It has to be said that the Melbourne Writers’ Theatre, the MelBorn08 crew (actors and directors included) and in particular its Artistic Director, Robert Chuter, have done a stunning job in not only staging these New York-style playreadings, but also making them a wonderful success – both in the eyes of the audience, who attended nightly to full capacity, and also to the relatively few but enthusiastic and experienced artists who wrote, directed and acted their way through the three nights.

Like the previous two nights, the plays were diverse, dynamic (albeit sometimes stretching) and surprising – both plot-wise and in witnessing a particular piece be staged and come to life through minimal (but effective) blocking by the night’s directors. In this case, Colin Ryan’s Music of Orpheus, Catherine Krejany’s Empty Vessel and Therese Cloonan’s Ten Years – all directed by Lucien Savron – showed glimpses of just how much complexity ten-minute plays can have;while Bruce Nettheim’s The Goldfinders, David Kemp’s Love Bomb and George Huxley’s The Trick – all directed by David Rock – were examples of how metaphors, both verbal and visual, could be translated on stage.

However, with the ten-minute format, it can be either hit or miss and like many of the first half plays, some were quite difficult to grasp and didn’t show (at least as readings) the impact of what may be executed in a fully-staged production. The exception to this was the wonderful The Trick: a tight comedy about a booty call gone horribly wrong!

Catherine Krejany’s Empty Vessel, Brett Danalake and Iain Triffitt’s Crossed Lines and Liz McColl and Saskia Post in Kate Toon’s Sushi Wushi Woo were certainly the highlights of the night.

But it was again the atmosphere that was the main accompaniment to the plays: the Australian Centre Of Performing Arts’ cosy performance space, the walls decorated with large and colourful canvases by local artist Anthony Breslin, music from violinist Miranda Troynar and the warm reception from and relaxed aura of the actors and writers before and after the performance at the downstairs bar.

And as previously mentioned in the last review of the first two nights of the Playreadings, it is the perfect opportunity to see writers’ work in the raw and hear how stories are told, before the layering of production takes place. Much like a test screening for new films, this process captures the purity of the script and the honest reflections of an audience, which can influence a creative team to either create something more from a particular piece, or the writer to go away and consider writing another draft!

All in all, a refreshing spin on Melbourne’s theatre menu – and with MelBorn08’s production season starting in September, one can see the best of the Playreadings put to their potential best!

Season Closed

MelBorn 08 is the 7th annual short play competition taking place in conjunction with the Melbourne Fringe Festival from 24 September – 11 October, 2008 at the Carlton Courthouse Theatre in Melbourne, Australia.