The results are in, and it's a bit of a landslide!
Carl J. Sorheim's play, It's All The Rage, took home four of our six awards last night, and they were well deserved!
The play won the People's Choice award and the Best Production award. Director Chris Baldock won Best Director, and actor Nick Steain won Best Actor.
Chris has returned to Melbourne to work his magic on Heidelberg Theatre Company's production of One Man, Two Guv'nors later this year, and was represented on stage by his sister, Gina Dempsey, who accepted the award from ACT Minister for the Arts, Dr Chris Bourke. He described being a part of Short+Sweet as a "deeply rewarding experience".
The play also won the stage manager's Mop Award, for the play requiring the biggest cleanup, and the Chair Award, for the play requiring the most frequent replacing of damaged props!
The judges found their decisions very difficult, and expressed, along with many of our patrons, how great the quality of the entries was. The People's Choice votes were broadly spread across a number of plays, and the runner-up, Brexit, was only three votes behind the winner. A Very Brief Encounter, which came third, was only one vote behind Brexit.
The all-important Best Script Award went to Kirsty Budding's Brexit, which explored the motivations and alliances that the UK's historic vote to leave the European Union brought to the fore.
Jessica Gowing engaged audiences with her stunning performance in Nigel Palfreman's monologue, Always the Bridesmaid, and was rewarded with the judges' Acting Commendation.
Rachel Hogan and Helen Way, both from A Very Brief Encounter tied for second place on the Acting Commendation, and Penelope Hunt came in second to Nick Steain for Best Actor.
Click here to see the full results for the Gala Final
Click here to see the full results for the heats