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The 2012 Season Two Finals of Crash Test Drama were a huge success, with a more-than sell-out crowd coming to the King Street Theatre to enjoy the 9 best plays from July-November this year. It was a thoroughly entertaining show from beginning to end.
First cab off the ranks was "Fear" by David Bofinger, a new Crash Test writer, with Jacque Vickers directing the first of three plays for the night! A hitchhiker gets a lot more than he bargains for when it turns out the driver is a somewhat psychotic victim of abuse doling out pieces of her fear bit by bit. Brooke Doherty, who won Best Actress on the night, played the driver and Jim Gosden, Best Actor Runner Up, was the hitcher. Both actors were in two plays tonight so kudos to the team for their multiple efforts!
Second up was "Little Miss Goody Two Shoes" by another new writer, Bridget Wood. Bridget was awarded the Playwright's Encouragement Award for an engaging, well-rounded script. New director Cassady Maddox skilfully handled this play about a girl's best friend trying to prove how unworthy her fiance is by sleeping with him. Michael Walker played Dave, with Jen Jackson and Amanda Porter both playing their first of three roles for the night. An impressive effort, for sure!
Third was Sonal Moore's "The Particle Collider", directed by veteran Crash Test and Short+Sweeter Dave Farland. This powerful monologue about a housewife discovering that her husband is having an affair was beautifully performed by Brooke Doherty, who earlier appeared in "Fear" and was deemed Best Actress by the judges for her work. Congrats to the team for bringing the play down from over 12 minutes to just over 10.
Next was "The Consultation" by Graeme Cruise, directed by and starring Garreth Cruikshank. This great comedy was about a pyschologist's patient who sits in the right chair at the right time, and ends up using his fish/foot technique to help stop the voices in a young woman's head. It starred Jim Gosden and Jen Jackson in their second plays for the night, as well as Garreth Cruikshank and Susan Kennedy as the psychologist and secretary respectively.
Last up for act one was "While You Were Sleeping" written by master of the 10 minute form Alex Broun. The very real dangers of sleep-texting were exposed in this hilarious play, which convincingly won the Popular Vote and won a place in Short+Sweet Sydney 2013. Amanda Porter was back for her second role of the night, alongside Brett Garland, Debbie Tilley and the hilarious Kate Coates, who was awarded Best Actress Runner Up for a very funny performance. Congrats to the team and I look forward to seeing the play again in Short+Sweet.
First up after the interval was Gabriel McCarthy's "The Moment." Directed by Felix Carlyle, this play was about a woman frozen in time in
a particularly meaningful moment, receiving a visit from a strange girl while staring down the barrel of a bank robber's gun. Jen Jackson took on her third role for the night, alongside Rosemary Ghazi, David Roberts and Ken Ward. This play impressed our judges Deb Mulhall and Tiriel Mora and was awarded Best Play. Congrats to the team for winning the season!
The seventh play for the Finals was Dorothy Paramore's "Dead Man Flying," the second play Jacque Vickers directed. A German family are stopped at the airport security when their non-responsive father/grandfather turns out to be more than just non-responsive! The cast did a great job, with a special guest appearance by the King Street Theatre's very own Markus Weber playing a very convincing corpse! Well done also to Penelope Grace, Kate Coates (again), Kathryn Wenborn and Gordon Williams.
Eighth up was "The Loop", written and directed by Craig Delahoy. A departure from his usual comedic style, Craig put together an intelligent and thought-provoking drama about a young woman trying to avoid becoming like her own mother. It starred Nadia Hamoud and Matt Thomson, both putting in powerful and emotive performances.
Finally, we had "Diet Dilemma" by Vee Malnar. Jacque Vickers directed this play, her third, for which she was awarded Best Director. The play was a huge success, coming second in the Popular Vote and being awarded the judges Best Play Runner Up award. Amanda Porter was back for her third play too, alongside Best Actor winner Kunal Sharma. This hilarious play has been offered a spot in the Short+Sweet Sydney 2013 Top 80 since "The Moment" is already a part of the festival, and we're looking forward to seeing the team again.
Congratulations to all the actors, writers and directors who put on such a great Finals and to everyone for being involved in the season.
Rest assured, we'll be back to do it all over again in 2013.
The Results
Judges Tiriel Mora (of "The Castle" and "Frontline" fame) and Deb Mulhall pooled their resources to pick the most important winners of the season.
Best Actor: Kunal Sharma
Best Actress: Brooke Doherty
Best Actor Runner Up: Jim Gosden
Best Actress Runner Up: Kate Coates
Best Director: Jacque Vickers
Best Play: "The Moment"
Best Play Runner Up: "Diet Dilemma"
Popular Vote Winner: "While You Were Sleeping"
Popular Vote Runner Up: "Diet Dilemma"
Playwright’s Encouragement Award: Bridget Wood for "Little Miss Goody Two Shoes"
Hope you've enjoyed being a part of Crash Test Drama in 2012. We've had a great time running the show and helping put over 80 plays on stage, with over 200 acting roles. Whoo hoo!
A sincere thank you to all of the artists who've come together to be a part of the show. Without you, there would be nothing.
Another huge thank you to Markus Weber and the King Street Theatre for generously hosting Crash Test all year. We're all very grateful to have been given such a lovely venue to work in. Thanks Markus!
See you in 2013. Don't miss Short+Sweet from Jan-Mar - it's going to be a great season and many Crash Test works will be given a full production there.
Pete Malicki + Georgie Edwards
Crash Test Coordinators
Pete and Georgie
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