A brand new performing arts festival hits Geelong this November, showcasing the best writing and acting talent in the region.
The Geelong Short Play Festival, presented by Geelong Writers, will feature a short list of six 15-minute plays, with three sessions on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 November.
Covering a broad range of themes, moods and styles, the plays will be performed by actors from theatre companies What’s On?, Queenscliffe Lighthouse Theatre Group, Overflow Theatre, Kaleidoscopic Void and Geelong Repertory.
The final session will conclude with the presentation of four awards, including a People’s Choice Award decided by audience votes.
The six plays were chosen anonymously by a panel of experienced judges from a field of 35 entries.
Festival coordinator Paul Bucci, who is also one of the featured playwrights, said inspiring 35 writers to create new works was “an end in itself”.
“I think the thing about short plays is they’re very accessible to newcomers,” he said.
“There are a few new actors involved, a few playwrights that have written plays for the first time, so from that point of view it’s really terrific. If nothing else had happened, that would have been a good outcome, I think.”
Bucci said one of the strengths of the program was its diversity.
“There are some comedies, a couple of fairly serious things in there, and some really nostalgic things looking at issues like dementia,” he said.
“There’s one that relates to Jack the Ripper, there’s one about a restaurant with a food critic coming along, and then there’s a beautiful monologue, which is really interesting as well.”
Visit geelongartscentre.org.au or call 1300 251 200 for tickets and more information.
