Are you a budding playwright? November is the month for you!

 Jo Erskine is a Sydney based playwright who has hit the nail on the head: “There seems to be a real need out there for low-cost, independent events that unite artists in new ways.”

 Jo Erskine is a Sydney based playwright who has hit the nail on the head: “There seems to be a real need out there for low-cost, independent events that unite artists in new ways.”  Erskine, with 5 of her colleagues have created a brand new writers festival called NovemberISM, which will allow budding playwrights a chance to write in a creative environment in … you guessed it, November! Bingo. We have the Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals for artists to create new and innovative independent work. But, as Erskine’s colleague Rebecca Clark explains, writers need more opportunities to create and develop their work:  “There are a plethora of festivals out there, but this one serves playwrights very specifically and lets audience into that very special dynamic that happens when writers really own a space. Playwrights can suffer from a sense of isolation and, sometimes, confusion around their real place in the arts scene. It’s changing though, and NovemberISM will be a part of that. It can only add up to richer, more connected work. We’re trying out initiatives that will hopefully activate and support lots of other writers.”  NovemberISM – the month long festival of playwrights – will be be run by ISM, a collective of award-winning writers including Tamara Asmar, Kit Brookman, Rebecca Clarke, Tahli Corin, Jo Erskine and Rick Viede.  The festival will launch several new initiatives:

• THE WRITING ROOM, a pop-up office which will enable up to fifteen playwrights to have a free, quiet space for work 
• A series of SUNDAY READINGS where new plays will have the chance to meet an audience. 
• It will also feature showings from THE LOCK-UP, a week-long (Oct 17-21) devising lab with ISM, other writers and mentor Craig Ilott, supported by Queen Street Studio and the City of Sydney.

 ISM is looking for writer/collaborators to ‘lock-up’ now, with applications closing very soon: Friday Sept 23.      “The idea for NovemberISM sparked when we were on a writing retreat in Albury Wodonga. Every night, we’d huddle around a gas heater and start dreaming. Maybe it was the fresh air, maybe it was the wine, but anything seemed possible for a moment. One idea was to have a space where we could put on our own shows, and where we could hang out and create with other artists. NovemberISM is that dream in action; we’ve carved out a space and time where artists and audiences can gather for workshops, forums, readings and development and hopefully a whole lot of random fun,” says Tahli Corin, who founded ISM in 2010 when she was working for B Sharp at Belvoir. 
Using a central New-York-loft-style space  – The Old 505 Theatre near Central Station, the festival is set to be a hub of activity this November.  The festival will also include hot-to-trot new works including Tahli Corin’s comedy about art, memory, and beauty, One for the Ugly Girls, and Kit Brookman’s bittersweet comedy about death, growing up, and the perils of becoming an amateur medium, Heaven.  Late night sessions will include showings from THE LOCK-UP, I’m not sure I’m an adult yet, and a series of works from exciting collectives and artists. These works, and others still to be announced, will be lively, warm and invigorating; perfect delectable treats for November. Writers, if you want to be involved in this fantastic opportunity, visit Queen Street Studio and www.novemberism.com for more information.  
NovemberISM, 2 – 27 November, Old 505 Theatre, Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills