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MTC launches $4.6 million playwright development program

The NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program will provide 50 opportunities for Australian writers, consisting of residencies and commissions across five years.

16 Jun 2017 12:00

Richard Watts

Performing Arts

NEXT STAGE writers gather at the MTC: (L-R) Joanna Murray-Smith, Benjamin Law, Patricia Cornelius, Ellen van Neerven, Angus Cerini. Photo credit: Jarrod Barnes.

Seven writers – including a poet and a journalist – have been commissioned to develop new work for the stage as part of the landmark NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program, launched by Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) on Thursday night.

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Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts