THEY ARE SHORT BUT VERY SWEET
There’s plenty of Gold Coast talent hitting the stage this week as performers and directors race the clock in a collection of 10-minute plays and cabaret acts
ELVIS is Dead is one of more than 20 plays coming to the Gold Coast for a festival of 10-minute stage shows.
Rebecca Elise Lamb – a Brisbanereared actor, director and producer who launched her career playing Bat Girl at Gold Coast’s Movie World – directs the Canadian comedy, penned by James Hutchinson.
Lamb selected the play from a catalogue of works to be presented by acts in this year’s Short + Sweet Festival which returns to The Arts Centre Gold Coast for a second year.
“There was a shortlist of about 50 plays and this one stuck out for me,’’ Lamb says. “Elvis is Dead is set in a future where all of mankind’s knowledge is on a hard drive. Then the hard drive crashes.”
Elvis is Dead stars Gold Coast actor Nicola Stewart and Brisbane actors Richard Murphy and Alex Watson with production design by Michelle Peloe and poster design by Chris Macdivitt.
It is one of dozens of bite-sized plays and acts that feature during theatre and cabaret programs which play in The Space and The Basement at The Arts Centre Gold Coast this weekend and next.
Short + Sweet launched on Thursday and gives audiences the chance to see up to 10 short plays or six late-night cabaret acts performed back to back.
Audiences can vote for their favourites with the winners to compete at Powerhouse Brisbane at the end of the month for the chance to compete in a national final.
Short + Sweet Festival: The Arts Centre Gold Coast – Today, 1.30pm, 7pm, 9pm; Thursday and Friday, 7pm; Saturday, August 7, 1.30pm, 7pm, 9pm. Cost from $28.