I went for the Short + Sweet Festival Singapore Gala Final on Sunday. The Short + Sweet Festival is a competition for 10-minute plays, and submission is open to both amateurs and professionals playwrights from Singapore and beyond.
It is held annually in Sydney, Melbourne and now, Singapore, the first country to hold the festival outside of Australia. This year is the 2nd year the Short + Sweet Festival is running in Singapore, and for the first time, delved into short plays in another language-Mandarin.
After assessors of the competition read the scripts, they will produce a shortlist. New and established directors select one play each, and fill the play’s parts with actors they see at the Short + Sweet open auditions.
30 English plays are shortlisted; and 10 for Mandarin. The list is further shortlisted into 10 best plays, which is re-played during the Gala Final.
I had a blast watching the 10 plays. Most were funny; while others contained elements of life that human beings usually ponder about.
It's funnier watching than if I blog about it, but I try my best to put it across here. =) Do take your time to read through! Hopefully it'll give you laughs.
I’ll mention 2 plays which I enjoyed:
1.I’ll Have The Special
This play is set in a restaurant, which serves meals to people who want to commit suicide. (Interesting eh?) There are 2 characters in this play-the waiter and the customer.
Dialogue 1
Customer: What do you serve?
Waiter: Our restaurant serves in 3 sections. The first will be the appetizers, then the main course, and then the desert. For the appetizers, we serve bla and bla(can’t remember...). For the main course, we serve cat-fish with sleeping pills, bla and bla (I can’t remember, but they are poisonous stuff!). For the desert, we serve mango fondue.
Customer: Mango fondue and...?
Waiter: Oh, just plain, mango fondue.
Customer: Nothing else added?
Waiter: (getting a little impatient) No, just mango fondue, that’s all. I have been waiting for YEARS to serve the desert. But usually our customers do not make it that far to enjoy our desert.
Dialogue 2
Customer: What are the kinds of people who usually come?
Waiter: Oh, there are philosophers, people who are bankrupt, depressed people...
Customer: Then do many people come now?
Waiter: Oh no. The economy is booming.
Customer: Does anybody come in groups?
Waiter: No, they usually come alone. The only people who come in groups are the Japanese. =D
*awarded best actor runner-up, best play and best overall production
2. Esla and Frinz Go Partying
Esla and Frinz are two balloons held by children at a noisy birthday party. The costumes for this play are so cute!!! The actor and actress were all bottled up with balloons of many colours, from shoulder to knee-length. =)
Dialogue 1
Frinz: Oooh! Look at the candles! (Slowly floats closer to them)
Esla: (anxiously) Ooh! You better stay away from it! The candles are one of our worst enemies! (Well, after pins, of course)
Dialogue 2
(Happy birthday song is played)
Frinz: Ooh, is that what I hear?
Esla: Ooh, I think so!
Frinz: Ahh...the sacred song...Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...
Dialogue 3
Frinz: Oh, Andrew is going poked! (very anxious)
Esla: Stay calm! Do what we are taught to do to stay calm! Hee-hee-hu, Hee-hee-hu, Hee-hee-hu...
Frinz: Hee-hee-hu, Hee-hee-hu, Hee-hee-hu...Ahh...that’s better.
Esla: My child is still OK, I don’t think she’ll do any harm to me. (suddenly realises) Oh no! She’s holding a brooch!
Frinz: So?
Esla: It’s sharp! She can use it to poke me! This is the end of my life!
Frinz: Ahh, no!!!
And they started poking their costumes.
*awarded best actress runner-up
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