Bathurst, Cowra and Orange will be hosting a visit from playwright Hilary Bell at the end of November, as she runs workshops for budding play writes from the central west, as part of the Central West Short Play Festival.

Supported by Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre's Local Stages Program, Bathurst Theatre Company and CASP (Regional Arts NSW) funds, these workshops are designed to bring skills to our regions, and provide writers and theatre makers with opportunities that they would not normally get.

The Central West Short Play Festival will be performed at BMEC – and in other areas in the Central West. Hilary Bell writes for the stage, screen and radio. Her work has been produced around Australia, and in the USA, England and Europe. Her awards include: Philip Parsons Young Playwrights' Award, Jill Blewitt Playwrights' Award, Bug'n'Bub Award, Aurealis Award for Fiction, the Eric Kocher Playwrights' Award, the 2007 Inscription Award and an AWGIE for Music Theatre.

Hilary is a graduate of the Juilliard Playwrights' Studio in New York, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, and NIDA. Hilary was the 2003-04 Tennessee Williams Fellow in Creative Writing at Tennessee's University of the South, and is currently on the Griffin Theatre's board, on State Of Play's artistic directorate, and on the artistic advisory panel for the Production Company, New York. She also works as a playwriting teacher, mentor and dramaturge.

The workshops will take place in Cowra – on Saturday 24 November 10am – 5pm and Orange on Sunday 25 November 10am – 5pm. Cost is $25.

To register for the workshops contact BMEC Box office 02 6333 6161. For more information go to www.bmec.com.au

Raimondo Cortese is the inaugural recipient of the Patrick White Playwrights' Fellowship. The $25,000 year-long Fellowship, a new position for an established playwright, will see Cortese involved in a range of activities at the Sydney Theatre Company. These will include leading playwriting workshops and participating in a mentoring programme for emerging playwrights.

Raimondo Cortese graduated from the VCA School of Drama in 1993 and is a founding member of Ranters Theatre, of which he was the Artistic Director from 1994 to 2000. His plays include: Lucrezia and Cesare, The Room, The Large Breast or the Upside-Down Bell, The Fertility of Objects, Features of Blown Youth, Roulette, St Kilda Tales and The Wall. A collection of short stories, The Indestructible Corpse (Text Publishing), appeared in 1998. He has also written for film, television and radio. Cortese has exhibited in group exhibitions of visual texts in Australia and overseas, with solo shows in Melbourne and Pisa, Italy. He has also designed textual installations, including 'Salivate', for the Melbourne City Library.

At the recent Sydney Writers Festival, Melissa Bubnic was named the winner of the 2010 Patrick White Playwrights' Award for her play 'Beached' – 'a comic drama about an obese man whose battle to lose weight is followed by a reality TV show'.

Join in Friday 4 , Sat 5, Sun 6 June for an intensive Weekend workshop on How to Write a Ten Minute Play with one of the world's leading 10-minute playwrights, Alex Broun.

Alex has had over 60 different ten minute plays produced across the globe in over 500 productions. (http://www.alexbroun.com)

The aims of the workshop are to: INSPIRE – inspire you to write a good ten minute play, INFORM – inform you with the tools required to write the play. In one weekend learn how to write a ten minute play then see it come to life right before your eyes.

COURSE OUTLINE

SESSION 1: WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEN MINUTE PLAY ? DURATION: 3 hours (Friday night 6pm – 9pm) The opening session will tackle the fundamental question of just what is a ten minute play ? What should you write your play about ? How do you know if you're trying to tell too big a story in too short a time ? What are the elements required for a good ten minute play ?

SESSION 2: YOUR IDEA DURATION: 90 minutes (Saturday 10am – 11.30am) Pitch your ideas for a ten minute play to Alex and the group. Find out which of your ideas will work best in the ten minute play format – and which won't! Sharpen and focus your structure and storyline to help shape a strong ten minute play.

SESSION 3: STORY AND STYLE DURATION: 90 minutes (Saturday 11.30am – 1pm) This session looks at Story Structure and will explore how to dramatise your story in the most theatrically satisfying way. It will also consider what makes a good Beginning, Middle and End. We will also introduce you to different styles or genres of theatre and consider what is the best style for your play.

SESSION 4: CHARACTER AND DIALOGUE DURATION: 90 minutes (Saturday 2pm – 3.30pm) This session explores how to create memorable characters. What is the role of character in the theatre ? Also allowing your characters to speak truthfully – the slight variations that make one character on stage different and bind your characters with an audience. The session will also explore rhythm, dialogue and use of language in the theatre through encouraging participants to act out a moved reading of a short scene. SESSION 4: THEATRICALITY AND SURPRISE DUATION: 90 minutes (Saturday: 3.30pm – 5pm) This session explores WHY your play needs to be produced on stage and what makes it different from film and television. This session will challenge the writers to find adventurous and new ways to tell their story and bring it to life on stage. It will also explore the important nature of surprise in theatre through character revelation and/or incident and staying one step ahead of your audience.

SESSION 5: WORKSHOPPING YOUR SCRIPT DURATION: 4+ hours (Sunday 10am – 3pm) In this day-long session participants will read and workshop their scripts, which they have written during the course, with Short+Sweet actors. They will physicalise the script with the actors and explore how their text works on stage, allowing them to test their play and discovering how it will work when performed.

