Wellington’s second sortie into the Short+Sweet franchise has opened in Wellington. Eight theatre works make up the programme so – whereas Auckland’s S+S Theatre had two seasons and two wildcard shows to pick their finalists from this year – this, in effect, is also Wellington’s final line-up.

After
Directed by Christine Brooks
Presented by 3women

While last year’s Opening Night was partly improvised, this year’s After is the full catastrophe, as the saying goes. Only the programme blurb tells us it’s improv and that they’re “in a bunker after some kind of an event.” There are no audience ask-fors to fuel the challenge; they seem to be a bit ‘last century’ in leading improv circles these days, and none are more leading than Christine Brooks, Clare Kerrison and Jennifer O’Sullivan. Besides, it may be weird to acknowledge the audience when it is presupposed some sort of apocalypse has occurred and these three may be the only survivors.

Three boxes, a random physical configuration, and they’re off. As Christine and Clare’s characters massage each other’s shoulders and consider what they could have been, Jennifer’s has a (mimed) crack at making a potato radio. Their spontaneous offers collide with each other more than once but they make a virtue of it – with Christine chalking up a schedule of things each got right.

What makes it work especially well is the way they pitch science against philosophy in their quest to overcome, survive or face the reality of the situation they’ve found themselves in. That’s pretty rich fare for instant theatre cooked up in 10-minutes and it sets the bar high for the scripted works to follow.

The Last Night
By Stephen Kaplan
Directed by Shannon Friday

A huge, blue, ribbon-adorned gift box takes centre stage and two women – played by Ania Upstill and Sabrina Martin – interact around and upon it. It emerges this is the eighth night of Hanukkah which involves traditional gift-giving to children …

It takes me a moment to realise and accept that Sabrina is playing the mother of Beth (Ania). The programme blurb tells us “Beth’s waited years to open the last Hanukkah gift from her mother. Can they unwrap the layers together?” But I have got the distinct impression – from this very impressionistic presentation directed by Shannon Friday – that the gift is from Beth’s father. Maybe I misheard something.

The stylised physicality with which they embellish their conversation suggests we are in a poetic realm where metaphor may hold sway. Writer Stephen Kaplan is trying to pack a lot in, it seems, to drip-feed information about Hanukkah for the uninitiated while revealing that Beth is soon to be a mother, she and her mother have been apart and many presents have been missed. Or that’s the drift of my understanding, anyway.

Donald James plays an atmospheric acoustic guitar throughout which adds to the dreamy mood – and it may also account for my missing the odd syllable or word that obscures my clear understanding of exactly what is being said, let alone its place in the emerging picture. Despite the clear commitment to quality in the presentation, I haven’t quite ‘got it’ so cannot assess the validity of the conventions employed.

Red Wire, Blue Wire
Written by Albert Jamae
Directed by Shauwn Keil

We are certainly in metaphor territory here: under pressure, Trish is tied, with a time bomb, to an office chair and she needs rescuing. The policewoman turns out to be a Facebook friend, Anna, and their attempts to date have not worked out. I think Trish has history with the bomb disposal guy, Marty, too (it’s hard to catch some details amid the hysteria).

Thinking through the implications of whether to cut the red wire or blue wire, which becomes the big issue, I deduce Trish’s stress is not work-related but more to do with her sexual preference. That’s my take on it, anyway.

Alexandra Taylor, Savannah Harris and Shauwn Keil (who also directs) attack the idea with gusto.

In It Together
Written by Catherine Zulver
Directed by Imogen Prossor

Three women – played by Jayne Grace, Charlotte Thomas and Catherine Zulver – take stock of their lives while soaking in a paddling pool, for which I assume we should imagine a spa pool unless, given they are in their 20s with the oldest approaching 30, they see this as a metaphor for being in the infancy of adult life.

While surveying the negatives and positive in their lives, they imbibe a bit … and end up soaking in a lot of it. It’s a fun sketch to close the first half.

There is a major change of tone when we come back from interval.

Natraj – The Performer
Directed by Swati Bhatt
by Sanskriti Theatre

This offers us a taste of Sanskriti Theatre’s “upcoming play Cast Away which is based on the short story Bahiskrit written by the legendary playwright and poet Rabindranath Tagore.”  The folk theatre form is jatra and Natraj, the narrator, is from the state of Bengal.

In the role of Natraj, Shaneel Sidal uses mask, and formal movement and gesture to introduce the conventions of jatra and some of the characters from Indian mythology. We are treated to the skills of a famous ‘female impersonator’ and snippets of interactions between Lord Krishna and a mortal called Raphiri (sp?). The timeless theme of war surfaces and I catch a whiff of that old chestnut, “the war to end all wars”. Yeah, right.

Although this piece seems patched together and under-rehearsed, my appetite is whetted for the play to come.

Shaken
Written by Emily Duncan
Directed by Dan Greer
Presented by Prospect Park Productions

In post-quakes Christchurch a Dr Matthews (Ethan Morrison) tell us about a case study and, in parallel, conducts his an enquiry into the behaviour and learning issues of a young man, Antony (Jono Griffith), who potters about in his paint-splattered overalls as his mother, Mrs Johnson (Raquel Roderick) responds to the doctor, interacts with Antony and tells us her side of the story.

As written by Emily Duncan and directed by Dan Greer, it proves to be a cohesive and coherent convention that works very well. The intellectual and clinical approach of the well-meaning doctor is hugely contrasted by Mrs J’s heartfelt, gut-level articulation of how things are for her son and herself. Her voice, in both text and performance, is especially compelling in its authenticity. And the choice of Pohutukawa red for the old stock house paint that’s central to the problem at hand is inspired.  

If this too is a taste of a longer piece, I’m keen to see the rest.

Make Gnome Mistake
Co-written by Kenneth Gaffney, Luke Scott & Diesel McGrath
Directed by Kenneth Gaffney
Presented by Rumpleyourmumskin

Writer/director Kenneth Gaffney continues his investigation of the gamer generation with this quirky little number.

James (Ryan Cundy) personifies the introverted, screen-addicted game-designer whose closest relationship is with hand-cream and a box of tissues because he is not brave enough to declare his feelings for his boss, Imogen (Catriona Tipene).

While James gives short shrift to his robot servant (Tom Kereama), Grodin the Gnome – created by James and now with a life and mind of his own (for which read liberated unconscious or self-challenging alter ego) – is persistent in his interventions. Alex Rabina does a brilliant job of bringing the Grodin puppet to life.

New Tricks
Written and directed by Alexander Sparrow
Presented by Alexander Sparrow Productions

To end the short and sweet octet, writer/director by Alexander Sparrow continues his preoccupation with things libidinous.

Sitting upright and uptight at the end of their bed, married couple Jonothan (Hamish Boyle) and Margaret (Frankie Vallis) make us wonder how they did it when it emerges they have to keep quiet because their baby is asleep.

It seems what we’ve taken as their normal way of being, albeit heighted for theatrical effect, is one extreme of their fantasy role-play game. We are treated to watching them play it out to the other extreme. Hamish and Frankie have great fun oscillating between uptight and abandoned as we voyeurs watch agape, wondering how far they’ll go before the blackout.

Wellington’s sole Short+Sweet Theatre 2016 season is only on until Saturday: the Gala Final (awards) night. The range of styles, topics and themes is intriguing. Let’s hope inspires more theatre-makers to cook something up for next year.  

(Auckland also does Short+Sweet Dance and for a couple of years did Short+Sweet Song as well. Should Wellington be getting competitive about this?) 

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