NOW in its eighth season in Canberra, the short play festival, “Short + Sweet Theatre” is underway.

Around 30, 10-minute plays, including several wildcards, will be presented over two weeks, by local actors and directors.

It will  culminate in the Gala Final on August 20, where the “best” plays are repeated. The audience is asked to participate in selecting the final plays by placing two votes for best play, actor, director, etc, assuming that one vote will go to any friends or family in the plays and the other vote will actually be “valid” – according to festival director Trevar Alan Chilver.

Scripts are accepted from local, interstate and international writers, with a percentage chosen from the ACT. “Short + Sweet” gives both novices and professionals the opportunity to write, act, or direct a play and includes diversity in experience, ability and age range.

Not surprisingly, at least half the plays in the opening week deal directly with sex, relationships and fidelity, new love, married love and lifelong love, including the succinctly titled “Sex” plus “Slow Dating”, “Fighting Mr Right”, “Red Wire, Blue Wire” and “It’s All the Rage”.

Another play addresses children’s concerns about climate change, while they are being subjected to abuse, and others explore the superpowers of mimes, the lighter and more serious sides of those guys who (endlessly) hold the “STOP and GO” signs all over Canberra, the difficulty and etiquette of adult friendships as seen through the eyes of “doof” goers, and how to make the perfect bread roll while slyly getting your old job back.

The standard across the plays appears slightly more uniform this year than in some previous years, regarding the acting, writing and direction. The plays are pared back. “Sex” is the only play to use multimedia as a backdrop and all but one are staged with three or fewer actors and using minimal props and staging effects. It works well. Stage manager Luke Middlebrook executed swift and quiet change overs, organising the props in all directions off-stage.

The plays in this year’s “Short + Sweet” seemed, on the whole, more serious than we’ve seen in other years but a couple of the plays had slightly obscure or unclear endings. A lot of the writing is rather clever, even the titles of the plays. Occasionally the dialogue was not age or character-appropriate and it jarred the moment. One or two of the actors looked miscast due to their age or physicality, not their acting ability.

Throw in some random topics, some original writing, good acting, a dash of overacting, the odd props fail, many laughs, some genuinely shocking revelations or confronting topics, an awkward situation or two, and a coffee-for-sex metaphor, and stage it at the Courtyard Theatre where the audience is up-close-and-personal and you have an entertaining, fun and surprising night of theatre.

Chilver offered a well-run evening, including a comprehensive program. I had offered little explanation to my guest as to what he was coming to. He left having been thoroughly engaged and entertained.