Short and Sweet Festival always attracts attention. The sheer quantity of people involved is impressive. A multitude of people, writers, directors, actors and crew dedicate their precious time, talents and resources: begging, borrowing and stealing in order to present their best possible works: to vie for the audience’s attention… to make someone proud… to convey a message… to try to attract an agent… to prove someone wrong… to win a prize.. to pursue art.. whatever their motivation is, one thing is certain: many people are involved.. and many will attend as supportive friends, families or colleagues.

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Brian Friel, Ireland’s “greatest living playwright” is being celebrated during the 2009 Sydney Festival through a presentation of three works: Faith Healer, Afterplay and The Yalta Game. In association with the Gate Theatre of Dublin (who previously presented the Beckett Festival 2007), this production is a rare opportunity to view contemporary Irish theatre by and with Irish theatre practitioners at the helm.

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It’s a pretty impressive acheivement: over 11 million copies of “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom, exist world wide and it is currently the best-selling memoir of all time. So, not surprising that many of you may have read it: or have seen the book promoted on TV, (book-clubbed by Oprah)? Or perhaps the film starring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria (produced by Oprah)? And now, the stage production written by Mitch Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher, makes its Australian Premiere at the Ensemble Theatre.

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A short play written for performance at This Is Not Art 2003, in Newcastle, Australia with John Kachoyan as “Mervin”. Later performed at PACT Theatre Sydney as a part of  December “Zing” 2003, this short play explores the invisibility of Sue, a woman of indeterminable age: as her offers to Mervin go un-noticed, her conversations go un-heard and her iced vo-vos are uneaten. Published in 2008 by Affirm Press in an Anthology celebrating Australian Writing called “Herding Kites.”

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Brand Spanking New: Program Blurb 2008

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There is one dance production included in the Sydney Festival’s 2009 program and it is a must see: not because it’s the only production: because it is spectacular.

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After an exciting first night opening party of the Sydney Festival, full of aural gluttony, as sounds spilled onto the Sydney CBD and a rainbow of multiple choice adventures to be decided upon: I opted to start my festival experience with The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy written by Finegan Kruckemeyer.

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Little Shop of Horrors by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, is a standard favourite among botanists and theatre practitioners alike offering a good dose of black comedy, toe tapping tunes and a hearty dose of moral excavation. Nurtured in the strong and skilled hands (and feet) of Stephen Colyer this beautifully presented cult classic of Music Theatre has it all: song, dance, an astounding array of talent and even a bloody thirsty plant!

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Sweetly irreverent, injected with innuendo and at times surreptitiously clever, Tripod are one of Australia’s premiere comedy acts, having performed all over the world in Fringe/comedy festivals and now in The world famous Speigletent in the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House.

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It’s a busy time in Sydney at the moment: the Sydney Festival is on, Short and Sweet Festival is on.. and theatre folk (goers and makers of theatre) are still crawling out of Christmas like the munchkin children, dusting sleep from their eyes and perhaps the economic crisis has slowed the willy-nilly spending habits of the more conservative theatre goer. Hammerhead (is Dead) would have a lot to compete with if Nick Coyle (writer and director) didn’t have a giggling support group of twenty-somethings ready to enjoy his latest creation currently showing at The Stables.’

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