Jennifer Walton

Full length. Voaden Prize in Playwriting - awarded first prize 2021. When Darryl and his friend Niko get caught using a pellet gun in the alley beside an elementary school, it triggers a full active shooter response. Darryl and his mother Miranda feel the full force of justice, political, and education systems as well as the court of public opinion until Stevens, the police officer who was first on scene at the school and already suffering from PTSD, takes justice into his own hands.

Full length. Louise just wants to keep the peace. Whether it's birdwatching in peace, keeping the peace in her lifelong friendship with Queen Bee Justine and her husband Ned, or between her tightly wound husband James and their daughter Trish. But when Ned threatens to tear down the woods near her house and build townhouses, it's time for Louise to take a stand. Her peace is torn apart, along with the neighbourhood. when her daughter moves home and then into a tree to protest the impending development. Justine draws a line in the sand with their friendship and Ned orchestrates a hostile takeover of her family. A “pot twist” and an unlikely romance buds between the kids of these star-crossed households. Everyone uses the woods to their own advantage including a couple of strangers who lurk within. Louise finally discovers a way to restore the peace and save the woods, but not before she comes to the realization that you truly can't go back. There is a season to all things, including friendship.

One act play - 60 minutes or less. When actresses Kai and Wills kidnap critic Sandy Sitwell on stage after he savages Kai’s fringe show in a review, art takes criticism to trial. This dark comedy casts the audience as the jury deciding who is guilty, and of what exactly, in this play within a play within a trial within a crime. Kai and Wills attempt to upend the hierarchy of theatre culture while Sandy fights for both his dignity and his privileged place as a critic within this structure.

A 20 minute play. Set in the not-too-distant future, the Citizens who live in this newly constructed society have been through a war in the fairly recent past. In order to keep the peace, they have adopted a “consensus at all costs” philosophy. Everything is pleasant, until one night, Citizen 10 can’t sleep.

20 minutes - gender flexible casting. On a class trip to see Antigone, the students wait outside for the theatre doors to open. Some are thrilled to be there, some, not-so-much. A debate about theatre versus movies erupts and the students begin to act out their own unique take on various myths and draw connections as to how they relate to the stories in films they currently enjoy.

A monologue. For Sophie's star birthday (when your age and your birthday match) she receives a pretty pink rifle as a gift from her parents. Even though she's been taught to handle a gun safely, something really bad happens that will change her life forever.

A ten minute play. Two teenage boys play with pellet guns near an elementary school. Oblivious to the terror they cause within the school, the boys set off a chain reaction that ultimately ends in tragedy. Gun Play asks us to confront our complex relationship with guns.