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Are ten minutes enough to give a stellar theatre performance. The Short + Sweet theatre festival,happening for the first time in India,certainly thinks so.

Written by RICHA BHATIA
November 4, 2010 04:34 AM IST

3 min read

The inaugural Short+ Sweet festival is set to introduce the Capitals theatre-goers to a crisp new format of stagecraft

Are ten minutes enough to give a stellar theatre performance. The Short + Sweet theatre festival,happening for the first time in India,certainly thinks so. Organised by Short + Sweet Theatre,Australia,which is set to take off in the Capital from November 11,is all set to give snappy,crisp performances to the television age viewers,that too with set changes. Short and Sweet is part of the modern world. People dont have time to commit an entire evening to a play which they may not eventually enjoy. With Short+ Sweet,you have a chance to sit and enjoy as many 10-minute plays as you wish, said Michael Wood,co-producer of the festival. Currently in its tenth-year,the ten-minute concept started in Australia,where it has evolved into a major festival,and takes place in major Australian cities. In Asia,it happens in Singapore and Malaysia. Wood cites an overwhelming response from Indians living in Australia for the Indian edition. We were greatly enthused by the NRI community to bring the festival to India. Depending on the reaction here,we would like to introduce something on the lines of Short + Sweet Bollywood, he said.

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The festival,that will unfold at the India Habitat Centre and Epicentre in Gurgaon will feature plays,ranging from dramas,comedies and social commentaries. Festival Director Alex Broun,who initiated the Delhi edition received a number of scripts from Indian writers and auditioned the actors as well. So while Deepak Dhamija,an ex-venture capitalist-turned writer-director,who had a successful running of Ghosts Diary will feature in the festival,former armyman Ali Shah will engage the audience in a ten-minute monologue. Shah will also be part of another play,Perfect Stillness,in which he will take to the stage trussed in a black suit,holding conversations with his dead wife.

Injecting comic relief in the festival will be Lifetime,a satire on marriage while Ten Thousand Cigarettes,directed by Robin Kumar and scripted by Alex Broun will see three sisters,all smokers in a seven-minute dialogue about different brands of cigarettes, wherein they also touch upon the morbid fact how their father,also a compulsive smoker,died of lung cancer.

Is the audience ready for the bite-sized plays? Though I had my own reservations about the concept,I realised it had great potential when I went through the scripts sent by Alex, said Dhamija. He is staging Confession of a Poet,in which the male protagonist,a poet,engages the audience without dialogueshe only recites couplets and poems.

On November 11,12 and 13,10 plays will be performed at the India Habitat Centre. On 16,17 and 18 November another 10 plays will be performed at the Epicentre,Gurgaon. On November 19,the final will be held at the Epicentre.

For details contact: 4366 3080 for IHC and 0124-2715000 for Epicentre