Sydney Reviews

There is truly something for everyone at the Short + Sweet Festival. The ‘biggest little play festival in the world’, Short + Sweet showcases the talent of hundreds of directors, playwrights and actors each year – in only 10 minutes or less.

Created in Sydney in 2002, Short + Sweet has grown to become a yearly event across Australia, with Festivals also happening in Auckland, Malaysia and Singapore. Promoting ‘a more creative world ten minutes at a time’, Short + Sweet has spawned Short + Sweet Song, Dance, Kids and Cabaret programs. This year the Festival produced its 1,000 Australian play.

For Short + Sweet Sydney 2010, the organizing committee vetted scripts from around the globe and chose 170 short plays to be performed at the Newtown Theatre January 27 – February 23. Companies will vie for audience votes, and those in the Top 100 are featured at NIDA’s Playhouse theatre from February 9 – 27. From there, ten plays will be selected to compete for awards in Short + Sweet’s Gala on March 13, and will be featured on the television show To Be or Not To Be airing on Foxtel’s movie network.

Week One of the Top 100 at NIDA (February 9 – 13) was an eclectic mix of ten short plays that ranged wildly in topic and tone, veering from the absurd to the political and from heartwarming to hilarious. Plot lines grew more far-fetched as the evening wore on, but the audiences’ sense of humour even survived an accidental fire drill thanks to the exuberance of the performances.

Normal by Margaret Bowen stars a family who can’t decide which one of them has the best grip on reality. Russell Crowe, Gupta and the Dalek by Jackie Greenland plays like a punch line to a joke about these three characters getting across town in a taxi. As the Dalek in love with Crowe, Carlos Sivalingam takes up the backseat of the cab with his cumbersome golf fire hydrant-shaped costume and has the audience laughing along for the ride.

Returning to our childhood for inspiration, Superfossils by Elizabeth Pulsford examines the golden years of superheroes by placing the elderly likes of Batman and Wonder Woman in the ‘Seen Better Days’ retirement home. In The Closet by Aoise Stratford, banned toys ‘sponge bob round pants’ and ‘Bernard the dinosaur’ bond together in exile. Simone Oliver shines as the deranged Twinkles, a Teletubby-type doll deemed too fay to play with little Kevin.

Simpleton by Sam O’Sullivan is the comedic morning-after story of a bloke’s drug-fueled attempt at an exorcism, and Christophen Welldon’s sexed-up1000 Mile High Club locks a feuding couple in the same space pod as Peter Andre as they blast off for the moon.

Particularly funny is Pride & Prejudice – in Ten Minutes Flat by Tim Hehir. Using a myriad of costumes, props and British accents, a hilarious cast performs the highlights of Austen’s classic story. This speedy recount features live musicians and is directed in good time by David Farland.

As difficult as it may be to pack a comedic punch in ten minutes, the dramatic pieces included in Short + Sweet’s lineup have the arduous task of connecting emotionally with the audience in such a short time. Waiting for Mamdouh by Kuranda Seyit began the evening and featured real-life Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib in a play about his arduous journey home to his family in Australia. Unfolding through monologues, and with the help of live musicians, Habib’s family describes their quest to be reunited, and their experience as immigrants here in Australia.

The sentimental Hibiscus Memories by Bette Guy pits land-developer son against his aging mother in a battle over selling her house and garden. Hugo Girsco was so rude to his mum in his role that he elicits hisses from the audience. Gunfight at the Venus by Stephen Carnell is a very quick late-night showdown at a King’s Cross brothel between Donny ‘The Glove’ Smith and ‘Big Jim’ Anderson. Nine minutes later only one man is left standing.

With a few weeks of the Festival still to go, there is plenty to see at the Short + Sweet Festival. Each program promises to be full with comedy, drama and, above all else, imagination on a tight schedule.


Short+Sweet Theatre Sydney 2010

Top 100
NIDA Parade Playhouse
Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm
Wildcards Sat 3pm Tickets $25/$22
Tickets $28/$24
1300 795 012 | www.shortandsweet.org

Newtown Theatre
Wed-Sat 8.15pm, Sun 5.15pm
Tickets $28/$24
8507 3034 | www.shortandsweet.org