Short+Sweet
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Short+Sweet [1] (originally known as Short & Sweet) is a multi-form arts platform presenting festivals in theatre, dance, music-theatre and cabaret across Australia and Asia. The one common thread between all festivals is that all works presented - be it theatre, dance, music-theatre or cabaret - must be ten-minutes or less.
Short+Sweet's vision is simple - a more creative world ten minutes at a time.
Short+Sweet Theatre was founded at the Newtown Theatre [2]in Sydney, Australia in January 2002 by Mark Cleary, beginning with the first ever Short+Sweet Theatre festival.
In 2004, Alex Broun[3] took over as Artistic Co-ordinator of Short+Sweet Theatre Sydney, and he introduced many of the elements that have made Short+Sweet so successful - strict time-limt, limit of one play per playwright, one play per director and two plays per actor, people's choice voting and the competitive aspect of the final where plays are chosen from each week to progress to the Gala Final.
Short+Sweet Theatre is now the largest ten-minute theatre festival in the world and each year it showcases bite-sized dramatic treats - each less than 10 minutes.
Each year, Short+Sweet Theatre presents over 350 productions of ten-minute theatrical gems at festivals in Sydney, Melbourne, Central Coast in Australia and Singapore and Malaysia [4] - and from September 2009 - Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide.
Short+Sweet Theatre Sydney [5] alone features 90 main stage theatre productions (one week run) and 30 wildcards (one performance each).
In 2009 Short+Sweet Theatre will receive in around 2000 script entries from writers across the globe.
Short+Sweet Dance [6]premiered at the Newtown Theatre in Sydney in 2007 for one week. In 2009 the Sydney season expanded to three weeks and the first ever Short+Sweet Dance Melbourne [7]was held at Chapel Off Chapel in June, 2009.
Short+Sweet Song, which comprises of ten-minute music theatre works, began in 2007 at the Seymour Centre and the third Short+Sweet Song will be held in October 2009 at the Pilgrom Theatre in Sydney in association with the Australian Institute of Music [8]. The 2009 Festival is led by Festival Director Andrew Threlfall and Musical Director Bev Kennedy.
Plans are also advanced for the creation of Short+Sweet festivals in Auckland (New Zealand), New York (USA), Paris (France) and London (England).
History
Short+Sweet began in Sydney in January 2002, with the first ever Short+Sweet Theatre, at a single venue, the Newtown Theatre, and has steadily gained in popularity and size, now encompassing a second venue, the Seymour Centre. [9]
Short+Sweet Theatre Melbourne began in December, 2005 and the Arts Centre. [10] It began at the Black Box theatre, moving to the Fairfax Studio in 2006
In 2009 Short+Sweet in Melbourne re-located to Chapel Off Chapel [11]in Prahan, which will also host the first ever Short+Sweet Dance Melbourne
The Singapore Festival premiered in June 2007, and is presented at Lasalle College of the Arts [12]and the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay [13]. It features plays in Mandarin as well as English.
Short+Sweet Theatre is currently coordinated in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide by playwright Alex Broun (also the Artistic Director for Short+Sweet Theatre). Nicole Stinton is the Festival Director for the Short+Sweet Singapore 2009 festival. [14]
Mark Cleary is the overall artistic director for Short+Sweet International
Spin-offs
A number of other projects have been created under the banner of Short+Sweet:
- Shorter+Sweeter is a touring showcase of the best plays from Short+Sweet Theatre. In 2010 the third tour of Shorter+Sweeter will tour Australia for four months through support of the Australian Government via Playing Australia. [15]
- Fast+Fresh[16] is a 10-minute theatre competition for participants under the age of 18. It premiered in Sydney in 2005 under the guidance of Neil Gooding [17]and has also been run in Melbourne.
Participants
Many notable Australian playwrights, directors, actors and independent theatre companies have participated in Short and Sweet.
Playwrights
Independent theatre companies