Short and not so Sweet
January 30th 2008 02:28
Short and Sweet feels more Sour
Proclaiming to be the biggest little short play festival in the world, Short and Sweet is currently showcasing 90 of the best original short plays chosen for the festival at both the Newtown Theatre and the Seymour Centre. Every night 10 ten-minute plays are performed at each venue and each week one of the plays is voted through to the gala final. I attended the first week of short and sweet to see what was on offer and to hopefully have my faith in Australian Theatre rekindled. But sadly I was disappointed.
The task of putting together a ten-minute play in the time frame of a couple of weeks appeared to be relatively beyond most of the directors and performers of this festival. Poor choices were made, scenes were rushed, and overall, the entire festival appeared to be very poorly organised. It took me half an hour to have someone actually locate my tickets, I was sent up and down stairs, talked to three different people, and by the end of it I felt like I was in an Abbott and Costello film…except nobody was laughing.
The stand out play was without question The Stallion of Death, written by Drew Fairley, directed by Jo Turner and performed flawlessly by Kate Worsley and Gibson Nolte. It was fast, fresh and gut-bustingly funny; a real treat after the first four plays did little more than make me grateful I had brought a large glass of wine into the auditorium with me. And at $23 per ticket, I was expecting a higher calibre of work.
I adore theatre. I think we should be promoting theatre in Australia and desperately encouraging new works. But we should be encouraging the best of the best. There is no place for mediocrity when the industry is already struggling as it is. Having said this, there are definitely some gems in Short and Sweet that are not to be missed, but if you want to enjoy the best of the best, I would recommend saving yourself for the gala final when all the unworthy plays have been weeded out.
Proclaiming to be the biggest little short play festival in the world, Short and Sweet is currently showcasing 90 of the best original short plays chosen for the festival at both the Newtown Theatre and the Seymour Centre. Every night 10 ten-minute plays are performed at each venue and each week one of the plays is voted through to the gala final. I attended the first week of short and sweet to see what was on offer and to hopefully have my faith in Australian Theatre rekindled. But sadly I was disappointed.
The task of putting together a ten-minute play in the time frame of a couple of weeks appeared to be relatively beyond most of the directors and performers of this festival. Poor choices were made, scenes were rushed, and overall, the entire festival appeared to be very poorly organised. It took me half an hour to have someone actually locate my tickets, I was sent up and down stairs, talked to three different people, and by the end of it I felt like I was in an Abbott and Costello film…except nobody was laughing.
The stand out play was without question The Stallion of Death, written by Drew Fairley, directed by Jo Turner and performed flawlessly by Kate Worsley and Gibson Nolte. It was fast, fresh and gut-bustingly funny; a real treat after the first four plays did little more than make me grateful I had brought a large glass of wine into the auditorium with me. And at $23 per ticket, I was expecting a higher calibre of work.
I adore theatre. I think we should be promoting theatre in Australia and desperately encouraging new works. But we should be encouraging the best of the best. There is no place for mediocrity when the industry is already struggling as it is. Having said this, there are definitely some gems in Short and Sweet that are not to be missed, but if you want to enjoy the best of the best, I would recommend saving yourself for the gala final when all the unworthy plays have been weeded out.
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