Year 12 student Grace Wilson wins Queensland Theatre’s Young Playwrights Award for Goodbye Eli Anderson

A year 12 student from the Far North has been announced as the winner of Queensland Theatre’s Young Playwrights Award for her play set in Cairns. Find out how she did it.

A FAR North year 12 student has been announced as the winner of Queensland Theatre’s Young Playwrights Award for her play set in Cairns.

Grace Wilson, of Barrine, won for her comedy called Goodbye Eli Anderson which is about a pair of teens who go on a road trip.

“It’s set in Cairns and the surrounding areas and its about two young boys who meet at their lowest points, one is struggling with terminal illness and one with family trauma,” Grace said.

”I grew up on the Tablelands but I was born in Cairns and I always am there. I thought it would be a great place to set it, it’s really close to home.”

“I wanted to start the play off in a really laid back suburban area.”

The play took a lot of effort for Grace to come up with but through lots of support she was happy with the end result.

Year 12 student Grace Wilson was the winner of Queensland Theatre's Young Playwrights Award. Picture: Supplied.

““For it to be recognised by the judging panel and Queensland Theatre was a real whoah moment for me,” she said.

“There are no words to truly describe my feelings. Writing this script wasn’t an overnight stint,” she said.

“It was 11 months of weekly deliberations and coffee fuelled Zoom readings with friends. Being able to write a piece that is so vulnerable and honest is something that I’m so proud of,” said Grace.

“I’d constantly be like can you tell me what to think. They would tell me what was working, they’d tell me what they liked and what they didn’t. All the feedback was very useful.”

In the end Grace was stoked to have been able to enter the competition.

Year 12 student Grace Wilson was the winner of Queensland Theatre's Young Playwrights Award. Picture: Supplied.

“Last year I entered the same competition just on a whim, thought I would give it a shot and I got runner up which was really surprising,” she said.

“To come runner up in such a renowned award was such a light bulb moment in my brain.

“This was something I could do, this was something I was passionate about, this is where it all started.”

As part of her win, Grace was given a spot at Theatre Residency Week in Brisbane which is an intense theatre camp. Her script will also get the opportunity to be workshopped to develop further towards a professional reading.

“I can’t wait to see my words come to life, to see actors step into the roles of these characters that have only been truly conceptualised in words and Spotify playlists,” she said.

Originally published as Year 12 student Grace Wilson wins Queensland Theatre’s Young Playwrights Award for Goodbye Eli Anderson