THEATRE: SHORT + SWEET WEEK 2
It’s a full house at Newtown Theatre for the Friday night of Short+Sweet’s Week Two. Tonight features the heartbreaking yet hilarious Perfect Stillness (written by Jane Miller), and the deliciously hammy Water Task Force PD (Alastair Buchanan) as well as eight other ten minute pieces ranging in subject matter from a gay intervention to a rejected proposal of marriage. The theatre is tiny, and the staging is sparse but the performances, for the most part, are full of verve. There is nary a moment to yawn. Short+Sweet’s format is perfect for the uninitiated theatre-goer with the ten minutes of each play stretching far enough to satiate without becoming tedious. Drama buffs will be equally enamoured. The briefness in form is clearly a liberating challenge for writers, directors and actors alike, and the results tonight are refreshing. The third week of Short+Sweet begins at Newtown Theatre this Wednesday (January 20th) with ten new short plays, including Something To Do With Toads (Robert Allen) about illicit drug taking at a wedding, and Vienna Syndrome about a team of cut-throat marketing executives. Short+Sweet will continue at Newtown Theatre with a new batch of shows starting each Wednesday until February 27th. Three weeks of Short+Sweet will also run at the NIDA Playhouse from February 9th.
Until Feb 27, Newtown Theatre, cnr King & Bray St Newtown, $24-28, 8507 3034 (Newtown Theatre) and 1300 795 012 (NIDA Parade Playhouse) or www.shortandsweet.org
BY LUCY HEARN
