SHORT+SWEET THEATRE NZ 2015 THEATRE WEEK 1
TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland
08/09/2015 - 12/09/2015
Production Details
Short+Sweet Festival Auckland is a performing arts festival that celebrates the 10-minute performance format across theatre, dance, song and cabaret. Originally out of Sydney, with satellite city festivals all over the world including every major city in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Philippines, UAE and USA.
Held annually in Auckland since 2009 and in Wellington since 2015, it provides a platform for actors, dancers, singers, writers, choreographers, musos and directors to create high quality new work in a professional theatre environment reflecting the Festival city.
Each rendition of the Festivals in New Zealand is a collaboration by over 350 performers and creatives… all volunteers!
A night at Short+Sweet consists of up to ten dynamic 10-minute works and the audience is presented with a feast of styles and subjects. At the end of the night, you, the audience is invited to vote for your favourite work to help determine the top works that make it to the Gala Final.
Check out the full programme at www.shortandsweet.org.nz
WEEK ONE
Threatened Panda Fights Back!
Writer: Rex McGregor
Director: Katie Burson
Cast: Missouri Mustaq, Georgina Silk, Siave Irasa, Tom Wardle
As the World Wildlife Fund’s poster boy for endangered animals, Ling enjoys a comfortable life full of adulation and all the bamboo he can eat. But when a rival species challenges him for the role, he risks losing everything…
About the Director
Katie graduated from Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts in 2009 and has since worked as an actor, producer, tutor and writer, presenting original work locally and internationally. With a background in classical dance, clowning and mask, Katie has an eclectic and passionate approach to theatre-making.
My Sad Genie
Writer: Lisette de Jong
Director: Tony Forster
ITC: little L productions
Cast: Paula Wray, Tom Kane
About the play
A genie living in present day New Zealand has her chipper mood destroyed in a moment. As she spirals into sadness, her master Trevor struggles to lift her out of her despair and deal with her magic at the same time.
About the ITC
In 2013 little L productions produced This Could be the Start for Short + Sweet, followed by The Rock in 2014. This year we welcome Tony as our director, whose career spans 45-plus stage productions, television and film. little L productions also created the web series “It’s Mel!’
Cryptic
Writer: Thomas Sainsbury
Director: Louis Mendiola
ITC: Bronson Wants Burritos
Cast: Sheena Irving, Paul Lewis
About the play
Morgan has done some regrettable things in his life, but is he mean enough to steal a penny off a dead man’s eye? With Kate involved anything is possible…
About the ITC
Story-telling is our jam. Making them fun and new; hot damn! We’re one of the best in…yam? Yeah, our rhyming/rapping skills suck…but we’ll get better. Maybe.
Grace
Writer: Alex Broun
Director: Hamish McGregor
Cast: Jessica Hunt, Hannah Paterson, Vicky MacCulloch
About the play
Three very different women talk candidly about their lives and in doing so discover that they may have more in common than they originally thought. Written by Short + Sweet superstar Alex Broun, Grace is an empowering piece about the courage and strength of women.
About the Director
Hamish transplanted to Auckland from the deep south of Invercargill two years ago. This is his first experience with Short + Sweet. Previous directing highlights have included the Merry Wives of Windsor in 2011 and Avenue Q in 2013 for which he won Best Director at the Northern Area Performance Theatre Awards (NAPTA)
The Perfect Independent Film
Writer: Trace Crawford
Director: Jesse Hilford
Cast: Romain Mereau, Emma Eglinton, Rebecca Parr, Matt MacDougall
About the play
It’s the night after a whopping office party. It was so good Henry and Amy cant remember it! Just as everything starts to become clear Henry and Amy’s world is turned upside down as everything that they know to be true is turned upside down when they are introduced to their screenwriters.
About the Director
In 2012, Jesse Hilford broke his arm while out running. Because of that incident, later that year Jesse directed his first Short and Sweet production: Riding The Red which made it into the gala finals. Earlier this year Jesse had sustained a knee injury and is now directing The Perfect Independent Film.
Threatened Panda Fights Back!
Writer: Rex McGregor
Director: Katie Burson
Cast: Missouri Mustaq, Georgina Silk, Siave Irasa, Tom Wardle
As the World Wildlife Fund’s poster boy for endangered animals, Ling enjoys a comfortable life full of adulation and all the bamboo he can eat. But when a rival species challenges him for the role, he risks losing everything…
About the Director
Katie graduated from Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts in 2009 and has since worked as an actor, producer, tutor and writer, presenting original work locally and internationally. With a background in classical dance, clowning and mask, Katie has an eclectic and passionate approach to theatre-making.
In the Pound
Writer: Judith Cowley
Director: Christopher Preston
Cast: Sheena Irving, Mike Howell
About the play
The ties that held Bevan and June have broken. Can he charm his way back with their memories of the good times or will their failure as parents win out? New writer, Judith Cowley gets right to the heart of her characters and their situation.
About the Director
1977 at Theatre Corporate then Drama School in London gradually transitioned into developing new plays: Script Forum, London New Play Festival and his own new writing company Maya Productions. Now a Waihekean.
