A series of tiny plays with big personalities are set to take over the Playhouse next month.
Petite Plays is a new event by the South Canterbury Drama League’s Little Theatre and Repertory Committees.
The event is limited to only two performances and will feature nine bite-sized, five-to-10-minute plays written and adapted by local playwrights.
Playwright Suze Smith said the plays would be performed back-to-back and spanned a wide range of genres.
“I’d call it a buffet of theatre, and because they’re performed back-to-back there’s no time for fancy sets or complex tech support. The staging is minimal, letting the acting take centre stage.
“They are not sketches though, these are fully realised plays with a distinct beginning, middle and end.
“The beauty is, if someone doesn’t fancy one play, in another five to 10 minutes another one that’s completely different will come along and they will be entertained.”
The event was a great showcase of local writers and actors, she said.
“From a writer’s point of view, every word counts — there’s no time for slow setups or background info, the script drops the audience right into the middle of the action, so they have to catch up.
“It’s a great opportunity and it encourages people to write a little bit more. It’s a different thing to write something and then to actually see other people put the words into life.
“It also gives directors and people who are budding directors a chance to give it a go without it being a daunting two-hour piece.”
She had been part of a similar event held last year at Hector Black’s.
“It was really well received but it was a bit noisy and a bit cramped because we had a bigger turnout than we thought.
“We realised there’s a lot of really good local talent in Timaru. So we thought, let’s put on a show that’s similar and the Little Theatre committee with the drama league wanted to do something a bit different, fast and new.”
The audience just needed to come with an open mind and be ready to be entertained, Smith said.
“It is going to be a really fun night.”
The two performances will be held at 7pm on June 11 and 12.
Tickets can be purchased from the iTicket website.
