THE 31st annual Ararat One Act Play Festival went off without a hitch with plays, including three from the Ararat Theatre Company entertaining audiences from across the state.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The festival, which was held at the Ararat Performing Arts Centre attracted nine theatre companies from across Victoria, one from as far away as Taralgon, entering 11 plays.
This year the festival adopted a new format with all of the plays presented on one day, across three sessions; session one commencing at 11am, session two at 2pm and the evening session at 7pm.
One Act Play Festival director, Russell Potter said it was the first time in his 15 year association with the event it was compacted into one day.
"We have had 11 plays before, but it was the first time we held it all over one day," he said.
"The audiences enjoyed the outstanding plays, all of which were well received.
"Theatre companies left happy knowing that this year they could attend both the plays and the presentations all in the space of a day as in the past when it was held across two days they were unable to."
Ararat Theatre Company presented three plays; Governing Alice, Best Served Cold and The Curious Case of Mr Blackie.
They didn't take away any awards, however, the Dave Colley directed Best Served Cold, starring Rennie Hannan, Libby Johnston, Debbi Colley, Georgina Opie and Bryan Kennedy was nominated for Best Comedy.
Special mention was made of Mr Kennedy who took to the stage to play his part, just days after leaving hospital.
Other performances included Mount Players Youth Theatre - The Actor's Nightmare, Nuworks Theatre - Barricades and Barbed Wire, Bitten By Productions - Beyond Babylon, Ballarat Theatre Company - Who's Afraid Of Enid Blyton, Skin Of Our Teeth Productions - Howling At The Moon, Coburg Players - For The Way Out, Here, There And Everywhere Theatre Company - Couples and TheatreBox - Roughing It.
Adjudicator at this year's Ararat One Act Play Festival was Landsborough's very own professional actor and Hollywood director, Paul Parker.
"He used his theatre experience to provide the performers with constructive comments about their performances," Mr Potter said.
"A lot can happen in a year but some of the new groups already showed their interest in returning next year, so that is positive."