The winners of the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award for 2024 have been announced.

The joint winners this year are Ballkids by Melbourne playwright Olivia Satchell and Into The Light by Ian Roberts and Alex Broun. The two winning plays will each receive $20,000.

Seaborn Trustees who judged this year’s Award were Diana Simmonds (Chair), NIDA Artistic Director in Residence David Berthold, dramaturg and theatre legend Terry Clark, director Lee Lewis, Co-Artistic Director of bAKEHOUSE Theatre Suzanne Millar and director Darren Yap.

Lewis described Ballkids as, “Sophisticated, nuanced, accessible and optimistic … a joyous portrait of friendship that reveals Satchell’s gift for understanding humans and transporting them into theatrical shape.”

Olivia Satchell and Ian Roberts. Photo supplied

Into The Light is based on the true story of the (platonic) relationship between Ian Roberts, the former rugby league forward and NIDA graduate, and Arron, a youth he had befriended. Arron was murdered the day before he was to be Crown witness against a paedophile ring.

Speaking of the play, Terry Clarke said: “The presentation is semi-documentary, so avoiding the temptation to sensationalise. While understandably presenting things from Roberts’ point of view, it does not whitewash him; on...