June 2014

Crash Test’s last round before the Season Finals was another success, this time with 10 new plays performed. With more plays and roles than usual, we had a few writers and directors step in to take part on stage.

Kicking off the night was “From Here To Eternity”, written by Veronica Flynn and directed by Isaac Owen. This play starred strong performances by Katrina Morel as Patsy and writer Veronica as Katrina (if that’s not confusing enough for you).

Second up was “Raging Rivers”, written, directed and performed by Kathy Petrakis. Kathy played Rachel, alongside Glenn Groves as Mike.

Third was “A Blue Giraffe”, written and directed by James Gallaway, with James also taking part as an actor. It featured Best Actress Runner Up Rosemary Ghazi, alongside Kerrie Marshall and writer James.

Fourth was “Thorsday”, co-written by Pete Greenaway and Neil Mansfield. Jacque Vickers directed this one, with solid performances from Robert Gadsbey and Debbie Tilley.

Closing act one was “Candy”, directed by Wayne Mitchell and penned by Kellie Jennar (who won the Playwright’s Encouragement Award). It starred our host and co-Coordinator Georgie Edwards, Carli Carey, Michael Smith, and Ann Elbourne who won Best Actress.

Act two kicked off with Peter Hall’s “A Crossword Puzzle”, directed by Short+Sweet Sydney 2014 Best Director Tom Richards. On stage were Michael Smith (again) as Justin, Davo Hardy as Craig, and Michelle Sewell as the waitress.

Seventh was the monologue “Childhood Memories” by Robert Gadsbey, who’d appeared earlier in the night as an actor. Sahn Millington directed Graham Yates in this pieces with a dark turn to it. Graham won Best Actor for is performance.

Eighth was another monologue: “Duck Face Stace”. It was written by newcomers Sofia Carvajal and Nina Rieboldt and directed by another newcomer, Rebecca Blake. Brandon Lacey gave a great performance on stage.

Ninth was Coordinator Pete Malicki’s “Solar”, directed by Michelle Sewell (who played a waitress earlier in the night). Lucy Green starred as the polar bear, alongside Best Actor Runner Up Badai Maftuh-Flynn as the hipster marketing guy. “Solar” was awarded the Popular Vote Runner Up and the Judge’s choice for Best Play Runner Up and has a spot in next month’s Crash Test Finals on Mon 14 July.

Finally, we had “Put That Coffee Down!” written, directed and performed by Toast D’Bechamel. This play cleaned up the awards with a Best Director for Toast, as well as the Popular Vote Winner award and the Judge’s Best Play. An energetic cast of Meg Captaine, Lucy Fenton, Georgina Neville and Toast helped this play win the two highest honours for the night and we’ll see it again in the Finals on the 14 July.

The Results

Judging Season One Round Four was writer-director Ruth Fingret, who like most judges had the unenviable task of picking the winners.

Best Actor: Graham Yates

Best Actor Runner Up: Badai Maftuh-Flynn

Best Actress: Ann Elbourne

Best Actress Runner Up: Rosemary Ghazi

Best Director: Toast D’Bechamel

Best Play: “Put That Coffee Down!”

Best Play Runner Up: “Solar”

Popular Vote Winner: “Put That Coffee Down!”

Popular Vote Runner Up: “Solar”

Playwright’s Encouragement Award: Kellie Jennar for “Candy”

As always, a huge thank you to Georgie Edwards for the time she puts in as host and co-Coordinator.

And to every actor, director and writer who pooled their talents to make the show happen.

See you at the Finals!