April 2016

Crash Test report 18th April 2016

After a slightly longer break than usual, Crash Test Drama Sydney is back for 2016 at a brand new home! Our first round for the season saw us at the lovely Depot Theatre in Marrickville. Along with our new home were quite a few new faces to the Crash Test community. We had a wonderful first round with a great turnout of actors eager to bring freshly written scripts to the stage. It was a fun and laughter-filled night with some of the best plays we’ve had at Crash Test.

The plays for the night were:

Fight or Flight, written by Carli Carey and directed by Enrique Andres. It starred Jasmine Cabrera as Mel, (a slightly battered!) Tom Aldous as Dan, and Andrew Overall as the Figure.

George Brown Steps Out, written by Gerry Greenland and directed by Sonia Bible. It starred Graham Yates as George and Rob White as Wally. This play was the clear audience favourite winning the Audience Vote. Sonia Bible also won Best Director. "George Brown Steps Out" has won a place in the Crash Test Drama Season One Finals in July!

The Secret of Me, written by Sonal Moore and directed by Meili Bookluck. It starred Rosemary Ghazi as Sarah and Isaac Owen as Mark. Timing in at 11:59.99 it lost 5 audience votes, however this powerful play won the Judge’s pick as Best Play. It’ll be back for the Crash Test Drama Season One Finals in July!

David, written by Elisa Cristallo and directed by Umi Kali Shakti. It starred Stacey Petersen as Ally and Luke Middlebrook as David. Strong performances by Stacey and Luke found them winning Best Actress and Best Actor Runner Up respectively. David was one of THREE plays to win equal second place in the audience vote!

Wagging Their Tails Behind Them, written by Chris Naylor and directed by Katherine Babatszanis. It starred Kirsty McGowan as Little Bo Peep, Andrew Cougle as Harry, and Ben Miskiewicz as George, with Leo Tam doing sound effects. This funny and entertaining play earned writer Chris Naylor the Writer’s Encouragement Award!

Feminocracy, written by Pete Malicki and directed by Carli Carey. A huge cast of 7 actors brought this hilarious play to life. It starred Atlas Adams as Dave, Lidia Stojanoska as Katrin, Shen Jia as Eleanor, Claudia Tessadri as Amanda, Christine Aldridge as Carla, Mickey Richards as Patricia, and Melissa Myles as Janice. Atlas Adams was awarded Best Actor. Timing in at 11:07, it lost 5 audience votes, causing "Feminocracy" to come in equal second place in the audience vote.

Exit, written by Ann Brita Nilsson and directed by Vee Malnar. It starred Kathy Petrakis as Lex and Dudley Levell as Midge.

Diana, written and directed by Colleen Henry. It starred Jill Waters as Diana, Jay Duncan as Bob, and Liz Hovey as Nancy. Liz won Best Actress Runner Up. A huge well done to Colleen who had to step in at literally the last minute to direct her play. It was the third play to win equal second place in the audience vote!

The Results

Fantastic playwright and long time Crash Test supporter Con Nats had the unenviable job of choosing our winners.

Best Actor: Atlas Adams

Best Actress: Stacey Petersen

Best Actor Runner Up: Luke Middlebrook

Best Actress Runner Up: Liz Hovey

Best Director: Sonia Bible

Best Play: "The Secret Of Me"

Popular Vote Winner: "George Brown Steps Out"

Popular Vote Runner Ups: “Walked Over”, "Feminocracy" and "Diana"

Playwright’s Encouragement Award: Chris Naylor for “Wagging Their Tails Behind Them”

“George Brown Steps Out" and “The Secret Of Me” have both won places in the Crash Test Finals in July.

Thank you so very much to all the actors, directors, and writers for making this round of Crash Test Drama Sydney a great night out for all! We would also like to thank Julie and Dave from the Depot Theatre for being such wonderful, warm, welcoming and supportive hosts to us!

Lastly and most importantly, Crash Test Drama Sydney would like to extend our warmest and most grateful thanks to the beautiful Georgie Edwards who has decided to step down as co-coordinator this year. Georgie was an incredible addition to our Crash Test family and will be greatly missed as our MC. We hope to see you at Crash Test again soon, Georgie. We love you.