Human Connection

We fiercely believe that stories have the power to change the world, to change perspectives, and that theatre is in a unique position to start conversations about the state of our nation and our world. We support stories that are authentically Australian and promote those voices that have, historically, often been left out of the conversation.

Over the past decade, Playlab Theatre has developed a transparent, consistent methodology for developing Australian playwrights, from emerging artists at the start of their journey, right through to senior artists who are contributing to a legacy of Australian culture. We are committed to developing opportunities for Queensland playwrights and other theatre artists, and acknowledge that careers are not built on a single project, but on multiple engagements in development across an artist’s career.

We’ve offered and tested numerous programs over the past decade in order to meet the needs of artists across the state. Entry to these programs was merit-based and free to the artists accepted. Unfortunately, after all the work we’ve done to evolve the programs to be best practice, and reaching out to artists in the regions wanting development opportunities, funding has in real terms gone backwards by 6% on 2022 levels for 2026. This means that we have to suspend our free programs for 2026, and find a way of securing other funding to offer them in the future, similarly to our new Inception program, which is supported by the BCC.

Our Development Principles

Playlab Theatre works in a unique way to support the crafting of contemporary Queensland stories. The approach is demanding in its commitment to best practice, but rewarding in its creative facilitation. Adhering to a set of principles keeps the focus on process rather than outcome, which is hard, given theatre itself is a live act of communion between audience and artists, with story as the connection.

These principles are:

• Embody Playlab Theatre’s values of Diversity, Excellence, Rigour and Courage in all processes.
• An artist’s wellbeing comes first.
• Playlab Theatre develops artists through the development of stories.
• Artists develop at different rates. Multiple engagements in programs are encouraged to allow growth through reflection, and consequently result in lower pressure.
• Maintaining perspective is important, so the use of external and multiple assessors is mandated.
• Time is an asset. Development is optimally two years from idea through to production. Any shorter, and greater resources/support will be needed, while longer may reduce the currency of the story.
• A Playwright’s 20s are their apprenticeship (emerging); 30s their arrival; in their 40s, they command craft (mid-career); and their 50s brings mastery of craft (senior).