November 2016

Our last heat for 2016 was on this Monday the 7th at Depot Theatre, with another six great plays staged.

First up was "Faith", written by Bryan McMahon and directed by Rolenda T Malen. It starred a strong cast of Donna Randall as Jordan, Dean Nicholson as Amos and Adam Dragic as Ethan.

Second was "My Name Is Lucinda", a monologue by Lisa Kelaher. Graham Yates directed Isabel Zakharova, who won Best Actress Runner Up for her efforts.

Third was "Meet The Supers". Paulene Turner wrote this play and Isaac Owen directed - winning Best Director. It starred a cast of George O'Keeffe (who won the Depot Drumstick Award), Don Lacey, Mei Bookluck and Best Actor Runner Up Luke Thornley. This play came second in the Popular Vote and won the Judge's Choice of Best Play. We'll see it back in the Crash Test Finals on Dec 12.

Starting off act two was Pheona Mulligan's "Take Off", with direction from Courtney Farrow. Trevor Bechamel was Neil, Mimi Parfitt was Tess and Jay Duncan was Jeff.

The fifth play for the evening was "But For The Grace Of God" by new Crash Test writer Terry Bourke. Uma Kali Shakti directed Robert Sharpe, Best Actor Edric Hong and Haroon Gaffar and the play won the Popular Vote. It'll be staged again in the Finals on Dec 12.

To wrap up the show, Uma Kali Shakti now took the role of writer for "Island Journey". Elisa Cristallo directed Veena Sudarshan, who won Best Actress for her performance. Unfortunately the play ran more than two minutes overtime and was disqualified.

The Results

Our judge for the night was producer Mike Dengler.

Best Actor: Edric Hong

Best Actress: Veena Sudarshan

Best Actor Runner Up: Luke Thornley

Best Actress Runner Up: Isabel Zakharova

Best Director: Isaac Owen

Best Play: "Meet The Supers"

Popular Vote Winner: "But For The Grace Of God"

Popular Vote Runner Up: “Meet The Supers”

Playwright’s Encouragement Award: Lisa Kelaher for “My Name Is Lucinda”

Depot Drumstick Award: George O'Keeffe

Congrats to "Meet The Supers" and "But For The Grace Of God", which are both going to the Finals.

See you there on the 12th December!