Kate Davis, whose play Between the Cracks is the inaugural winner of the Bitsa Playwriting and Performing Competition.

A short story about an unlikely friendship between a sex worker and a middle-class woman has been turned into the winning entry in a playwriting competition at the Albany campus. Written by Bachelor of Arts student Kate Davis, the play, Between the Cracks, was among entries in the inaugural Bitsa Playwriting and Performing Competition. It will be performed during Orientation Week next February.

Set on Auckland’s colourfully infamous Karangahape Road, the drama centres around Kathy, a small-time pot dealer who gets busted for an ounce and sentenced to community service in a K’ Road soup kitchen where she meets Georgie – “a street worker with a Robin Hood complex”, according to the synopsis. It is based on Ms Davis’ short story Georgie, which was published in Landfall issue 224. The story is one of four published stories from her as-yet unpublished, 22-strong collection about sex workers, titled The Whore Next Door.

The judges, Dr Rand Hazou (lecturer in Theatre Arts), Dr Jenny Lawn (senior lecturer in English), Stuart Hoar (Playmarket script advisor and Massey lecturer in script writing), and Becki Chappell (Massey University Theatre Society secretary and student), described her script as “vivid, warm, energetic,” adding that the play “stands out for its clear local references and life-affirming fondness for all the human flotsam of the K’ Rd scene. “The dialogue cracks along at a sharp pace, and is fluent, idiomatic, sometimes witty, and rich in Kiwi slang. The characterisation is believable, and the class and gender crossovers give enough of a sense of personal discovery, without falling into diversity didacticism”.

Ms Davis formerly worked in the sex industry then went on to work as regional coordinator in Auckland for the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective for five years. She lobbied to decriminalise prostitution leading to the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, and first enrolled in a Certificate of Health Promotion at Massey. When she changed tack to do a Creative Writing paper, her tutor Dr Bronwyn Lloyd encouraged her writing talent and invited her along to a writers’ group, where she began her short story collection and decided to pursue full-time study for a Bachelor of Arts.

Ms Davis, who is studying English and Politics, says her stories, written from an insider’s perspective, are a way of demystifying the world of sex workers, and their diverse personalities, sexual identities and life stories. Theatre lecturer and Bitsa judge Dr Hazou says her writing talent lies in her ability to bring a creative and critical eye to those marginalised by society.

Second place in the competition went to Georgia Forrester for Lines of Literature, and third Place to Sam Nicholls’ Sharks, Hookers and Exes.

Auditions to recruit students and community members to perform the winning three entries will be held on November 21 from 12 to 3pm at the Theatre Lab in the Sir Neil Waters Building. Rehearsals will be held over summer. Directors, set designers and technicians are also needed.

The Bitsas are the culmination of a busy year of theatre activity at the Albany campus, with the launch of a new theatre space called Theatre Lab, a student theatre group (MUTS) and new papers in Expressive Arts offered at the Albany campus.

For more information on auditions contact: masseyunimuts@gmail.com