Crash Bash Scriptwriting Competition workshops

CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE
09 March 2009
To: The Chief Reporter
From: CCC Communication Team

Crash Bash is offering free scriptwriting workshops at the end of March for up to 40 students who are interested in this year’s Scriptwriting Competition in Christchurch.

Crash Bash Scriptwriting Competition 2009 calls for original plays no longer than seven minutes on the theme The Legal Limit that can be performed at school assemblies.

Designed to raise awareness of the danger of mixing alcohol and driving, the competition is open to secondary students from schools in Christchurch and surrounding districts, Selwyn, Waimakariri and Hurunui.

“The theme this year tackles alcohol limits for young drivers. The objective is to create a youth consciousness of drink-driving issues through a creative medium,” says Joy Kingsbury-Aitken, the Schools Road Safety Coordinator in the Christchurch City Council’s City Environment Group.

The scripts must pass the clear message, within the prescribed time, that drivers under twenty should not drive if they have had even a single drink; that even small amounts of liquor will affect their driving, largely due to their lack of experience in driving and handling of liquor, says Ms Kingsbury-Aitken.

The annual competition, seeking to raise awareness of road safety and the effects of drinking and driving in an interactive way, is organised by the Council with 75 percent of the funding coming from the New Zealand Transport Agency.

The free workshops will run on 28 & 29 March 2009 from 1-5pm in the Classics Boardroom at the Christchurch Arts Centre . Places are available for the first 40 students who apply to attend.

Each year secondary students are invited to explore one of five themes in relation to drink driving in the Scriptwriting Competition. These themes are:

• Alcohol limits for young drivers (2009 theme)
• Driving the morning after drinking
• Choices and the influence of peer pressure on decision making
• The consequences of drink driving (other than causing a fatality)
• How alcohol can blur the boundaries.

The Crashbash Scriptwriting Competition is for an original play suitable for performing at school assemblies. The play is to last no longer than seven minutes, need no more than four actors, and require minimal props.

The winning play is toured the following year to Canterbury secondary schools by a professional theatre company. The competition is organised by the Christchurch City Council and 75 percent funded by the New Zealand Transport Agency

Scripts with potential become finalists, and their authors are invited to stage a performance of their play on the judging night on Friday 26 June. Each finalist is awarded $200. The winning writer receives a further $1000, which includes performance rights for the Crashbash Roadshow in 2010.

Usually the winning script requires further development before being taken on tour, and the young writer is given professional guidance with this.

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Additional Information

FREE Crashbash Scriptwriting Workshops – 28 & 29 March 2009, Christchurch Arts Centre
Students planning to enter the Crashbash Scriptwriting Competition have the chance to learn hot tips on cool scriptwriting beforehand.
The first 40 students to apply will attend one of two workshops (20 per workshop) where theatre professionals will help them free their imaginations and write actor-friendly and action-filled scripts. These workshops will run on 28 & 29 March 2009 from 1-5pm in the Classics Boardroom at the Christchurch Arts Centre. Numbers strictly limited. To register, email: Joy.Kingsbury@ccc.govt.nz. Students who don’t attend one of these workshops may still enter the competition.

Crashbash Script Theme – The Legal Limit
If you are under twenty you must not drive if you have more than 30 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, or more than 150 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. What this means is you should not drink and drive at all. Consuming just one alcoholic drink can put you over the legal limit and you might be charged with drink driving. Even small amounts of alcohol can affect your driving - whether or not you are an experienced driver - and most under twenty-year-olds are not experienced drivers.

Write a short play (suitable for performance at a school assembly) that explores “the need for limits” in the context of drink-driving. You should refer to the legal alcohol limit, but can explore other aspects of “the need for limits” as well.

Special Conditions

Scripts, each with a fully completed entry form, must be received by 4pm, 29 May 2009.
Type your scripts in black ink on white paper, double spaced, single-sided, with wide margins. Type stage directions in italics. Number your pages.
1. Each page of your script must be labelled with the title of the play only, not your own name and not your school name.
2. Scripts must be written for four actors and set out with a cast list that shows which actor is going to play which roles, e.g.:

Male 1: Hone
Male 2: Koro, Chris, Joe, Voice 1
Female 1: Sarah, Policewoman, Voice 3
Female 2: Kiri, Nancy, Voice 2
3. Scripts must be under 7 minutes long (about 6 pages)
4. No technical lighting or sound effects can be used.
5. Only a minimal set can be used (e.g. table & 4 chairs).

Crashbash finalists 2009
Finalist scriptwriters will be invited to present their scripts on stage at the Crashbash Finals night on Friday 26 June, starting at 8pm, in the Great Hall of the Christchurch Arts Centre. Technical rehearsal for Writers and performance teams will be held in the Great Hall at the Christchurch Arts Centre from 330pm on Monday 22 June.
A grant of $200 will be awarded to each finalist.

Best Script Award 2009
Following the performances of the finalists’ scripts on Friday 26 June in the Great Hall at the Christchurch Arts Centre, the best script will be announced.

$1000 will be awarded to the winning scriptwriter. This will include a $500 fee (for Crashbash Roadshow performance rights in 2010) to be presented with the trophy, by arrangement, at the winner’s school assembly. That school will hold the Crashbash Trophy until June 2010.

Post your script and entry form to:

Crashbash 2009
C/-Schools Road Safety Coordinator
Christchurch City Council, PO Box 237
Christchurch 8140
Or courier to:

Crashbash 2009
C/-Schools Road Safety Coordinator
Christchurch City Council
163 Tuam Street, Christchurch

ENDS

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