and has created characters for great Australian playwrights Ray Lawler, Alex Buzo, David Williamson and Nick Enright.
David Lynch
Actor, director, producer, writer, teacher - Griffin, Ensemble, Queensland Theatre, Sydney Festival, Red Line, KXT, Monkey Baa, Old 505, Merrigong, Glen Street etc. etc. - most recently David co-directed The Face of Jizo for Omusubi Productions - nominated for 4 Sydney Theatre Awards.
Gennie Nevinson
Gennie has featured in almost every TV series made in Australia since 1981. She played Deidre Chambers in Muriel’s Wedding, andplayed one of the Jurors in Foxtel’s The Twelve. She is delighted to be part of Sage to Stage.
Alice Livingstone
Alice is best known for her roles in Water Rats, Murder Call and Home and Away. She is also a stage producer and publicist who says “I also hold down a 'proper job' at Sydney Living Museums".
Steve Paton
Steve trained at the Ensemble Studios in the early 1970s. His productions included Pirandello’s The Man With The Flower In His Mouth and Ibsen's The Master Builder both directed by Don Mamouney, and the Ensemble Theatre’s production of Sam and Bella Spewack’s Boy Meets Girl directed by Hayes Gordon.
Directed by Ryan Whitworth-Jones
Live piano interludes with Victor Spiegel
Ryan Whitworth-Jones Director
Ryan has a Masters Fine Arts Directing from The National Institute of Dramatic Art and a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University. His directorial work includes Venus in Fur (Sydney Fringe Festival), Cloudstreet (Lane Cove Theatre Company) and dozens more. Ryan is a proud Wiradjuri man.
Victor Spiegel Pianist
Victor began studying piano at the age of 5,and began his concert career at age 6. He continues to compose for film, television, theatre and dance. He has a singular piano sound built of innovative harmonies and rhythms. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the university of California and Master of Music Composition. 16 Albums of his music are available on all streaming platforms under the name of Victor Spiegel.
Sunday March 24 2024 at 3 pm
In the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Hall in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, Sydney
On the shore, near Pier 4/5, opposite the entrance to Sydney Dance Company
Wheel chair access
Places to have lunch before, or dinner after, click here
Scenes from the Sage Age Competition
Sage Age? That’s people aged 60 and over.
They are wise, creative, and have decades of experience to share.
This national play writing competition is for people 60 plus.
People anywhere in Australia were invited to submit a 15 to 20 minute stage play on any topic (bagpipes, politics, dating apps, shoehorns, anything) and enter it in the competition. Entries closed December 15, 2023.
There were 164 entries. The oldest entrant is 92 ! 84 are 60 - 69, 55 are 70 - 79, 19 are 80 - 89
1 entry was from the ACT, 5 from Tasmania, 5 from South Australia, 6 from Western Australia, 22 from Queensland, 33 from Victoria, 89 from NSW
The scripts were assessed by two renowned Australian playwrights, Justin Fleming and Stephen Sewell.
As patrons of the project, Justin and Stephen read and scored all entries. They did all this to give back to the theatre community and to encourage older people to be creative
Justin Fleming
Australian playwright, librettist and author. He has written for theatre, music theatre, opera, television and cinema and his works have been produced and published in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Poland and France. Fleming has been a barrister and vice president of the Australian Writers' Guild and a board member of the Australian National Playwrights’ Centre.
Stephen Sewell
Stephen was Head of Writing at the National Institute of Dramatic Art between 2012 and 2021, during which time he created one of the most outstanding writing courses in Australia. Sewell has written 36 theatre plays, more than 21 screenplays, including the AFI Award-winning The Boys. His plays have been produced more than 200 times by national and international institutions, and he is recipient of 20 of the most prestigious and coveted awards in the Australian creative landscape.