Short+Sweet Launches 18th Thrilling Season

This year's line-up of tasty treats (to be announced at tonight's launch event at the theatre) has two programs that change each week including a slew of local, regional, interstate and international entries.

Short+Sweet has spread the popular 10-minute format in theatre, dance, cabaret & comedy across Australia and the globe with festivals as far afield as India, Malaysia, Dubai and NZ. Its Hollywood festival is the world's go-to showcase for actors, writers and directors for stage and screen.

This year's Sydney Theatre festival has been boosted by a host of new talent as a result of Short+Sweet's New Directors' Initiative in which 40 participants were mentored by experienced directors that included a masterclass by Actors Centre Australia legend Dean Carey.

The 2019 fest will again feature judges' voting and the People's Choice audience votes - all heading for the April Gala Finals.

And new festival director Sarah Purdue has introduced two themed weeks: LGBTQIA Week (week 4) to coincide with Mardi Gras; and Women's Week (week 5) aligned with International Women's Day.

Highlights of the week 1 line-up (opening 7 Feb) over the page...

Sarah said she was excited to be presenting a diverse and engaging festival this year.
"We have artists in our festival this year representing the Indian and Chinese Australian communities. Productions from the Illawarra, Bundanoon, Canberra and as far away as Los Angeles and Chennai. First-time directors who have recently completed their HSC and others with over 13 years' experience in Short+Sweet."

Week 1's offerings include Boyfriend 2.0 by veteran writer/director Paulene Turner.
A guy visits his ex-girlfriend to find he's been replaced by a shiny new model! Steven Tait, Eveline Schubert, Jack Douglas and Andy Cohen star in this futuristic new play about Artificial Intelligence!

By the Way, by Andrea Fleck Clardy (USA) portrays an exhausted Asian businesswoman
and an obnoxious 'Anglo' talk truth in an airport café. John Brown directs Bess Yager and Suzanne Chin.

Peter Snoad's The Notice is a quirky comedy about how writers see the world around them. Amelia Gilday directs Anthony Ghosn and Alex Fenner for Moontan Productions.

Time Savers by Barry Wood (UK) sees a cynical salesman trying to sell time travel to an intrigued customer. Jesse Hilford directs Rachael Millanta and Rob Ferguson.

In A Soldier's Testimony by Sydney writer Paul Bowman, a soldier frees an enemy combatant then has to explain his actions to his superiors as well as confronting his own beliefs. Dany Akbar directs Arshia Aryan, Russel Cronin and Peter David Allison.

The SDRO, written and directed by Xeno Nemos for The Immortals stars Charlotte Young, Don Ferguson and David Hodgkins. A terrorist holds up the office of traffic infringements... with surprises all round!

The Wildcard section (Saturday and Sunday matinees) features Love on the Line by Kat Kitty and features the writer as 'Lilly' - a single 38-year-old woman who is swiping her life away on dating apps... That is, until she meets one very different guy who changes her life forever. Also stars Maggie Malgorzata.

Plus Story Teller by Jean Blasier (US) featuring Indian Australian director Upasna Ved and actors Brij Parsahar and Urvi Sharma. A husband who comes home to his wife on their anniversary - in a blackout - without gift or even flowers has some explaining to do!

Short+Sweet Theatre opens at the Tom Mann Theatre Theatre, 136 Chalmers St, Surry Hills on 7 Feb. It runs through to April with both a Top 80 (Thur-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 6.30pm) and separate Wildcards program (Sat 3.30pm, Sun 2.30pm). There are 10 plays a night with a new program each week. The gala finals take place in April.

Tickets are $27 Top 80 and $24 Concession / Wildcards. A special online student price $15 applies for all Thursday shows.
More info, weekly program and bookings are all available at www.shortandsweet.org/sydney.

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