So far Mark Cleary has run a successful business with now over 1200 scripts being submitted world-wide for his Short & Sweet
play festival; this year having 140 plays presented all-up, with 140
directors and over 300 actors. That’s a hard task to deliver, and it
seems this year’s festival went off without too many hitches.
Short & Sweet
offers a good opportunity for theatre dramatists to have their work
seen by the general public, to be validated as artists, to practice and
grow in their craft.
What’s more the festival certainly
appeals to a wider audience. At a mere ten minutes per injection an MTV
generation with the collective attention span of a stapler can
certainly endure what is at times quite poorly crafted plays. Then
there are the mums and dads and aunties and uncles, quite possibly
theatre virgins, driving in to the centre of the smoke to watch young
so n so have his debut in a semi-professional capacity.
Short & Sweet’s
vision is for a more creative world ten minutes at a time. Promotion
materials give a clear indication to patrons what sort of creative
world is in store for them. This year’s poster displayed two young
blonde girls quirkily dressed up in heels, one in a party dress
a-la-Cyndi Lauper, one in a low cut short stripy number, both looking
as if they have gotten ready to go to Purple Sneakers and dance the
night away un-ironically to New Kids on the Block. Centred is an older
bloke with aviator sunglasses and a gross cheesy grin posing like Elvis
or perhaps Rod Stewart. The concept could be mistaken for an
advertisement for condoms, Vodka Cruisers, or a Channel Ten promotion
for Neighbours.
Amongst the theatre community there are two commonly held Short & Sweet
criticisms. The greatest is that though it is a sponsored competition
and the theatre spaces are subsidised, and though they charge $30 per
ticket for plays regarded on the most part to be amateur, and $40 per
ticket for the gala night in Seymour Centre’s York Theatre which on
Friday was full to its capacity of 788, not one artist involved in the
entire festival receives one dollar for their work, and not one
production was allocated a budget. They even charge $5 for their
programs (reviewers included).
Though well administrated, it seems exploitative. If Short & Sweet want a more creative world, they should begin by being less capitalising on the talents of work-hungry artists.
The second criticism is the general quality of work that gets put through to production. What Short & Sweet
is doing for the Australian imagination is like what McDonalds is doing
with their new menu choices for general health – for every salad
there’s seven burgers.
Like with Tropfest, Short & Sweet
has been developed in a way that will appeal to the mass market,
presenting a sweet soap of digestible delights, forsaking art for gag.
The envelope is not being pushed and the proverbial box is still firmly
centred. Theatre’s immediacy has the capacity to throw an audience
member into a multi-sensuous revelation of the world. Overall at the
Gala night there was a trend for naturalistic un-theatrical made-for-TV
plays.
The dilemma of theatricality that is Short & Sweet is further highlighted in the “AFC Award for the script which shows the most potential to be a short film”, and the lack of “Award for the script which shows most potential to be a full-length play”.
For theatre to grow as an art form, it needs to be respected as that in
its own right, which is apart from other media such as film or
television.
If theatre is a reflection of society then I think
we’re in trouble. Apparently our society is obsessed with JAFAs*, male
larrikins (surprise surprise), desperate and dateless thirty something
forty something and fifty something women (though they should be
grateful they’re being written for, right?), and spicier sex for sixty
something and seventy somethings (illegal in Tasmania).
Generally
the plays were well written. On the whole the acting was of a high
quality. Direction ranged from saving grace to non-existent. In terms
of overall production (actors, director, writer) there were only three
prime cuts.
*Term commonly used abroad for Aussie travelers, standing for ‘Just Another F***en Aussie’
Gala Night: A review
ACT I
Sexual Perversity in Prague WINNER Audience choice award
Actor/writer Toby Levins in a relaxed and natural diction tells the story of a cocky Aussie larrikin called Toby (hmm) who lies to a pretty girl whilst in the Czech Republic about being in a play on the West End. Toby
is your quintessential JAFA topped with the arrogance of an insecure
though mildly sexy North Bondi actor. Dipping in and out of internal
monologue, Toby reveals to the audience just exactly how full
of s**t he really is. Only highlighting the misogynous mist of the
plays’ subject matter is Levins' card-board cut-out female role, Eva, (successfully saved by the graceful talents of Kate Bell),
who follows him to London, and then on to Australia. Unfortunately you
don’t actually see what’s so great about this guy to warrant such
dramatic geographical manoeuvres (and Eva seems far too level
headed to be the stalking type), and yet all too often pretty girls do
indeed chase the biggest losers so again the reflexive value of theatre
gives us something to consider.
