Theatre/Dance – Timing begins when the stage lights come up or when the action begins whichever happens first (i.e. a play may begin with dialogue in a blackout).

Timing does not include change-over between pieces or pre-show music/sound FX.

Warnings:

The first time a piece will be timed will be at the Dress Rehearsal – procedure as follows:

• Less than or equal to 10 minutes = Acceptable timing.
• Equal to or greater than 10 minutes, 5-15 seconds = Not acceptable timing and will receive an unofficial warning.
• Equal to or greater than 10 minutes, 30 seconds = Not acceptable timing and will receive an Official First Warning.

If a piece has received an Official First Warning it will be timed again the following night. If again, the time restrictions are exceeded (Equal to or greater than 10 minutes, 30 seconds), they will receive a Second and Final Warning and be asked to urgently reduce the length of their piece.

If a piece has received a Second and Final Warning it will be timed for the third consecutive night and all other remaining performances. If any of those performances exceed the time restrictions (10 minutes, 30 seconds), the production will be Disqualified.

Disqualification means that remaining performances on the festival schedule may be completed, but they will not be eligible for any prizes awarded at the Festival Conclusion. Don’t worry, we will be gentle about informing you, should this happen to your piece.

It doesn’t matter who you are, or whether the judges or audiences love your piece – if you consistently exceed the time limit you will be disqualified.

Allowances:

If a piece is comedic – either intentionally or not – and it receives excessive laughter from the audience, that effects the running time of the production – they will be given a Laugh Allowance of up to ONE minute.

Also if due to Technical reasons beyond their control a piece exceeds the time limit that will be taken into consideration but may or may not result in extra time being allowed. This is given at the discretion of Short+Sweet and the Artistic Director.

Timing for Wildcard Works:

The 10 minute time limit also applies to Wildcards. But since Wildcard participants only have one performance of their piece – they do not receive any warnings. They do however have leeway – 30 seconds to be exact.

All Wildcards will be timed during their performance. If they exceed 10 minutes, 30 seconds at that performance they will be immediately disqualified.

You will be able to complete the performance but you will not be considered by the judges in determining the winner of that specific Wildcard performance or the overall Wildcard winner or for any prizes presented at the end of the festival.

The laugh allowance of up to ONE minute will be given for excessive laughter at the discretion of the Festival Artistic Director.

Time your piece from the moment you start rehearsing.

During rehearsal, aim to run the piece at normal playing speed (under 10 minutes, allowing for sound FX and lighting cues). This will give you some breathing space when you get into the theatre.

Don’t wait till you get into the theatre to tackle any timing issues.

Keep your set designs simple and easily manoeuvrable, so as not to infringe on your time restrictions.

“Short+Sweet is a ten minute performing arts Festival showcasing dance, theatre and musical theatre. In fact in Short+Sweet there is only one defining factor and limitation placed on all work in the Festival – all pieces (Theatre or Dance) must be ten minutes or less.

So how strict are we on enforcing the ten minute time limit? In a word – very. How much leeway do participants get? Not a lot.

• 5-10 seconds over is not great, but is OK and will result in an unofficial warning from festival director.
• 30 seconds or more over is not OK and will result in an Official First Warning from the festival director.

Pieces longer than ten minutes are usually screened out during the selection process.

Directors/choreographers are responsible for working with their teams (writers/actors/dancers/composers, etc …) to meet time restrictions.

There is a 30 second time limit for set changes to be made between performances. This limit allows for the simultaneous removal of the previous piece’s set and the set-up of the next piece’s set, with a total set change allowance of ONE minute. This ensures the night runs smoothly and the audience is not kept waiting too long between pieces.

If you can keep the scene change within the time allowed you are welcome to do whatever you like, however if the Festival Artistic Director, Festival Producer or Stage Manager believes that your set up is causing the scene change to run too long you will be asked to modify your requirements.

Things to consider when thinking about what you need on stage to make your work successful:

Keep it simple!!!

Do you really need that piece of set? Do you really need those props?
Keep your set pieces as light as possible (carried by two people maximum!!!)
Try to keep you set pieces small as storage is limited.
Try to choose generic pieces of furniture (ie. only use an arm chair if a normal chair absolutely wont do)
We prefer the stage crew to set up as much as possible but can your actors bring on personal props?
Will there be clean up from spills (eg. water on stage) – this will count against your scene change time and people have been disqualified for messy scene changes.
If you have beautifully crafted cardboard or similar free standing sets make sure they are easy to set up and will stand up by themselves (do they need weights? supports? do you have clear instructions on the back?)

Rules for Participation

There are limits to the number of piece you can be involved in Short+Sweet. These are in place to make sure no-one becomes over committed and there is an opportunity to have as many people in the festival as possible.

Actors may not perform in more than TWO plays/song works/dance works at Short+Sweet – this includes Top 20 and Wildcards.

(exceptions may be made by the Festival Artistic Director when a small non speaking/walk on role needs to be cast. In this case the actor must be performing on the same night in another play and permission will only be given if the Festival Artistic Director is satisfied that the director has actually looked for someone to fill that role from the large number of auditionees).

Directors may only direct ONE play.

Only ONE play by any playwright will be presented at the Festival

(exceptions may be made at the discretion of the Festival Artistic Director if a playwright is also a contributor to the creation of a devised work, or co-authors a work so long as the Festival Artistic Director is satisfied that the co-authorship or contribution to the group is genuinely not a second play written by that playwright)

This means however at the most one person can act in two plays, direct another and write one more. However this is huge time commitment and should not be taken on lightly. Please consider carefully how much time and energy you have and commit only to that which you can follow through.

Recommendations for Content

While Short+Sweet Theatre/Song/Dance has no desire to act as a censor we advise our audience that content may include adult themes and is suitable for ages 15+ (or children with parental guidance).

The Festival Artistic Director will act as final arbiter with respect to the content of the work. We ask that you consider the nature of audience when creating your work. Content will be assessed within the context of the work and, while there are no specific limits as to what we will allow on stage, as a guideline you should consider if potentially objectionable content is motivated and crucial to the telling of the story. Most scripts that directors choose from will be able to be staged without any issue but some ITC submissions may push boundaries. Things that you may be asked to address include excessive swearing, extreme violence or nudity.