A NOTE FROM THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF SHORT+SWEET
It’s a great pleasure to welcome you to the 12th season of Short+Sweet Theatre in Sydney. The three month program features the enthusiastic participation of around 800 writers, directors and actors and is a testament to the deep pool of talent that Sydney has to offer. As always each season has its share of unique occurrences. For me 2013 will be particularly memorable because five plays from the brand new Regional NSW Short+Sweet program in Dubbo and Broken Hill have been included in the mix. Next year the program will be expanded to include other regional locations underpinned by an extensive workshop and mentoring program.
Additionally there are productions in the program that come from all around the nation and from as far away as Chennai. This Indian offering will throw up a unique and noteworthy challenge to local groups since it has already won Best Production in Short+Sweet Festivals in Chennai, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur. From a behind the scenes perspective we’ve greatly benefitted over the last year from the guidance and support of Justin Macdonnell and Les Currie who have put into place structures and systems that will carry the organisation onto bigger and better things over the coming years. This is also the first year that a dedicated Producer has been included as part of the production team. Both Producer, Lisa Rathbone, and Festival Director, Pete Malicki, have worked tirelessly to put together the massive program. The results of their work, as is always the case with Short+Sweet, can be seen on the stage. I hope you enjoy the show. Mark Cleary Founder and Creative Director Short+Sweet
THE HISTORY OF SHORT+SWEET Short+Sweet began in 2002, at the old Newtown Theatre based out of St George’s Hall. We began with a festival of a few dozen plays. Nowadays, Short+Sweet takes place all around the world – Sydney, Victoria, Queensland, Regional NSW, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. We have expanded into Dance, Cabaret, Song, Comedy and festivals for high school students called Fast+Fresh. We’ve produced around 2500 plays written by Australian and international playwrights, utilising the talents of around thousands of directors and actors. In fact, if you add up all the people who’ve been involved with Short+Sweet Sydney over the years, the number is now well over a whopping 10,000!
M MESSAGE FRO THE FESTIVAL DIRECTOR OF T SHORT+SWEE Welcome or welcome back to Short+Sweet Sydney 2014, the lucky thirteenth season of the world’s largest festival of 10 minute plays. It’s an honour and a privilege to back again as Festival Director for the third year running and I’m looking forward to putting together another season of great new work never before staged in Sydney. I’m passionate about this festival because it brings so many great artists together. Not only will we put on 160 great new plays never before seen in Sydney, but we’ll help generate many new friendships and professional relationships which will lead to all kinds of new work being put together. I’ve been delighted to see many shows by our 2012 and 2013 artists being performed around the country and even internationally. It’s a real buzz to see a show we produced last year hitting the stages in LA! This year’s programme has some real gems in it, with some of our best artists returning for more alongside talented newcomers. The long hours and hard work we put into this festival pays off the second the lights come up on stage and opening night of each performance week can’t come soon enough.
I want to thank a few people while I have the mic (so to speak). Our founder and Creative Director Mark Cleary, our tireless Producer Lisa Rathbone, the wonderful Artists’ Committee who pitch in so much to make the festival run smoothly, our senior crew Ben Brockman and Luke Middlebrook, our publicist Geoff Sirmai, the venue staff we work with and all of our hardworking interns and stage crew. But most of all, I want to thank the 750+ writers, directors and actors who are involved in this year’s festival. Without your talent, enthusiasm and hard work, there would be no Short+Sweet. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Here’s to a brilliant Short+Sweet 2014! Pete Malicki Festival Director Short+Sweet Sydney 2014