The play in fact is very charming. Augusta (Gus) Supple’s holistic direction keeps apace the writing. Supple
has used simple sound devices and energetic stage-craft to lift the
swift location swings and cohesed an engaging through-line to young Toby’s cock-up, which ends in an almighty slap from Eva to Toby, which perhaps should have been a bullet. The program gave no indication of its autobiographical element, though Levins, even in curtain call, seemed to have a certain Toby quality about him. I can’t help but draw a parallel between him and Stan Zemanec.
Character Development
Character Development, written by John O’Carroll, is a rather delightful and very witty parlour comedy directed by Robyn McLean. It follows Roy(Peter Turnball), a middle-aged wheel-chair-bound writer who becomes sabotaged by a figment of his imagination - a character in his writing, Brett(Gus Murray), who according to Sydney critics is “nothing more than a poorly constructed He-man cliché”, is having an affair with Roy’s wife Maree (Janine Penfold).
The couple re-unite against this out-of-control ‘hero’ character and
set their fingers to the keyboards to fire up their own sex life.
With its wishy-washy characters, predictable plot development, at times bad comic timing and overall stale staging, ‘Character Development’ was reminiscent of an episode of The Bold and The Beautiful, it seemed though with no intentional irony (or if there was it didn’t carry through).
Turnball however was excellent.
Almost WINNER best overall production, WINNER best script, WINNER best director
Almost, by Canadian Krista Dalby, was certainly the pick of the evening.
It
is a story of regret, of when pride gets in our way. Two young
professionals working in the same office take a fancy to each other but
fail to do anything about it. In the unexpected ending as the
characters narrate their own death we realise that in fact this office
was in the world trade centre.
The characters are deep, funny and real. As actors Sophie Cleary and Paul Ashton
play out the politics of an office crush, the intimacy was well
achieved even in the massive York Theatre. With their awkward
chemistry, impeccable comic timing, and natural totterings as if
weaving between office booths, Cleary and Ashton were nothing short of brilliant.
Cleverly directed with interesting staging, Rebecca O’Brien
created some beautiful images. She found a smooth rhythm to the already
well-paced writing, her use of silence was powerful, and gave
particular attention to lighting, intensifying the unbearably familiar
sexual tension and then disappointing release between the
could-have-been-lovers. O’Brien gets you hooked from the beginning, and you can’t let go until the end.
The
ache of a romance that never got to be pierced through the heart and
goose-bumped skin of the audience. The tragedy of 911 is used without
cliché or sentimental doting. The message is poignant - do not fear
each other, fear regret.
Love Story WINNER AFC Award for the Script Which Shows The Most Potential to be a Short Film
The intense music and soft ethereal lighting which opened Anna Lall’s Love Story
gave an expectation for something rather magical, meaning the fall to
disappointing cliché was felt a little harder than necessary.
In terms of “Short & Sweet the soap fest” for this play we are talking Home and Away attempts Pinter.
It is the story of a lonely woman of 52 (Lisa Peers) whose only company is her cat, taken home by a male artist (Will Snow)
23 years her junior. Apparently there is a possibility of love, but in
fact the issue is explored with the point entirely missed. The whole
thing seemed laughable because the dialogue was so clichéd. The play
lacked the real tension and chemistry needed to make the connection
between these characters believable.
The Pursuit of Happiness
It’s a shame that New Zealander Angela Carey didn’t win anything for her play because it was one of the best of the evening.
