The Trust Company as Trustee, today announced Declan
Greene as winner of the $20,000 Max Afford Playwrights' Award 2012. Mr
Greene was awarded the highly-acclaimed national prize for his script Eight
Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography.
Described by the judges as “compelling and repulsive” Eight
Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography immerses
the audience "in the lonely world of over 40's internet dating".
Mr Greene (pictured), 27, receives $10,000 prize money plus a
sought-after creative development opportunity at the forthcoming PlayWriting
Australia's National Script Workshop in Sydney.
The Melbourne-based writer and theatre-maker said: "I
am absolutely honoured to receive the Max Afford Playwrights' Award. Eight
Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography isn't an easy play to love – it's ugly,
bleak, and still very raw. So I'm incredibly thankful to the judges for seeing
its potential and giving it this opportunity to develop."
The judges of the 2012 award include Chris Mead, artistic
director of PlayWriting Australia; playwright, director, and dramaturge, Damien
Millar; and actor, writer and teacher, Katrina Foster.
Mr Mead said: "It's thrilling to read a play as
effortlessly bold, as contemporary and as moving as Declan Greene's new work.
Compelling and repulsive Greene immerses us in the lonely world of over 40's
internet dating, its everydayness, joy and gut-wrenching misery. Out of a very
strong field this play stood out because it is very, very funny, quite
appalling, minutely observed and an extremely modern telling of a very old
story: that we are human, all too human."
Three talented young playwrights have also been highly
commended: Duncan Graham for Dreams in White, Rick Viede for Oranges and Lemons and Chris Summers' for Roots.
John Atkin, CEO of The Trust Company said: "As Trustee
for this biennial award, it is great to see it growing in prestige and we take
great pride in honouring the legacy of our benefactors. It was set up by the
will of the late Thelma May Afford in memory of her prominent playwright and
novelist husband, Max. The Max Afford Playwrights' Award aims to encourage,
promote and support talented young Australian playwrights."
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