September 2017

Crash Test last week was the usual fun and games, with 7 brand new plays staged.

The show kicked off with "Equality", written by Terry Bourke and directed by Uma Kali Shakti. Dean Nash, Faith de Savigne' and Isaac Owen starred in the Popular Vote (equal) Winner. We'll see "Equality" again in the November Finals.

Second up was Paulene Turner's "The Jump", which Glenn Levett directed. Rob White starred as Donald alongside newcomer Carolina Portugal, who played Leila.

Third was "My Little Joey", this time written by Glenn Levett with Jay Duncan as director. Mei Bookluck won Best Actress for a wonderful performance, with Debbie Shaw playing the mother.

At this point in the show, Coordinator Pete Malicki took a phone call for lols while he was hosting, since someone had been trying to reach him a number of times throughout the evening. It turned out to be his downstairs neighbour telling him his unit was flooding into their unit. Indeed, a pipe had burst and his apartment was underwater. Awkward call to take on stage!

But closing act one was "How Did She Take It" by Bob Ballinger. Wayne Mitchell directed Courtney Adams as Jessie and Alice Furze as Emmie.

After the interval was "From Minsk To Manhattan". Faith de Savigne' was the playwright with Katharine Babatzanis directing a cast of Best Actress Runner Up Janet Shay and, well, herself. Faith was awarded the Playwright's Encouragement Award for her efforts.

The sixth play for the evening was Gerry Greenland's "I Want A Divorce", which won both the Judge's Choice for Best Play and the Popular Vote (equal) Winner. Esther Adelhardt starred alongside Best Actor Winner Edric Hong and Best Actor Runner Up Davo Hardy. Craig Delahoy won Best Director. These overachievers will be back in the November Finals!

Finally, we had Jacque Vickers' "Trumpery". Travis Bakewell directed Alan Long as The Donald, with writer Jacque doing a fantastic job as the narrator.

The Results

Veteran Sydney writer and director Con Nats kindly offered his expertise as judge, with the following awards being given:

Best Actor: Edric Hong

Best Actress: Mei Bookluck

Best Actor Runner Up: Davo Hardy

Best Actress Runner Up: Janet Shay

Best Director: Craig Delahoy

Best Play: "I Want A Divorce”

Popular Vote Winners: "I Want A Divorce" and "Equality”

Playwright's Encouragement Award: Faith de Savigne' for "From Minsk To Manhattan"

"I Want A Divorce" and "Equality” have both won places in the Crash Test Finals.

Put Tue Oct 24 in your diary for our last heat before the Finals.