48 hours to create a masterpiece

‘‘It's about the Hutt holding events and doing them as well as Wellington.’’

A new play festival and competition has something more valuable than a trophy - mentoring by industry professionals.

The 48 Hour Short Play Festival challenges budding playwrights to create a 10-minute play within 48 hours. They will then be staged at the Lower Hutt Little Theatre on October 9.

The judges will select five plays and their playwrights will receive advice from a team comprised of director Geraldine Brophy, a light and sound designer, a dramaturge and a production manager.

The Naenae-based actress and director said they would be looking for ’’nuggets of gold’’ which could be polished through a week of mentoring before the plays were performed again on October 15.

The event, which was being run by Nextstage Theatre Charitable Trust, was an opportunity for all people to tell their stories to an audience, Brophy said.

It was also designed to lift the profile of Lower Hutt as an artsfriendly city.

‘‘It’s about the Hutt holding events and doing them as well as Wellington,’’ she said.

She had used her connections to bring plays such as HMS Pinafore, which she directed, and Menopause the Musical to the Little Theatre.

Next year a new Grumpy Old Women will be performed there, as well as Desperate Hutt Wives. A version of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in a rest home is also planned. It will fea- ture a tale about grandchildren who are unhappy about a romance because they think it will negatively affect their inheritance.

Festival teams must comprise between two and 10 members who are 16 and older. The 10min plays would be based on a subject given at the Little Theatre on October 7 at 7pm.

Tickets to the elimination round on October 9 and the showcase on October 15, both starting at 7pm, are $10 and are available at the door.

To enter the festival register at at https://goo.gl/Y2GniO, $15 entry fee.