Nine or so years ago, the biggest little play festival in the world was born: Short + Sweet. Since it crawled into the light in Sydney's Newtown Theare, Short + Sweet has grown - or more accurately, multiplied - with parallel theatre events in Melbourne, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as mutations in cabaret, song, and dance. This year, the play festival has expanded to include Brisbane, Adelaide - and Canberra.
Short + Sweet has a tried and true formula: ten plays, ten directors, ten minutes. Writers submit their plays to a rigorous three-stage selection process, in which the S+S directors assess their quality. And with over 2,000 submissions to the festival each year, the competition is tough.
Canberra's first year in the festival sees some tested N.C. playwrights and directors rubbing up against emerging talent. Twenty plays will be performed throughout the Canberra festival, with the Judges' Top Ten playing at the CTC and ten wildcard entries playing at the Street Theatre.
"Because this is the first year it's been run in Canberra, entry was limited to writers from Canberra and the surrounding region," explains occasional Exhibitionist Emma Gibson, whose piece Snowflakes has won a place in the top ten. Other well-trod berra scribes, like Hadley, Bruce Hoogendorn, and Hal Judge have also made the cut.
"It's a nice showcase of local talent," says Gibson.
Among the directors can be found theatrical stalwarts Camilla Blunden, PJ Williams, Catherine Langman, Jordan Best and Fiona Atkin.
"It's a great way to get to work with new scripts, and to be able to involve the playwright in the production process, which is a bit of a luxury," says Atkin, the director of Gibson's play Snowflakes.
Snowflakes is "a story told through letters," explains Gibson. "Ed and Gina became friends as teenagers, but haven't seen one another in the decades since. They reconnect and start writing letters to each other, and it's slowly revealed that while life is good for Gina, Ed is in prison."
While it seems simple enough a story, Atkin is reminded of the challenges that face a director.
"The two characters can't really interact, at least not physically, so we need to find ways of making the text work without just having them both sitting at desks writing or some such. Directing as part of a festival offers a special set of challenges, too," says Atkin. "You're quite limited in terms of set, lighting, plot etc, so it requires a particular type of creativity. You have to be very clear about what story you're telling - there's just not time for multiple narratives in ten minutes. Having said that, ten minutes is really quite a lot of stage time, so you need to be sure that what you're producing is a complete play - not just a scene."
Luckily, the plays in the festival have offered directors a lot to work with. While Snowflakes is a "challenging piece" about coming to terms with "how a good person can also be a monster" says Gibson; there is lightness to counteract the dark. Canberra playwright, poet and Mr Fibby frontman Hadley has a new work in the top ten, Wheelbarrow, Stoat & Mountain Man, Attourneys at Law. Atkin, who was involved in the selection process, says Hadley's latest is "up there with his insane best."
The selection process showed a few common themes: "sci-fi or speculative drama... lots of aliens, robots, possible futures, that sort of thing," says Atkin. "But looking at the top ten, there's obviously a very healthy diversity amongst our emerging playwrights."
One such emerging playwright is Joel Barcham, whose play Brain Crabs has been selected for the top ten.
"(It's) a satirical piece about easy quick-fix answers to difficult problems that may not actually always be problems at all, even though sometimes they are problems, but not always, however when they are indeed problems they are difficult problems and not the kind of problems that should have quick-fixes to them... and it's about love."
If that sounds confounding, it may be deliberate.
"When writing a short play you are forced to think very carefully about what exactly you want to say and the most efficient and entertaining way of saying it," explains Barcham.
"The time limit of shorter plays really forces you to focus and try and be as efficient as possible with your words and story. There's also the risk of being too direct and just outright saying what your play is about, instead of letting it come out naturally."
Although Barcham has had work performed in BKu's annual Damned if you Duo play festival, like many Canberra artists, has always had to take the responsibility of producing the work as well as writing it.
"I've never actually had work of mine performed without being personally involved in the production of the piece. The idea of the script turning into a play behind my back then suddenly being in front of me on opening night is exciting," says Barcham. Gibson agrees.
"I'm really excited to see what would happen. It feels a bit like giving your baby away to a stranger. Really it comes to down to trusting your director, and also hoping that as a writer, you've done the best job you can.
I think the best part about Short + Sweet is being able to see your work performed," says Gibson. "That's what I'm really looking forward to."
Short + Sweet will run from Wednesday 2 to Saturday 5 September. The Top Ten perform at the Courtyard Studio, CTC, at 7.30 each night, while the Wildcards play at the Street Theatre for one performance only, on Saturday September 5 at 4pm. Bookings 6275 2700 for Top 10 and 6247 1223 for Wildcard.