Little Boys’ Room
Writer: Phil Brooks
Director: Fasitua Amosa
ITC: 4NZG Theatre
Cast: Phil Brooks, James Jennings
About the play
Faith, Duty, Family, Love – can you you put these in order of priority?
Michael is faced with having to choose between everything that matters to him all at once.
They say love conquers all….but life doesn’t always go according to plan.
About the ITC
We are a new, small company, formed in January 2015.
We have a YouTube Channel and Facebook Page dedicated to gaming news and entertainment in general.
Acting is another strong thread that runs through the company and so participating in Short + Sweet is only natural.
TAPAC, 100 Motions Road, Western Springs, Auckland
8 – 12 September | 7.00pm
Theatre ,
What has happened to the Short+Sweet Festival?
Review by James Wenley 11th Sep 2015
It’s started to bother me that the promoters of Short+Sweet are still running with the line that if you don’t enjoy one play, it’s okay, the next is just 10 minutes away. The subtext for potential ticket buyers is that some of the plays will be a bit shit. Short+Sweet Theatre has been going in Auckland for seven years. I would expect most plays by now to be good to excellent.
What has happened to the Short+Sweet Festival? The international franchise came to Auckland in 2009 at the Herald Theatre in partnership with The Edge (now Auckland Live). In its heyday, Short+Sweet was a hive of industry activity. Independent productions would be foolish to be program their shows at the same time – the Festival sucked up audiences. I did a few and had a great time. Short+Sweet has always been an excellent way to discover new actors, and for people to try out new skills like directing and writing. [More]
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
Deserves a bigger audience
Review by Bronwyn Elsmore 09th Sep 2015
It’s a shame the theatre’s not full for this first session of Short + Sweet Theatre 2015. These evenings of 10-minute dramas are valuable for several reasons. They provide opportunities for theatre practitioners – writers, directors, actors, backstage crews – to learn, share, and showcase their skills, and they can also be entertaining evenings for new audiences.
Here’s a challenge to the organizers of the Auckland Short + Sweet festival: step up the publicity so more people beyond those involved know about it and can take advantage of that last point.
The Week 1 programme presents seven bite-sized plays, which show off the skills of 7 writers, 7 directors, and 20 actors. It’s good to see that 5 of the plays are New Zealand written.
In My Sad Genie, by Lisette de Jong, a genie who is thousands of years old finds aspects of the present world hard to bear. The philosophy might be a little naïve, but under the experienced direction of Tony Forster, assisted by actors Tom Kane, and particularly Paula Wray as the magic-creating genie, it provides ten minutes of good entertainment.
Three grave stones, a couple with spades digging up bodies for loot. The woman digger teeters on high heels – go figure! Cryptic, written by local playwright Thomas Sainsbury, is directed by Louis Mendiola – or is it the other way around, since website and programme don’t agree? This Bronson Wants Burritos production presents a macabre story of retribution, complete with King and Queen of the Underworld (Paul Lewis and Sheena Irving), and a powerful spell brings it to its dramatic conclusion.
Being written by Australian writer and Short + Sweet pioneer Alex Broun, and directed by Hamish McGregor, Grace should be a slick work, and it is. Jessica Hunt, Hannah Paterson and Vicky MacCulloch talk in brief snippets about their lives. This one needs a second viewing in order to fully appreciate the movement of the capsules of information delivered quickly by the three women whom we start to recognise before the final revelation.
At the end of The Perfect Independent Film, a line from the script seems apt: “I don’t know what to think.” Once again, there are fast exchanges of short lines of dialogue, this time between two very different pairs: one who have just woken up together after a party wondering what happened between them the night before, and two would-be directors of independent films. Actors Romain Mereau, Emma Eglinton, Rebecca Parr, and Matt MacDougall are all totally believable in their roles. Listen for lines from well-known movies throughout this work by USA writer Trace Crawford, with direction by Jesse Hilford.
Before a word of Threatened Panda Fights Back! is spoken, the audience is laughing loudly, and it continues throughout this play. It’s due to an hilarious scenario created by Auckland playwright Rex McGregor, and assisted by great direction from Katie Burson. The four actors (Mustaq Missouri, Georgina Silk, Siave Irasa, Tom Wardle) are all very good, but there’s no doubt the show is stolen by Mustaq Missouri’s Panda. What a dilemma he must resolve: as the face of the World Wildlife Fund’s Endangered Species programme, breeding would threaten his position. On the other hand …
A drama of loss accentuated by regrets, In the Pound contributes the most somber scenario of the evening. Actors Sheena Irving and Mike Howell have been well cast by director Christopher Preston. As a separated couple, both broken by loss that continues to haunt them both, they are fully believable in their roles. The Writer is Judith Cowley.
The last of the seven on the evening’s programme, Little Boys’ Room, combines drama and comedy. There’s to be a wedding, but should there be? The groom and the best man (Phil Brooks and James Jennings) have different views as they discuss the matter in the men’s room. The arrival of another, hilariously played by Laurie Sila, alters the mood, and this leads up to a great ending. It takes good direction to combine drama and comedy successfully and director Fasitua Amosa pulls it off well for 4NZG Theatre.
The Short + Sweet Theatre Week One programme of 10-minute plays is on till Saturday.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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