27 Feb 2025
Having the first draft of his play shortlisted for Playmarket’s 2024 ADAM NZ Play Award gave Alex MacDonald the impetus to apply for the Early Career Fund (General Arts 2024 - Round 2).
Alex MacDonald received $9,000 towards further development of The Ants, to develop the draft to a production-ready script and have a public development reading at the end of the rewrite. The funding included mentoring from Jackie van Beek on script development and actors for the development reading.
Alex noticed how much progress he was able to make because of the funding, estimating it may have taken a year to achieve what was done in 12 weeks.
“I was able to devote part of my work week to playwriting, making vastly more progress than I otherwise would have been able to accomplish relying solely on nights and weekends. This extra time gave me the freedom to explore bigger ideas within the script,” they say.
“I did two additional drafts, one was wild, with experiments in form and techniques; the other was a more polished version, which was then presented at a public reading. Dedicated time with a mentor not only improved the quality of this script but has led to new discoveries about redrafting in general that I'll carry with me into future projects.”
Hearing the work performed in front of an audience of 40 illuminated more about the play for Alex, as did a recording of the reading that has proved to be a valuable learning tool for revisions. Alex has also stretched himself in other ways.
“As part of growing my creative practice, I decided to also direct the morning's rehearsal before the reading. It was my first time directing something I'd written, which was a fantastic experience. This recent period of funded practice has been transformational, accelerating my artistic development, opening up new opportunities, and deepening my desire to further expand my creative practice.”
The Ants has since been named a top three finalist for the Austin Film Festival's Stage Play Award, from a pool of 1,000 worldwide entries. The Austin Writer's Conference is held in conjunction with the film festival each October and brings together top writing talent for panels and workshops. Alex wasn’t able to attend as a finalist in 2024 but has spoken with the Script Director of the festival about possibly attending in 2025 as an alumni finalist.
Share this
