The program gives audiences a chance to be part of the creative process and a sneak peek into the region’s clever artistic community.

Playwright and Goulburn Post journalist David Cole has been included in this year’s program, along with two ACT playwrights, Christopher Samuel Carroll and Tom Davis. 

Program coordinator Shelly Higgs said there was “a world of difference” between an idea and its execution.

“First Seen helps artists bridge this gap and turns ideas or undeveloped scripts into a more tangible theatrical product with the momentum to go forward,” Higgs said.

Now in its seventh year, First Seen promotes the creation of high-quality original performance work, encouraging debate on issues and relationships.

This year’s program brings works immersed in heroic stories, public service satire and love, all wrapped in cultural, political and social issues of currency.

The season starts on Sunday, April 22, with Icarus by Christopher Carroll, a wordless solo piece, loosely based on the true story of a refugee's journey from Mozambique to the UK.

Sherpas by Tom Davis, featuring a lead G20 negotiator as protagonist, and Irene’s Wish, a love story from David Cole, will be presented later in the year. 

The three new performance works were selected by Camilla Blunden, a celebrated Canberra-based theatre-maker with four decades of stage experience, and drawn from 14 script submissions.

“The works selected demonstrated a distinctive voice and were at a point where the development opportunity would progress the works significantly,” Blunden said.

Previous First Seen seasons have galvanised audiences, showcasing new works that are compelling and entertaining with many going onto receive professional productions by The Street and other professional and independent companies. 

One such production, The Weight of Light by Goulburn writer Nigel Featherstone, and composer James Humberstone, is soon to show at the Sydney Conservatorium and tour to regional NSW and Victoria.

Other works have included Rice by Michele Lee, which was produced last year by Queensland Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre; and Sandy France’s ARIA-nominated opera From a Black Sky.