Sweet win for local play

Paul Bowman’s ‘A Soldier’s Testimony’ scooped the top awards including Best Production, Best Director (Dany Akbar) and Best Actor (Russell Cronin).
Best Script went to US writer Steven Otfinoski (‘The Audition’), while Rebecca Smee was named Best Actress for her tour-de-force performance in “Margot’s Bench”.
Young Sydney CBD actor Cindy Tran won Best Newcomer for her delightful work in ‘Jade Green’.
‘Baaaahhh’, written and directed by talented young all-rounder Sophie Davis and performed with her twin brother Chris, picked up the Crew Cut award while the Wildcard winner was the hilarious two-hander ‘Riding the Clutch’, by writer Sally Bartley, directed by Sebastien Scott and starring Lynda Leavers and Genevieve Evans.
The ‘Spirit’ Award went to two Anthony McShane and Olga Tamara.
Presenters included visiting Short+Sweet Hollywood Festival Director Nick Hardcastle, Actors Centre Australia CEO Dean Carey and Short+Sweet founder and creative director Mark Cleary.
Debuting festival director Sarah Purdue said she was excited to have presented a diverse and engaging festival this year.
“We have had artists representing the Indian and Chinese Australian communities, productions from the Illawarra, Bundanoon, Canberra and as far away as Los Angeles and Chennai.
“We’ve had first-time directors who recently completed their HSC, octogenarians… and some with over 13 years’ experience in Short+Sweet.
“The final line-up was a truly exciting mix of the funny, the thrilling, the feel-good and the bizarre!”