Short+Sweet Turns “Sweet 16” in January 2017
Short+Sweet has spread the popular 10-minute format in theatre, dance, cabaret & comedy across Australia and the globe – with festivals now as far afield as Hollywood, India, Malaysia, Dubai and NZ. But the original theatre festival in its Sydney home is ‘sweet 16’ this year… and plans to celebrate in style!
Adele Lewin, left, in Brexit
Among the community’s featured performers in the first weeks of the festival are Adele Lewin, Robert Sharpe and Amanda Lieber.
Lewin, a Canberra resident, is a Short+Sweet ‘veteran’ already, having starred in award-winning plays “Love” (Short+Sweet Sydney last year) and “Brexit” (Short+Sweet Canberra) . She appears in her own new play “The Christmas Fairy” as part of Week 1 of the Wildcard series Sat 14 and Sun 15 January at 4pm.
“Will Crystal fulfill her raison d’etre this christmas or once again be thwarted by a younger rival? Crystal – played by Lewin – is a middle-aged Christmas tree fairy who was dumped in an op shop by her previous family five years earlier because she lost her looks, her place taken by a younger and glamorous fairy.)”
Robert Sharpe with Alannah Robertson in “Mid Life Crisis” Photo: Tony Mott
Robert Sharpe – another Short+Sweet regular – appears in his own play “Mid Life Crisis” in Week 1’s Top 80 series – Wed 11 to Sun 15 Jan at 7.30pm. Autobiographical? A middle-age man’s fantasy? Either way, who cares? Enjoy!
Amanda Lieber, a well-known communal identity and NCJW worker, has a background in theatre, comedy and improv that goes back to her beginnings in Cape Town as well as the Edinburgh festival and tour of Italy with Peter Pan! In the hilariously satirical “Woman’s Idea” by Wendy Crew (Week 2 Wildcards Sat 21 and Sun 22 January at 4pm) she plays Fiona Freebie, the editor of fictional women’s gossip magazine.
Among the other treats awaiting Sydney audiences, are “Arthur and Marilyn” a sweet play about the first meeting between Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller and At Home with Larry and George, a controversial night at the home of George Brandeis. Jessica Fallico looks at a very current issue in “One Punch” and – in Week 1 – Beard written and
Amanda Zahab, centre, in Woman’s Idea – with Alison Grace and Amanda Leiber
performed by Erin Middleton and Robert Miniter: a classic boy meets girl with a twist as the pair – both gay – meet on the way home from church…
Local writer Robert Ballinger’s Witness is a powerful monologue by a wife and mother of “a tragic story that shouldn’t have to be told, but must be”. Susan Stapleton directs Donna Randall. Outback Mountain by Sydney’s Peter Greenaway is directed by Suz Mawer and stars Anthony Thomas and David Bedelis in a quirky tale about a disillusioned Sydney boy taking his moped on an ill-advised outback adventure in search of the stockman of his dreams!
In Dead Giveaway, a man buys his wife an unconventional Valentine’s Day gift which leads to an awkward conversation about love after death… Felicity Burke directs herself with Duncan Armitage in the delightful play by US writer Daniel Guyton.
The Divide, a futuristic drama by Nicola Quilter, sees a brother and sister meet in an English field in 2047, but only one of them has a passport into the walled city of London…
Short+Sweet Theatre opens at the Depot Theatre, 142 Addison Rd Marrickville on 11 January and runs through to March with both a Top 80 (Wed-Sun 7.30pm) and separate Wildcards program (Sat & Sun 4pm). The gala finals take place in March. Tickets are $30/$23 conc; more info, weekly program and bookings are all available at www.shortandsweet.org/sydney
