![Emily Sheehan, who wrote the play Monument, went to primary school in Batemans Bay The play is still being developed and will be read at the Headland Writers Festival on Saturday, October 29. Emily Sheehan, who wrote the play Monument, went to primary school in Batemans Bay The play is still being developed and will be read at the Headland Writers Festival on Saturday, October 29.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/180157781/8244aca8-0355-4d1c-8a68-97365580a4dc.jpg/r0_209_4096_2521_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Australia's youngest female Prime Minister is about to be inaugurated.
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Her entire team is grounded in Melbourne so she only has an unknown make-up artist to help her prepare for the biggest day of her life.
That is the premise of Monument, a play written by Emily Sheehan who went to school in Batemans Bay.
Kameruka-born Ella Caldwell, artistic director of Red Stitch Actors' Theatre, is developing the play into a theatre production.
Monument is a "pithy, intelligent, one-time, one-place play that explores how the relationship between the incoming Prime Minister and the make-up artist develops over the course of 90 minutes to the moment she is ready to go out and give her speech," Ms Caldwell said.
Both women's lives are changed forever.
"It is quite a pressure-cooker type of environment, yet it is really enjoyable and fun, as well as thought provoking."
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![Ella Caldwell, who grew up in Kameruka, is developing Monument into a theatre production for Melbourne's Red Stitch Theatre. Photo supplied Ella Caldwell, who grew up in Kameruka, is developing Monument into a theatre production for Melbourne's Red Stitch Theatre. Photo supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/180157781/1aa2d679-9d7b-4bed-b526-06f91f2118bf.jpg/r0_0_3840_3810_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Artistic passion born in Candelo
Ms Caldwell went to Candelo School then Bega High.
In Year 6 she got involved with Intheatre, a high school theatre group.
"I was also really fortunate because all the high schools at the time - Bega, Eden, Narooma, Moruya and Batemans Bay - did a touring show called the Big Gig."
In Year 11/12 she won a drama scholarship to Caulfield, a private school in Melbourne.
This brought new opportunities including seeing more professional dramas and exposure to the different things that a big city offers.
Monument plays with femininity as well as being a feminist piece.
- Ella Caldwell, artistic director of Red Stitch Theatre
Ms Caldwell is a founder member of Red Stitch, an actor-driven ensemble theatre company formed in Melbourne in 2001, and has been its artistic director since 2013.
"The ensemble model means it is very collective and collaborative and I have to negotiate with the ensemble that acts as an advisory board."
Supporting playwrights
She has evolved and steered the company's new writing company INK which accepts applications from playwrights across the country.
After rigorous script reading, the accepted playwrights are paid a fee, as are the actors who develop the play.
"That takes a long time, maybe years, to develop it into a production for our theatre.
"I find the most rewarding is working on the plays we develop through that program," she said.
Those who watch the reading of Monument at the Headland Writers Festival at 1.30pm on Saturday, October 29, will get insights into that development process.
"There will be a conversation afterwards about what that is like from a playwright's perspective and people can ask questions."
The program can be viewed here.
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