SESSION 6: ON STAGE DURATION: 3 hours (Sunday 5pm to 8pm) In the climax of the course participants scripts will be given moved public readings by the Short+Sweet actors to an invited audience, including family and friends. This is a chance for the writers to see how their work comes to life on stage – and more importantly – how the audience responds to it. They will then be able to carry out any further revisions on their play before entering it for consideration to the Short+Sweet Theatre Brisbane 2009.

About the Course Tutor ALEX BROUN: One of the world's leading experts in 10 minute plays, Alex has had no less than 75 ten minute plays produced across the globe in over 500 productions including Short+Sweet 2002 – 2011 and Shorter+Sweeter ¬ – The Best of Short+Sweet - 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010. Internationally Alex has had short plays produced in Australia, Canada, Chile, Estonia, France, Hungary, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK and 40 different states of the USA. Recently he had a play published in Germany and a collection of short plays was translated into Persian and published in Iran. His longer plays have been performed at the Sydney Festival and he has twice received script development funding from the AFC.

Cost $50 Students and concession $80 Adults

Venue: Building W9 at CSU

Max number of participants 15

To register for the weekend BMEC box office. 6333 6161 105 William St, Bathurst online www.bmec.com.au (no registrations will be taken without payment)

Here are some upcoming events at Bathurst Memorial entertainment Centre:

*Wattle Foyer Soiree - Open mic night Wednesday 20 October 6.30pm To meet, To Chat, To Enjoy, To Create, To Perform. For artists & members of the community with an interest in the arts. They provide an MC, Piano, Microphone, DVD player for short films and a warm atmosphere and supportive audience. Evening starts at 6:30pm so come along and bring your friends!FREE EVENT!

*Alina Ibragimova & Cedric Tiberghien - Thursday 21 October 8:00pm "Destined to be a force in the classical music firmament for decades to come" - The Times Presented by Local Stages at BMEC and BTC 'Before and After Knockoff' By James Pike Monday 25th October 6:30pm Written by emerging writer James Pike, 'Before and After Knockoff' shows the brutal consequences of mixing business and family life. It's the powerful and hard-hitting story of Vaughan, owner of a Central Tablelands concreting outfit, who sacks his son on the advice of a bootlicker employee, damaging his family and business relationships both beyond repair.

*Red Sky Morning 28th, 29th October 8:00pm Tom Holloway's award-winning Red Sky Morning is a very funny, very warm and ultimately heartbreaking play that explores identity, dislocation and the need to connect. "Quite simply the play is a breathtaking piece of theatre...superb...outstanding...perfectly timed"-- Arts Hub.

*Red Stitch Actors Theatre --Acting Techniques Workshop. 4-5pm 29 October. To book into this workshop please call Kylie 6333 6144. Places are limited. There is no charge for workshop but you must buy a ticket to the show. If your finances are limited contact Kylie to discuss.

For more information about events coming up at BMEC please check www.bmec.com.au or call box office 6333 6161.

The Armidale Playhouse Inc invites you to submit short stories and/or play scripts to be considered for its 2010 season of "Favourite Shorts". This annual event is now into its 4th year bringing the works of both published and unpublished Australian writers to the stage using directors and actors from the Armidale district. Each week of the two week season of "Favourite Shorts" has a different programme. This year they squeezed 36 actors into eleven plays with nine directors. All of the actors, directors, lighting and stage crew are amateurs, in that they are not paid for their time and expertise however many do have formal qualifications or are working towards them. The Armidale Playhouse Inc will not be providing performance payments to successful writers however they do offer a free double pass to those who wish to travel to Armidale to see a performance of their short story or play. After each performance the audience are requested to select their favourite item and after the final performance the favourite for that week is announced in a short informal presentation. All successful writers will receive their own pair of "Favourite Shorts" and a participation certificate. They request permission from all successful writers to film the performance of their short story or play. An Armidale-based professional production unit will be filming performances with DVDs available for sale a few weeks after performances conclude. Submissions of play scripts and short stories up to 30 minute duration* can be sent via email to scripts@armidaleplayhouse.org.au or to Favourite Shorts 2010, Armidale Playhouse Inc, PO Box 368, ARMIDALE NSW 2350 by Friday 18 December 2009.

*To estimate the duration of your short story or play script it's about 10 minutes per 1000 words.

Be quick, as this one closes on 18 July. The Local Stages program at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) is running two exciting new programs, and continuing the workshop program in July and August. High School students can get in on the act by writing a play, and submitting it into the Get Read competition. They have the opportunity to win tickets to a show at BMEC, and have their work read by local actors. Information about the competition, including an entry form is available on the BMEC website. For information about the Local Stages program, contact Kylie Shead Ph: 02 6333 6144 Website www.bmec.com.au/bmec/localstages

Thanks to some hard work and long hours by Peter Carter, Master Technician, the second series of radio plays is now completed. Yes, five plays for the Other Side of the Line series are now written, performed, recorded, edited, credited and enhanced with music and sound effects and will go to air on FM 107.5 The Local Station 10am on weekdays and 12 noon on weekends until 21 June. Everyone involved with the plays will be celebrating on this Sunday before the first play by Joan Brown called Waiting Still goes to air at 12 noon. Congratulations to all the playwrights including Joan, Ross Stephenson for True Blue Publishing, Robin and Annie by Freya Hawke, Stephen Nugent for The West Winging It and the The Strolling Player of Kikacro by Bakka Bourke. Well done to all and happy listening.