Description

On 23 October 2002, Chechen rebels stormed a theatre in Moscow, holding hundreds of theatregoers hostage. Three days later, in Newcastle, Australia, a young man staged an armed robbery in a bookshop.

Checklist for an Armed Robber picks up the threads of these two real life events and weaves them together in an attempt to better examine the complex patterns of violence, courage and empathy. This AWGIE-winning play from Vanessa Bates observes with sensitivity and humour the perspective from both ends of the gun.

Biography

Vanessa Bates

VANESSA BATES is an award winning playwright, screenwriter and researcher. Her plays include The Magic Hour 2024, The One, Small Hard Things, A Ghost In My Suitcase, Trailer, Every Second, PORN.CAKE, Checklist For An Armed Robber and Darling Oscar. She has received a NSW Premier’s Prize, two AWGIE Awards, the Stoddart Playwriting Award and been shortlisted for the Victorian Premiers Award, STC Patrick White Award, Griffin Award, the Newton John Award, the 503 Playwriting Award, Brennan Playwriting Award and further AWGIE Awards. Vanessa received her doctorate in scriptwriting, examining Mixed Cultural Identity and effects on a playwrighting practice pivoted to screenwriting. She is one-seventh of playwrighting alliance 7ON. Several of their works have been published including Sharp Darts, No Nudity, Weapons or Naked Flames and as part of Short Circuits.