Carey plays with words to give a moral message about the unending search for contentment. We have ‘Happy’(Shannon Ellis) and ‘Ness’(Anna Burgess) and ‘The Dictionary’(Steff Dawson) all personified in a design-heavy production supremely directed by Andrew Carlton. Anna Burgess is certainly the stand out comedic actor, and despite the grammatical questionability of the characters mistaking ‘greed’ for ‘happiness’, this was ten minutes of good theatre.
Keeping Annabelle WINNER best actress, RUNNER-UP best script
… and quite deservedly so.
Rachel Welch from the UK has written a cute and funny play that has been well teamed with director Neil Gooding.
It begins with Sam Shepherd-esque eeriness - as Geoff Buckley music
plays a shrill scream rings out, revealing a twitchy guy called Joe(Ric Herbert) holding a gun to a woman’s head covered in a Coles bag. The woman turns out to be Beattie(Melle Stewart), and as it happens Joe has kidnapped the wrong gal. In a neat twist kidnapper becomes hostage to a woman sick of being over-looked and under-loved.
From dry delivery to melodramatic put-on, a vocally warm Melle Stewart indeed was a highlight of the night.
ACT II
Sleepless Night Jonathan Gavin’s Sleepless Night, directed by Natalie Lopes, was the night’s weakest link. We are talking fourth season of Secret Life of Us. One of those plays where you feel embarrassed for the actors.
With
awkward set design (a giant bed mid stage), blocking circa Rock
eisteddfod, and cringe gender politics ala Men are from Mars, the play
explores a JAFA lost in the world and then found in love with a married
woman who turns out to not be married (ooh, a twist).
Hope Fades But the Duck Never Dies Runner-up Best Actor
With an ironing board on stage and its heavy silence-laden drama there was a slight hint of Aussie soap Prisoner to this essentially clichéd story of a woman in a crumbling marriage battling the binds of duty and habit.
Despite the odds however Jane Miller has written a good play, thoughtfully acted by Penny Hall and Maurizio Degliesposti, and on the whole neatly directed by Felicity Nicol.
Were there an award for most potential for a full-length play this should have nabbed it.
Road Kill
This
is the story of a car accident involving a black woman (who it turns
out is actually a man) and a racist larrikin, ending in a lingually
graphic rape.
Unfortunately Louise Fischer’s direction fell short of Rick Viede’s
rhythmic and gritty script. Though well cast, the actors remained
facing out to the audience, unnaturally planted like statues,
unnecessarily severing what could have been a more intense interplay.
Actors Pamela Jikiemi and Kim Knuckey were superb.
9/11 Conspiracy – The Musical WINNER Alex Broun Award for Best New Talent (Director)
This provided one of the most ridiculous ten minutes I’ve spent this year.
With
its political subject matter one feels compelled to hear something to
argue about. When I cottoned on to the toilet trajectory of this work I
could then relax and enjoy it for all its university arts review
nostalgia.
Basically in good old-fashioned Aussie
insensitivity this musical sets out to offend every religion possible.
There’s nothing new to hear or see and it’s not particularly good
theatre, but Will Snow who played a whimpering Tony Blair and Pat Brennan who played a cocaine slapped George Bush were hilarious. Olivia Ansell’s direction of the 11-part cast was indeed commendable.
The Second Cuppa WINNER Best Actor, RUNNER-UP Best Actress
Finally we have a touch of Mother and Son mixed with Are You Being Served?
Playing
with archaic Australian elderly archetypes, a huggable wife refuses to
serve her yobbo husband another cup of tea because he drinks too much
beer and doesn’t express his love or desire for her.
Refreshingly, writer Frank Davidson was entirely invisible and gave a balanced argument between the bickering couple.
Unfortunately, despite some very good acting by Peter Carmody and particularly Christine Greenough and a relaxed directional hand from Leslie Marsh, this sentimental comedy was boring, offered no surprise, and chartered a pointless trajectory.
So far Mark Cleary has run a successful business with now over 1200 scripts being submitted world-wide for his Short & Sweet
play festival; this year having 140 plays presented all-up, with 140
directors and over 300 actors. That’s a hard task to deliver, and it
seems this year’s festival went off without too many hitches. 
