Grace Wilson (she/her) is an 19-year-old emerging playwright living on Yuggera and Turrbal land in Meanjin. At the age of 17, she was shortlisted for the Queensland Theatre Young Playwrights' Award and won the award in the following year. Grace has gone on to received several other shortlistings in playwrighting including Sydney Theatre Company's Patrick White Playwrights’ Award, Griffin Award and the Queensland Theatre Premier's Drama Award, all of which Grace is the youngest in history to be on the list. She has also been published by Regional Arts Australia, shortlisted for the ABC Heywire Competition and longlisted for two commissions (ATYP Foundation Commission, Martin Lysicrates Prize). Grace has also undertaken several playwrighting training programs including JUTE WriteSparks, Queensland Theatre’s Young Writers’ Ensemble and ATYP Fresh Ink Mentoring. She is currently under commission with Queensland University of Technology and Observatory Theatre.
Grace Wilson. Image: Supplied by artist.
1. Describe what you do in 100 words?
Question-aire? I ask questions, a lot of questions. If said question doesn't have an answer, off I go. As a young person, I watch how the world around me challenges and responds to everything and anything. And then I simply ask why? Why do we do this, that, everything? Then I ask what can I do to spread this message/idea? From there, I create. Whatever I can't see, I make visible. I hold space for things that are never seen. If someone says 'that was unique' or 'I've never seen that before', I sleep well at night.
2. What’s your first memory of engaging with the arts?
My family is big on music and arts. My Grandma was an opera singer and my Mum adored piano so I always grew up around it. Every single night when I was very young I would force my parents to watch me perform a dance concert (they would have to announce me too), and I guess that was the start. From there on out, I was always playing an instrument or at a dance class, art class, drama class. I can't imagine my childhood without thinking about the storeroom closet where I learnt piano in for six years in the boiling heat (I wasn't very good).
3. How has your practice change over time?
I've always been a writer and I've always loved theatre, but I never crossed the two. I wrote short stories and attended my drama classes but when anyone mentioned writing plays I would laugh in their face. The first time I wrote a play was out of spite (sorry Em) and i entered it on a whim to Queensland Theatre Young Playwrights' Award and the rest is history. I was able to combine my two passions and two skills into this wonderful middle ground where i was lucky to receive recognition. I don't act much now, but all those drama classes definitely paid off. I can see everything in my brain, how each line will be said, stages, sets, costumes, and so forth. If I didn't take those drama classes in Grade 9-12, I would not be where I am today.
4. Can you describe your ideal working environment?
Oh yes. I am a big coffee shop writer. Usually my desk or homespace is used for eating/drinking/stacking piles of stuff I don't need, so I find leaving the house and sitting myself down to create. I'll start off with a big almond milk/oat milk latte in a mug, and a bottle of sparkling water. I also listen to instrumental jazz when I sit down to work, it definitely sets the vibe. I'm a daily regular at one place in Meanjin and one place in my hometown of Yungaburra, to the point that they know the minute I arrive (usually 7:30am) and what I order.
Grace Wilson at the Griffin Awards. Image: Sarah Hadley.
5. Who is an artist that inspires you and why?
I think Suzie Miller is a big inspiration for me. She has a whole career in law but managed to make it as an incredible theatre maker too. I'm very much an 'all or nothing' type of person, and as someone studying a degree in classics and ancient history, it's a bit conflicting to not be studying drama/writing and just committing 100%. I think I've realised that I don't need to be taught how to write or act and such to be a playwright, but moreso being able to find connections with people and telling stories of people who don't have their voices heard in theatre is what makes me realise that I can have a thumb in whatever pie I want.
6. How do you manage work-life balance as an artist?
Barely. I study full time at UQ, work two jobs and then work on my own projects, commissions, writing courses. I find that a good colour coded calendar really helps, especially when I can divide different events into 'work' or 'home'. I know what time of the day works for my brain to be in uni mode and to be in writer mode, and try to not mix them around. After 6pm, I cut everything off and won't touch uni, work or writing and just take time for myself. Sometimes thats a walk in Southbank, cooking a big meal and watching Youtube or even attending a dance class in the city. Knowing when it's time to stop, listening to your body and knowing your priorities is essential to preventing burnout.
7. What time of day do you find yourself most creative and why?
Usually right before bed. I don't sit at my desk and hammer out ideas as they come in late at night but I do enjoy writing just random pieces of stories for me in my Notes app. I usually take some time to think over what I'm writing and if I have any inspirations, I will add them to their own note.
8. Do you think art is important to society and why?
1000% - where would we all be without art? Human morals, societal roles, right and just actions, the foundations of society are built from art. I could spend all day sitting here just ripping about Homer's Iliad and how it represents modern society and the structure of the human species. Art brings us all together, it always has. Cave paintings are our earliest examples of human's existence in several continents,. Why did they paint their hands? To tell others their story. Why did the Greeks write and perform plays? To tell others their story. Why do I write what I write? To tell my story, others stories. To tell people I am here.
Grace Wilson at the Young Playwrights Award Night. Image: Shan Jacobe.
9. What is something you have created or a process you have been a part of that you are most proud of?
It would have to be DOGHOLE for me. I really had nothing going into the Evolution program with Vena Cava and expected it to all fall in a heap with only three months max to plan and write a full length stage show. But somehow, I did it. It was a huge test of confidence, a test of my character. I took a huge leap from my little box I was in and challenged all I knew about playwrighting and writing in Australia. I also got to collaborate with such a group of daring, bold and inspiring artists who consistently pushed me to try something new with each draft. I remember watching opening night at Pip Theatre and just having his huge sigh of relief when I heard the final line and I just put my head on El's (the director) shoulder. It was one of those 'this is why I create' moments.
10. What are you working on right now, if anything?
I am always working on something. I'm currently under commission with both Queensland University of Technology and Observatory Theatre writing two very different but exciting pieces of theatre. I've also been working on my play DOGHOLE which is having its revival in 2024 with theatrePUNKco before taking off to Sydney at the end of this year. When I have a spare minute I come back to my roots and find myself updating and editing dialogue in GOODBYE, ELI ANDERSON or swapping/changing scenes. I'm also working on my tap dancing skills, which is vital to my practice.
If you are or know of an artist that might like to feature in our Spotlight: 10 Questions series please send us an email to hello@thatproductioncompany.com.au.
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