Short + Sweet

Congratulations to our winners - Short+Sweet Newcastle 2011

Last week The City of Newcastle and L!vesites presented Short+Sweet Newcastle 2011. The highly successful season had almost 700 people filling the Playhouse over five nights. Ken Longworth wrote in The Herald (23/11/11) "you can say a lot in 10 minutes … it shows just how engaging a short piece can be, whether it’s full of belly laughs or teary moments".

The festival and competition culminated with awards on Saturday night.

"From a Great Height", written by Mark Konik, directed by Keane Williams and featuring Glen Waterhouse and Jo-Anne Ford won the People’s Choice award and Best Production award.

Glen Waterhouse won Best Actor for his hapless character who capitulates after a beautiful woman says yes to going on a date with him.

Best Production Runner Up was won by "That’s Confidence" written by Tristram Baumber and directed by Natasha Watson.

"From a Great Height" wins automatic entry to the Short+Sweet Sydney 2012 festival, gaining national and international audiences. The visiting judges from Short+Sweet Sydney were so impressed they also want to invite other productions to the festival and are checking on whether they will fit in the Sydney program. Details will be released when we have more information.

Congratulations to the cast, writers, directors, script readers and backstage crew who participated in this festival on a voluntary basis. These 67 people made an enormous contribution to bring to the stage a high quality festival of 10 short productions. Mick Hills, Festival Director and Megan Hazlett, Production Manager worked across six months with the participants to ensure the three key goals of Short+Sweet were met: for the participants to have a positive experience, for the audience to have a positive experience and to create good theatre.

Wildcard Final Winners!
Congratulations to second place winner "That's Confidence" starring writer Tristram Baumber, Peter Sykes, Cordelia Russell, Chloe Perrett, Ana Ringma, Keane Williams and Corrine Lavis. Great job!

Top Ten for 2011

The City of Newcastle and L!vesites would like to congratulate and thank all entrants.

The Joker written by Simon Tonkin
Hot Air written by Debra Hely
From a Great Height written by Mark Konik
The Gift written by Karen Crofts
The Closest Shave written by Patrick Cullen
That's Confidence written by Tristram Baumber
Ever After written by Anthony Williamson
Just The Ticket written by Sally Davies
Hell's Teeth written by Mark Toohey
The 90 Second Party written by Christopher Harley

Here's a glimpse

Background

How is The City of Newcastle involved?

Short+Sweet Newcastle is a collaboration between Cultural Development and L!vesites. The project has been initiated to encourage and support local theatre talent by providing opportunities and mentorship for emerging writers, production of their works, marketing and audience development.

Short+Sweet History

Short+Sweet was conceived by Mark Cleary, Newtown Theatre (Sydney). In just ten years it has grown to be the worlds biggest such festival, with more that 1500 international entries received annually. Seasons featuring more than 100 plays drawing sell-out audiences in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore – with New Zealand, the United States and European versions on the way too. The brilliant formula of short, tasty bites of theatre is a hit with audiences who want to come back for more.