Students participate by either attending the live performance, watching the plays in their classroom live by streaming or watching the three videos of the plays through our website. Then, importantly, THEY VOTE.
We are absolutely ecstatic to announce our THREE FINALISTS for the eighth annual Martin Lysicrates Prize:
- Katy Warner - Smart
- Madelaine Nunn - The Experiment
- Brendan Hogan - Madboyz
A panel of theatre professionals read each submission anonymously and then named their shortlists, before members of our Foundation and our Advisory Panel decided the three finalists!
We were overwhelmed with the standard of this year’s submissions, with the competition for the top three being one of the tightest races we have seen.
On the 14th August, the first scenes of the pieces will be seen by students at Riverside - and across Australia and the world via stream/video. It is then the students who democratically vote to award the winner a $15,000 commission and dramaturgical support to develop the play!
Congratulations Brendan, Madelaine and Katy! Stay tuned for more about their plays.
MEET OUR INCREDIBLE PLAYWRIGHTS!
Katy Warner
SMART
Our first finalist is Katy Warner for her play, SMART.
15-year-old Sadie is really, really smart. General knowledge, sciences, maths, history, geography, literature… ask her any question she will know the answer. It’s impressive. And it’s hard work. She doesn’t have time for anything else – friends, fun, hobbies, a life… But that’s OK. She’s smart. And being smart means sacrifice and hard work and not wasting the opportunities her Mum never had…
Sadie is about to be the youngest contestant to ever appear on one of those TV quiz-shows old people like to watch before the evening news. It is everything her Mum has always wanted.
Until Sadie gets a simple question wrong. Her mind goes blank, everything unravels and then the ghost of Joan of Arc appears.
A little about Katy:
Katy Warner is an award-winning playwright and the author of many short stories, and two young-adult novels published by Hardie Grant. Her debut novel, Everywhere
Everything Everyone, was shortlisted for the Readings oung Adult Book Prize. Her second novel, Triple Threat, was a CBCA Notable Book.
Katy’s plays have been performed across Australia and in New Zealand, London and Edinburgh. Works include Reasons to Stay Inside (AWGIE Award – Best Children’s Theatre), Grace (Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre), Girl Band (New Ghost Theatre and National Theatre of Parramatta), Spencer and A Prudent Man (Lab Kelpie Theatre). She is a proud member of the Australian Writers’ Guild.
Madelaine Nunn
The Experiment
Our second finalist is Madelaine Nunn for her play, THE EXPERIMENT.
Set in a not-too distant future, The Experiment follows a group of teenagers who are selected to participate in a prestigious summer program with tech giant ‘NeuroTek
Industries’. They soon realise this is not what they thought it to be, in fact their selection is part of an elaborate and ground-breaking experiment.
Their task: to uncover the AI hidden among them. If they are successful a life-changing cash prize awaits them. But there’s more: the entire world is watching. Their every move and interaction is being live-streamed around the globe.
A little about Madelaine:
Madelaine is an AWGIE winning writer, actor and producer working across theatre, film and radio since graduating from the VCA in 2015. Madelaine is the founder of Mad Nun Productions, co-founder of Three Birds Theatre, and Artistic Director of Rollercoaster Theatre. She has won The House of Oz Purse Prize, The Martin Lysicrates Prize, The Rebel Wilson Scholarship, The ATYP Foundation Commission and The Jopuka Eldersee Commission.
Notable writing credits include; sitting, screaming (The Old Fitz), FLICK (La Mama/Goodwood Theatre & studios), SAAM (ATYP), Cactus (La Mama/RAV), The Chapel, the Fire & the Dead Cat (ATYP), Summer at Suspended Stone Camp (Jopuka Productions), Kinder Surprise (ABC RN) and Bin Chicken (ATYP/Griffin).
You can keep up to date with Madelaine’s work and her production company on Instagram @madonunnie and @madnunproductions.
Brendan Hogan
Madboyz
One third finalist is Brendan Hogan for his play, MADBOYZ.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No—it’s Madboyz, two 13-year-old wannabe vigilantes with a Wi-Fi connection and a TikTok channel. Meet Biggie and Smalls: best mates, serial truants, and self-proclaimed superheroes of their neighbourhood. Armed with dodgy bikes, Dora helmets, and delusions of grandeur, these small-time troublemakers are on a mission to deliver “justice”—as long as it earns them likes, followers, and maybe a little local fame.
But when a mysterious online follower turns up in real life with revenge on their mind, the FullyMadboyz are forced to confront the consequences of their antics. A high-octane comedy about masculinity, mob mentality, and the terrifying power of going viral.
A little about Brendan:
Brendan Hogan grew up in the bush with five sisters, a busted-up bike, and a head full of weird ideas. He wrote his own stories, drew his own comics, and once started a detective agency with zero clients and very suspicious business cards.
These days, Brendan is a playwright and a primary school teacher. He writes plays especially for young people—stories that are funny, fast, and full of the kinds of characters who don’t always fit in, but still find a way to fight for what matters. Madboyz was inspired by the world of TikTok vigilantes, clout-chasers, and the fine line between being seen and being safe. He hopes it makes you laugh. Think. And maybe feel a little dangerous—in the best kind of way.