The Australian Theatre Festival NYC has announced Eddie Grey as the winner of the 2024 New Play Award for CIRC, with Aliyah Knight named runner-up for Snakeface.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be the recipient of this award. Not least because it’s been a decade since I won anything,” says Eddie.
“Secondary to that, I’m also grateful to the Australian Theatre Festival NYC and Shane and Cathryn Brennan for facilitating this truly wonderful opportunity to share our words and amplify Australian writers.”
CIRC – when an eighteen-year-old boy undergoes an elective circumcision, he’s confronted with his soon-to-be-excised body part in human form, demanding answers.
What follows is an exploration of Australian queerness, wherein the boy is thrust back into his seminal sexuality-forming memories in order to provide an answer, so that he can wake up from this nightmare.
As an actor Eddie has appeared on Broadway in shows including The Book of Mormon and Harmony to name exactly two. His scripts have won accolades and been produced into short films. In his spare time, he loves to write bios.
As the winner, Eddie will receive $15,000 USD developmental support and a presentation of CIRC in the 2024 festival in NYC.
Aliyah Knight’s Snakeface is a modern day retelling of the myth of Medusa, exploring power, sexuality, creation, and destruction. Following the titular Snakeface from age 13 to 23, It’s a revenge fantasy which confronts our relationship with rape-culture, and asserts that victims don’t have to be perfect.
Aliyah Knight is a storyteller and performer living and working on unceded Gadigal Land. She is passionate about telling queer and diverse stories. Aliyah is the recipient of Performance Space’s 2024 Stephen Cummins Residency, during which they are developing a new hybrid work THE DOG HOUSE.
She is also a member of ATYP’s Fresh Ink cohort, and will have her short play Four Legs Good performed as part of ATYP’s 2024 Intersection Festival. As Runner-Up, Aliyah will receive $5,000 USD.
“We are excited to announce Eddie Grey as the winner of the 2024 New Play Award! CIRC is a funny, unique, and incredibly human story that was unanimously voted as this year’s best play,” said Co-Artistic Directors Mark Barford, Connor Delves and Jillian Geurts.
“We look forward to presenting it at this year’s festival. We also extend our congratulations to Aliyah Knight on being named runner-up for Snakeface – a poetic and bold play that also resonated deeply with the judging panel.”
“The New Play Award is in its fifth year, and we are grateful to these playwrights for their brave and powerful writing. Finally, we want to express our thanks to Shane & Cathryn Brennan for their ongoing support of the award,” expressed Barford, Delves and Geurts.
Led by Mark Barford, Connor Delves and Jillian Geurts, the Australian Theatre Festival NYC is an annual celebration of Australian stories and artists in New York City. They aim to create opportunities for an exchange of culture through the presentation of diverse theatrical content, cultivate the development of Australian artists and their work on a global stage, and connect Australians living in New York to foster a sense of community through a festival setting.
For more information about the Australian Theatre Festival NYC, visit: www.australiantheatrefestival.com for details.
Image: Eddie Grey and Aliyah Knight (supplied)