Crash Bash scriptwriting competition workshops

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 co-ordinator in the Christchurch City Council’s City Environment Group.

“The scripts must pass the clear message, within the prescribed time, that drivers under 20 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 script must be 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 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 per cent of the funding coming from the NZ Transport Agency.

The free workshops will run on 28th and 29th March, 2009, from 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. 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 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.

Scripts with potential become finalists, and their authors are invited to stage a performance of their play on the judging night on Friday 26th 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.