Winners of JOY 94.9's radio play competition Centre Stage announced

The final four winners of JOY 94.9's nationwide short radio play competition have been announced and are currently being broadcast on air and are available online & for Community Radio Network (CRN) subscribers.

Centre Stage was held as a nationwide short play competition focusing on any LGBTIQ issues (that’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, intersex and queer).

Entry plays could focus on a specific group of the LGBTIQ community or the rainbow community in general. The brief was that the plays could be funny, touching, a true story, fiction or completely out there! Ten finalists were chosen by 3 judges and recorded as read-throughs and then voted for online by JOY 94.9's 329,000 listeners.

The four winning plays are:

Queer Space by Shamini Joseph and Ania Anderst 

Struggles of my Fluidity by Charlie Hobman 

Oasis by Mark Hadden 

What Santa Told Me by Wayne Hunks

Proudly supported by the Community Broadcasting Foundation, the four winning plays were recorded and filmed over a creative weekend. The process has also been turned into a ‘How to Produce a Radio Play’ instructional video for community broadcasters across the community radio network to use when recording their own radio plays. The plays can be heard on-air and online at JOY 94.9, and are also available to stations for local broadcast via the CRN. Enjoy!

For CRN subscribers:

• JOY 94.9 Centre Stage series website

• Available to CRN stations in Extras 2 on Wednesady 30 September:
  • Queer Space by Shamini Joseph and Ania Anderst - Quirky, full of subtext, girly banter between mates and exes with some great one liners - 11’05 minutes
  • Struggles of my Fluidity by Charlie Hobman - A positive perspective for younger listeners that it’s ok to be who you are and the struggles of the people who just don’t understand - 6’05 minutes

• Also available as downloads-only (contains adult/strong content)

  • Oasis by Mark Hadden - Complex and dealing with older discovery. Oasis has a non-judgemental trans perspective and humour.
  • What Santa Told Me by Wayne Hunks - This play is about self-discovery, first love and unspoken words. What did Santa really say? This is a tale of sleepless summer nights and the promise of Christmas dreams fulfilled

• For more information contact CRN staff on 02 9310 2999 or email [email protected].

Not a CRN subscriber, but want to find out more about getting content like this for your station? Read more here.