Without A Calculator
A light, fluffy, unchallenging play to open the Wildcard season for this year. Three nerdy high school friends attempt to solve the solution to their dating woes. The cast does their best with Naomi Hirst and Lindsey Thurlby’s script which bursts at the seams with jokes concerning puffers, pi, nanoseconds and scientific equations. The characters are lisping and cute enough to keep the audience giggling, but there isn’t anything dramatically interesting here.

Bottom Drawer Of Dreams
Angela Philpott’s script treads the familiar path of siblings joining together after the death of a parent, in this case three sisters mourning their mother. Director Susan Lewington weaves the tale in a sometimes natural, sometimes stagy way, and does her best with an often cliché script. There are however some lovely motifs, nice discoveries and Jan Wyles in particular as Veronica, the ‘black sheep,’ puts in a fine performance with her gently acerbic tongue.

Buckeroos And Sheilas
Surely it can’t just be me who is long over George Bush and John Howard impersonations, but by the sound of the audience’s laughter there may still be life in these bumbling politicians (if simply on the S&S stage). Jackie Greenland’s script sees Bush (Richard Young) and Howard (Lachlan McWilliams) in the Australian outback, faced with stinking hot weather and a flurry of cultural misunderstandings involving Aussie slang. There are some amusing moments but when the piece continues to survive purely on puns, it really descends into cringe-worthy territory.

The Nudity Finale
A simple idea done very well. I was quite worried about Andy Piper’s script when it seemed to be traipsing down the ‘here I am writing a play about how to write a play’ route until it slapped me in the face and made me laugh out loud. David Devjak’s direction keeps the pace frantically funny, and kudos to the daring of Adam Boys and Natalie Paige who give their all in the best ensemble work of the program.

Facebooking
Ah, jokes about Facebook and how it controls our lives – you could just hear the audience’s squirming familiarity with Facebook ettiquette issues faced by our protagonists Tom O’Sullivan and Fayssal Bazzi. While not striving for any great theatrical goal, this two hander is perfectly played and side-splittingly funny. We may as well laugh at ourselves and our ridiculous obsession with ‘Stalkbook’ – who knows what we’ll be consumed by a year from now?

Holy Hell
A heartfelt two-hander from writer Barbara Lindsay, directed with the subtle hand of Kate Willard. A man (Brendan Tynan-Davey) and a woman (Elizabeth Thurbon) cross paths through a horrific accident and find love and solice in each other, while truths lie unsaid. A poignant piece with a nice twist that is unfortunately still a little too easy to see, and lingers too long after the punch has its impact. Tynan-Davey puts in his all, however Thurbon as the woman is breathtaking - such a stellar performance is rarely seen in Short and Sweet.

Enhance
Quite often in Short & Sweet, one encounters plays that never really get off the ground and should end a lot sooner than they do – Enhance is unfortunately such a play. Penelope Grace’s script centres itself in a Sydney genetic modification lab doing some devious testing, however for all its promise Enhance is a remarkably uninteresting play. Director Pip Griffin’s production is heavy on props and set which the actors seem to get awkwardly confused by and the pace drags to an uneventful denouement.

A Meeting From Hell
A tight little play with some electric and may I say ‘heated’ chemistry between actors. Brad Loxley, Laura Stevens and Anthea Wilson’s script sees a group of marketing types trying to rebrand Hell for the masses and improve public opinion. It’s a derivative idea but the performances sell it. It’s always good comedy when outlandish characters take themselves seriously, and a lot of fun to see actors enjoying themselves on stage. A more unexpected ending would have made this a fine little script.

A Life More Exciting
It’s clear from the outset that the truth isn’t being told in this family. At their son’s momentous 21st birthday, his parents decide to ‘out’ a few of their little secrets which made his reality far from the truth. Maryanne Kroon’s script is amusing and has some very funny moments as the lies get increasingly ridiculous, but is ultimately a one-trick-pony.

West Side Junction
Easily the stand-out of the program. Daniel Willis’ play revolves around the classic David-and-Goliath-type struggle between billionaire conglomerates taking over the little guys – this time in the Aussie chip shop trade. It’s a stock standard plot with the expected villains (ie. Robert Murder), maniacal laughter, avenging children and a Dad who just won’t be beaten – but it works. Jimmy Andrews directs this slick production in radio-play style with actors standing before scripts on stands, making sound effects, holding novelty 2D props and oversized signs. In this case, the best was saved for last.