The 2016 NIDA MFA (Writing for Performance) group with Gretel Vella (back row, second from left). Image supplied.
Writing for stage and screen is a job like no other, in which a writer’s imagination and insights are their greatest tools.
‘There are a lot of late nights, but it’s totally worth it when you see your work on stage,’ said emerging playwright and screenwriter Gretel Vella.
A graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Arts’ (NIDA) Masters of Fine Arts (Writing for Performance), Vella is one of Australia’s most promising screen and stage writers.
Her play Carking It will soon be staged as part of NIDA’s October 2018 Season of Student Productions, in a production directed by Benjamin Schostakowski.
A dark comedy set in a town called Misery, Carking It, explores the lives of young people and the themes of mental health, and healing.
‘During the NIDA writing course, I wrote a six-part television series called Carking It. I had written it for screen originally, but developed it for stage,’ Vella told ArtsHub.
‘There are three 20-somethings who happen to be on the same rooftop on the same night, and all are about to end their lives. And then this woman runs out and tries to beat them to it, and they save her – it turns out this woman is not everything that she appears.’
Vella’s script resonated with her fellow NIDA students. ‘It was a play about 20-somethings, and it was a dark comedy – and it was the story the students wanted to be showcasing to agents and industry,’ she explained.
Adapting the script from screen to stage came with its own unique set of challenges.
‘You assume people are going to see things on the stage, but unless there are big gestures, big monologues, people are going to miss it; that was a big lesson for me,’ she said.
Conversely, other aspects of adapting her television script for the stage came as a delight.
‘In theatre you have more of an opportunity to luxuriate in the language, and go the extra mile with letting characters voice their opinion. Monologue is a perfect device for that, you know?’
On graduating from NIDA, Vella began working on a popular Channel Nine series, Doctor, Doctor.
‘I also wrote their online web series – it was an amazing opportunity. I’ve been working on Carking It and I have a commission from ATYP [Australian Theatre for Young People] at the moment, and a whole bunch of other projects, such as movie developments – I’m doing a whole bunch of different things.’
Vella told ArtsHub it was the teachers and mentors at NIDA who were instrumental in helping her launch her career.
‘Stephen [Sewell, Course Leader Writing for Performance], my teacher at NIDA, encouraged me to write whatever I want, and he offered his mentorship whatever way he could.
‘He was so helpful with my TV series; he even got me in a couple of writer’s rooms taking notes. He did whatever he could to launch my career.’
Vella said Sewell’s support was typical of the lecturers at NIDA.
‘They’re so passionate and they’re always trying to get you in on meetings. They invite as many industry people as they can to your showcase – it’s well worth doing the course; it sets you up for life. You will meet everyone you need to know before you get out.
‘Without the course I wouldn’t have been equipped with the knowledge or the connections to launch myself,’ Vella concluded.
Learn more at https://apply.nida.edu.au/.
