The Joan and Betty Rayner Australian Children’s Theatre Foundation Commission

I'm very pleased to say that I've been awarded the ACTF commission for 2019 to write and create Tōrō & Rose. The play is centred around a true event. In 1930, the cities of Yokohama and Seattle exchanged friendship gifts - a Japanese stone lantern and 1000 American Roses. The play shows how four fictional characters, Makoto, a Japanese woman and Frank, an American gardener, helped by Tōrō, a gentle dog and Rose, a grumpy cat, nurture the seeds of friendship even in the face of war. Coincidently Eliza and I are going to Japan in April so I'll see get the chance to see the botanical gardens where the decadents of those American roses still grow. It'll be toured by Regional Arts Victoria in 2020, probably around May but dates are still to be fixed.