CreateSA provided funding to support the development of The Spoil, a new two‑act play by South Australian playwright Piri Eddy. The grant enabled eight weeks of focused writing time to support development of the third draft of the work, in preparation for a staged reading with State Theatre Company South Australia.

Set in a near‑future South Australia where a soil‑borne pathogen has destabilised global food security, The Spoil follows biologist Sarah as she works alone on her family’s Adelaide Hills farm. Surrounded by seeds and the memories attached to them, she searches for what may still grow. The work combines intimate family storytelling with broader questions of resilience, community and climate‑driven disruption.

The development period supported refinement of the play’s structure, themes and character dynamics, ensuring the work was well‑positioned for presentation and future production opportunities.

The Spoil asks more questions than it answers. It is speculative in nature, but it uses issues we’re facing now – food insecurity and food sovereignty to name just a couple – as its provocation. I hope audiences can take these ideas – some of which sit on the periphery of our daily thinking – and think more deeply about them.

Time to think and write without financial pressures is such a gift and a real privilege. This grant from CreateSA meant I could really immerse myself in the project without worrying about all the other things in life that usually just distract from getting the real work done.

— Piri Eddy, Playwright and Project (Independent Artists and Groups) grant recipient