Drama dreams come true at 62

Banjo teacher Wendy Holman wins a playwright award.

A Sunshine Coast banjo teacher is celebrating her decision to enrol in a USC Arts degree after her first public offering as a playwright received a special mention in a Noosa Arts Theatre competition.
Wendy Holman, 62, tested her play out among her university peers before entering it in the competition.
“I’ve been a musician for 30 years, doing the festival circuit in the folk and bluegrass scene, and I needed shaking up,” said Wendy who owns a small business called Fingerstyle Productions.
“I’d always wanted to do drama, and I did my own creative writing, so I thought it would be wonderful to go to university and stand on the shoulders of those who had gone before.
“I could never afford to go to uni before, but it was one of those things on the bucket list.”
A monologue called Margarita Syndrome written by Ms Holman during a semester break was selected for Noosa Arts Theatre’s recent Shorts on Stage competition.
The play was a one-sided phone conversation between a woman and her philandering husband.
“I was really pleased with the way it was received and got a special mention because out of the nine finalists, I was one of only two who’d written, acted and directed my own play,” she said.