Malcolm Robertson Writers Program

SUPPORTED BY THE MALCOLM ROBERTSON FOUNDATION

Since 2004, the Malcolm Robertson Foundation has been a leading supporter of the development and presentation of new Australian work, playing an essential role in the sustainability of Australian contemporary theatre.

Through their visionary support, the Malcolm Robertson Writers Program allows us to commission two early career playwrights each year to write a full-length play.

One need only look to the Malcolm Robertson recipients listed below to understand the incredible contribution the Foundation has made to the Australian performing arts, assisting artists to achieve their first mainstage commissions in a major performing arts company and paving the way for a new generation of theatre-makers.

You’ll have seen many of these plays on our stage—like Stay Woke, Chase, Australian Realness, Good Muslim Boy, Going Down, Blaque Showgirls, Ugly Mugs, Walking into the Bigness. And there are some fantastic new commissions in the pipeline, including Alistair Baldwin’s Telethon Kid, which has its premiere at Malthouse in August 2023.

Commissioned writers include Dylan Van Den Berg, Elias Jamieson Brown, Wendy Mocke, Vivian Nguyen, Nazaree Dickerson, Carly Sheppard, Keziah Warner, Aran Thangaratnam, Claire Coleman, Vidya Rajan, Tom Ballard, Louris van de Geer, Kit Lazaroo, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Osamah Sami & Janice Muller, Jada Alberts, Emilie Collyer, Michele Lee, Zoë Coombs Marr, Nakkiah Lui, Peta Brady, Richard Frankland, Declan Greene, Lally Katz, Alistair Baldwin, and Adrian Chiarella.

The program is named in honour the late great Malcolm Robertson—an actor, director and former Playbox Theatre Company literary manager, who worked tirelessly throughout his career to encourage and develop Australian playwrights.