Having already seen the first half of the top 20 plays, last week, I had high expectations for the second half. This may have been a little unfair, since I approached the first "season" with little more than curiosity. Still, a little grumpy from lack of sleep, I wanted to be entertained.
The good news is, I was! However, as I said to Kris, I think I enjoyed last week more. Whether this is just the result of my high expectations, general bad mood, or the different nature of the plays tonight, I'm not really sure.
I do know, however, that I was not really in the mood for romance, and tales of relationships. So, whilst I can appreciate the work in Lifetime and Sleepless Night, they were never going to be my favourites of the evening. Sleepless Night, particularly, was well presented and clever, and I'm sure on a better night I'd have loved it more. Finis (in which I thought Mark Harrison was brilliant) was about the darker side of relationships (and people) - it was powerful and dark, and uncomfortable.
And whilst we're on the subject of uncomfortable, perhaps the only exception tonight to my disdain for tales of love, was entitled Uncomfortable Silences. It was a funny (and a little sad/pitiful) depiction of the awkward agony of falling for a friend, and having hope, "false hope maybe, but hope just the same". It was cute, and well done.
Friendship was also key in Four Of A Kind, the first play up after the interval, with four friends around a poker tale. It was an interesting piece about friendship, loyalty and pondering who is willing to check, bet or raise the stakes. As with Finis, this play also featured a fair amount of swearing, much to the discomfort and dispair of the older ladies I was seated between.
The first play of the evening was Mount Head, a "sit down comedy" a story told in a traditional Japanese fashion, but featuring some clever accents and kiwi-isms from writer/performer Hiroshi Nakatsuji. The Example, a look at perceptions, suspicion and fear (at the train station), was next up, and followed by Mandragora, a consideration of memory, regret and blame.
The Imaginary Friend featured some very interesting costuming, and was well performed but I didn't like the storyline (and handling of mental illness) very much. Diagnosis, however, I enjoyed very much (and voted for). A clever and witty exploration of the modern need for diagnosis (and avoiding taking blame and responsibility for our issues) and medicating our social and personal "disorders" was funny, and well performed by Mia Blake and Bronwyn Bradley. And whilst I wasn't expecting food to be flying across the stage this time, I loved the Tim-Tam moment!
And that was it! I'm glad I went, and whilst I'm not as enthusiastic as I was last week, there were plenty of amused and moved people in the theatre who were. And if I, in my bad mood, could enjoy the majority of the plays, well, that just reinforces the idea that Short+Sweet does offer something for everyone. Give it a chance! This season runs until Saturday night, and there is still one more wildcard show. The finale is sold out, we were told, but there may be the possibility of a preview before the grand final.
If you're wondering about the results from the first week, they're now up on the festival organiser's site. I was happy to see that my choice Waiting for Jim was well-received, and would have made it to the final if not for a cast-availability issue. I have no quibbles with the plays that did make it, either
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