December 2013

Our final heat for the year was a great afternoon of Crash Test, with another eight new plays never before staged in Sydney.

Kicking off Season Two Round Three was Chris Naylor's seasonally relevant play "Christmas Turkey", which was directed by Alizon Vosburgh. It starred Kathy Petrakis as Jeannie, Ursula Dauenhauer as Sophie and Kathryn Yuen as the mother.

Second up was "Dream To Live", a monologue written and directed by Crash Test stalwart Jacque Vickers. Fran Bowick gave a fine performance in this nice piece of writing.

Third was "Personal Training", written and directed by Peter Shelley. It starred Rosemary Ghazi as Sammy and Alan Long as Donald and was a big hit with the audience, winning the Popular Vote and a place in the Crash Test Finals on 22nd December. We're looking forward to seeing it again.

Closing act one was "Cry For Me", written by Pete Malicki and directed by Stephanie Merriman. This monologue about a funeral crier was beautifully performed by Alice Furze, who won Best Actress. "Cry For Me" won Best Play and Popular Vote Runner Up and will also be back in the Finals.

In act two we had "On Death And Dying", written and directed by Greg Eccleston. Greg's debut play starred Robert Brennen (who won Best Actor Runner Up!) as Manny, Gemma Kaye as Elisabeth and Sarah Markham as the nurse.

"A Play Like This" was next up, written by Gemma Kaye and directed by Vickie Saunders and starring Edric Hong and Maddi Sparks. The awards were coming left right and centre for this one, with Vickie winning Best Director, Edric winning Best Actor, Maddi winning Best Actress Runner Up and the play earning Best Play Runner Up from the judge and a place in the Crash Test Finals on 22nd Dec.

The seventh play for the show was Rob Choi's "In Da Club", which Bernice Breckon directed. It starred Bill Jordan as Slick Willy, Mariama Whitton as Will, Feda Dabbagh as Samantha, Katherine Wasiel as Tommy Jones and Selina Hui as the bouncer.

Finally, we had Pete Greenaway's "Unsaid". Michael Taylor directed a cast of Emma Crook as Jan and Justine Scali as Matilda, who both gave solid performances.

As always, a huge thanks to the actors, writers and directors who put their talents on display for everyone to enjoy. An extra thank you to Georgie Edwards for hosting the show and King Street Theatre for giving us a venue.

The Results

Lisa Eismen came on board as judge and had the unenviable task of picking the winners.

Best Actor: Edric Hong

Best Actress: Alice Furze

Best Actor Runner Up: Robert Brennen

Best Actress Runner Up: Maddi Sparks

Best Director: Vickie Saunders

Best Play: "Cry For Me"

Best Play Runner Up: "A Play Like This"

Popular Vote Winner: "Personal Training"

Popular Vote Runner Up: "Cry For Me"

Cry For Me, Personal Training and A Play Like This are advancing through to the Crash Test Finals on 22 December 2013. You can see the full lineup on this page.

See you all there!

Pete + Georgie

Crash Test Coordinators