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The Short & Sweet Festival came to an end with a ceremony that awarded some of the least memorable offerings over the three weeks of what, sadly, was a most disappointing event. The judging emphasis was revealed as favouring the performance pieces and the independent companies rather than any true playwriting or exceptional acting/directing partnership. How the winners (who shall be nameless) came out on top will remain forever a mystery. Equally baffling was how many other really deserving pieces went completely unrecognised and unrewarded.

What was apparent is that what began four years ago as a highly innovative and worthwhile initiative to foster playwriting, has developed into a political playground which does little to foster or further this energetic corner of the arts.

That it will next year be moving out from under the Arts Centre's umbrella seems highly appropriate in view of the direction it has taken and the politicking going on behind the scenes.

So sad. Such a loss. And such a decline. One wonders what might have been if the energy and goodwill and direction of the first two years could have been sustained and encouraged.

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We had high hopes for the second week of the Short & Sweet Festival. This was to be the innovation of presentations from independent theatre ensembles. Expectations were therefore high, anticipating more professionalism, tighter scripts and higher all round standards as the result of established ensemble work and longer rehearsal time.
What we got was a hefty helping of self-indulgent pap. The idea that Short and Sweet would encourage playwriting and unearth new scripts went by the board. Most of the 10 "plays" were devoid of any dialogue - so much for playwriting. They were performance pieces relying on dance, mime, movement - all undoubted theatrical skills, but requiring direction and imagination rather than WORDS and DIALOGUE.
There were entertaining moments, some snatches of humour and - a real highlight - the impeccable and quite stunning precision work of Dislocate in Tea for Two. But where was the playwriting and script development this festival is supposed to generate?
Of the two pieces with any sign of writing and dialogue, Finding Your Place lacked projection from the young lead actor (who hardly fitted the description of an elderly writer with Alzheimer's) and Bodybag suffered from weak interpretation of the storyline and poor direction.
The clear winner on the night - almost by default - was the extremely smooth and well-presented Grimm from comparative newcomer Company 13.
Here's hoping next week's shows (the final week) get back to what Short and Sweet is supposed to be about.

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We are accredited! The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) has advised us we successfully passed the inaugural examination for accreditation held in October. We have been welcomed as "one of the first cohort of Australian accredited editors" and congratulated on "this milestone achievement".

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As expected - and as we enjoy - a very mixed bag was presented at the Fairfax in week one of Short and Sweet. The Wildcards had a stand-out performance with Phoebe Appleton doing everything writer Jon Bauer would have wanted in her presentation of his Nightdreams and Daymares. This was close to the perfect 10-minute play - excellent dialogue, humor and drama and (Oh so rare) an actual story.

Prisoners' Dilemma by Graeme Simsion was a close second - good acting, well-paced direction and some twists and turns in the plot.

The first 10 of the Top 20 was another close-run affair with our vote eventually going to David Sharpe's Madragora (what an awful title) ahead of Tipping Point by Mark Andrew.

Overall, there was some good acting with weak plots, good dialogue in need of thoughtful delivery and some bizarre story lines which simply didn't cross the footlights. It's a true real theatrical smorgsabord which makes Short and Sweet such an annual delight.

And there are still two weeks to go.

Technorati Tags: Arts and About Short and Sweet Phoebe Appleton Graeme Simsion Mark Andrew David Sharpe

Littke wonder that long-term councillor Steve Jolley referred to "the pigs at the trough" at yesterday's induction of City of Yarra's new mayor and councillors. Not only did they file in like peacocks on parade but they then voted themselves a hefty salary increase and, after a bit of pre-arranged selection of committee members, they adjourned for a celebratory booze-up.
Plenty of wine, lots of food, staff on overtime to cook and serve - and far far more food and drink than needed for the nine councillors, the handful of officers and the clutch of interested ratepayers. 
Keeping costs down, curbing expenditure - such fervent aims from the incoming councillors and all busily feeding  at the trough paid for by those they are supposed to serve.
You're going to have to do better than this - especially as this happy band of newbies swear to have the best interests of ratepayers at heart. Oh yeah!  The pigs were not only at the trough, but flying too.

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Long time Short & Sweet play festival protaganist, director and contributor Alex Broun is suggesting next year's Short & Sweet will give the cold shoulder to the Arts Centre and move to Chapel on Chapel.
Oddly enough, no one at the Arts Centre is aware of the move, despite Broun's affirmation to those he seeks to get on side.
He also defends the fact that, despite being a former director of the festival, he manages to have one of his numerous subsmissions presented at this year's festival on the grounds that all entries ar anonymous.
But how does he justify, as director of the Sydney Short & Sweet Festival, having one of his plays selected for performance there?  Not a good look, Alex.
 

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The almost Wagnerian saga that is Opera Australia added another act today with former company member Bruce Martin reinforcing the accusations levelled at the recently deceased musical director Richard Hickox.  Martin's case seems extremely well documented and reasoned - and also reasonable - and one can hardly wait for the next stage in this unfolding plot. If incoming chairman Ziggy Switkowski is to live up to his promises of sweeping changes, he needs to act soon or the pus-ridden wound that is our so-called national opera company (that's a laugh in itself) is sure to fester into something even nastier.

Technorati Tags: Arts and About Bruce Martin Opera Australia Ziggy Switkowski Richard Hickox

The incoming chairman of Opera Australia, Ziggy "I used to be at Telstra" Switkowski, has apparently promised a fresh start.
One wonders how this will be achieved considering chief executive Adrian Collette remains along with all other board members - the very same people who, along with Ziggy, have been responsible for the several years of decision-making that have widely been considered little short of disastrous.
Ziggy even said Collette's handling of the widely disputed (and legally costly) bequest involving the former Victorian State Opera said it was an issue that could have been handled differently.  So, Ziggy, why wasn't it? 
A fresh start - or the same tune with a few different players?
 

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Of the voters compelled to trek to City of Yarra polling booths in last week's local council election, slightly more than half turned up to register their votes. Returns show that the turn-out in each of the city's three wards hovered around 52 per cent.
The pen-pushers at City Hall are going to be busy checking the non-voters and sending out compliance notices in an attempt to collect the legislated fines. A nice little earner if they follow through - but really a pointless waste of time. Better if they recognised that even the threat of fines isn't going to make the disinterested and unconcerned turn up on polling day..
It's time Australia did away with compulsory voting. Let those who are really interested express their voice. And leave the rest of us free to stay away either through lack of interest or because we believe there is no one worth voting for.

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What better riposte to Minister for the Arts Peter Garrett and his autocratic attitude towards the Australian National Academy of Music could there be than the awarding of the Grawemeyer Award to the academy's director, Brett Dean? The $US2000,000 Grawemeyer is considered the world's premier prize for musical composition. This speaks more than the thousands of words already expended on the rights and wrongs of Garrett's decision to close the academy. It brings perspective to the level at which the academy operates and demonstrates tthe academy is far more than some elitist school for a bunch of spoilt classical wankers as some would have us believe.

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