Heard 'round Short+Sweet Sydney...

One of the USA’s more interesting ten minute playwrights, Jeffrey James Ircink, finally makes his long awaited Short+Sweet debut next up in the hard hitting Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology.

- Alex Broun, coordinator, Short+Sweet

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"BILLY" review at AussieTheatre.com!

"(Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology)...saw the reprisal of Chris Turner from Separating The Dust in a very similar role which could have been slightly distracting for some, but at the same time gave the audience the chance to see the demands on some of the performers. It was difficult to pinpoint which character should garner the audience’s sympathies and perhaps this was the charm of the project – the premise of whether there could possibly be a truly evil child was one that was difficult to settle definitively in the short timeframe. Strong performances contributed to this compelling complexity."

-by Leisa Woodman

(Which character is in the "right" is exactly the question I wanted to put to the audience.)

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"Billy Balfoor" @ Short+Sweet Sydney, mate!

Left to right: Steve Warwick (Laird), director Grant Wilcox and Chris Turner (Billy).

My short play, "Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology", had its world premiere at Short+Sweet Sydney / The Biggest Little Play Festival in the World. Grant and I communicated via email (and me 16 hours behind him) for much of the casting and rehearsal process leading up to our week of production, February 16-20.

All I've wanted for three years was to get a play to the production phase of this festival. There's a series of ropes to jump through before you get there - like the 750 submissions received. Once those are read and pared down, 12 plays get a one-week run over the course of 8 weeks = 96 plays total in the festival. The judges top play from each week goes to the Gala Finals which is two nights in March. That's where they award the prize money for Best Play, Audience Favorite, Best Actor and so forth.

"Billy" was not selected to the finals. Fuckin' Aussies. Ha - I'm kidding. I had no expectations going into this. However, there's a bit of a silver lining. See, there's also a People's Choice selection which - at the end of the 8 weeks - determines the People's Choice play to advance to the finals. Long story short, "Billy" placed 5th out of the 11 plays my week (one play was dropped). Interestingly, the People's Choice vote selected "Billy" over the play the judges selected for the Gala Finals (that short placed 6th in the People's Choice).

So - the audience overall liked my play over the judges’ vote for best play (and 4 others…but who cares about those plays). Very cool. Grant had some nice things to say as he saw the play unfold in front of an audience:

"…I'm very happy with how the week went."

"…we all really enjoyed working on "BILLY" . It was different and it had impact."

"…it received one of the biggest ovations of the night. A guy sitting behind me…said 'that was fucking brilliant'."

"…you could hear a pin drop…the tension is palpable."

Everything Grant said is what I wanted to achieve with this play, so I’m very happy. If you wanna check out some previous Short+Sweet posts on "Billy", there's one of the show poster Grant made up and a blog post on the actors.

More pics from the production to follow once I order them from Sydney - and a DVD of the production. It was a wonderful experience - only wish I could've attended. Next time. I'll always submit to Short+Sweet. Great festival. Great people. Thank you Grant, Steve and Chris - for becoming involved with this play. And thank you, Alex Broun (playwright and coordinator who heads up Short+Sweet Sydney...and Malaysia, Singapore, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, New Castle, Delhi, New Castle, Rockhampton, Brisbane and Adelaide)!

And thank you "Billy" and "Laird" - you crazy motherfuckers. Next time.

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BILLY BALFOOR hits Sydney!!!

BILLY BALFOOR WANTS AN APOLOGY by Jeffrey James Ircink. Newtown Theatre. Sydney, Australia, Short+Sweet - The Biggest Little Play Festival in the World. Directed by Grant Wilcox and starring Steve Warwick and Chris Turner. February 16-20.

Fifteen years after his failed attempt at ridding the world of the most evilest boy on the planet, Laird finds himself in a bind - Billy Balfoor wants an apology.

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"Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology" rehearsals in Sydney!

Steve Warwick (sitting) and Chris Turner rehearse "Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology", my 10-minute short which runs February 16-20 at Newtown Theatre in Sydney, Australia as part of Short & Sweet/Sydney, The Biggest Little Play Festival in the World.

"BBWAA" is the third act of the full-length play, "How To Kill A Boy". Fifteen years after Laird Clazerbak took up temporary residence at the home of Billy Balfoor ("the most eviliest boy on the planet") and his mother, Billy somehow manages to track Laird down, kidnap and hold him bound and gagged in an abandoned warehouse. Why? Revenge - but all Billy really wants is an apology. Who’s gonna bend first? Warwick and Turner play Laird and Billy (respectively).

For more information on the play, click here. Click here for more details on Short & Sweet/Sydney.

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TGIF! presents...Short & Sweet Movie Trailer.

Shot for last year's festival, this gives you a taste of the behind-the-scenes of Short & Sweet/Sydney, The Biggest Little Play Festival in the World. My short play, "Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology", will be performed some time in February 2011 at Newtown Theatre in Sydney, Australia as part of the Short & Sweet festival, running January 6 - February 27, culminating in the Gala on March 11 and 12. Sydney is the largest of Short & Sweet's play festivals, celebrating its 10th anniversary next year.

Click here for more information on Short & Sweet and here for a list of the 160 plays (culled from 720) from which the final plays were chosen from for production.

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I'm headed to Australia (well...at least "Billy Balfoor" is)!

I alluded to some "big news" on Facebook a couple weeks ago or so. This is it. After three years of having three of my short plays (THE BED, BILLY BALFOOR WANTS AN APOLOGY, PASS THE SALT, PLEASE) selected to various semi-finals of Short & Sweet, the largest short play festival in the world (with festivals in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Brisbane, Delhi, Malaysia and Singapore), BILLY BALFOOR, which was a previous semi-finalist in Sydney and Brisbane, has been selected from over 720 entries around the world to be performed at the 10th anniversary festival in Sydney (the largest of the festivals) in January/February 2011.

I am beyond thrilled. Here's the synopsis for BILLY.

It's gotten to be a game with me...trying to write (or resubmit a play) in order to crack that nut and make it to an actual production. Of the 720+ scripts submitted for the Sydney festival, 168 made the semi's and only 26 of those were US playwrights. Then, 80 or 90 plays are chosen from the 168 and are performed 5 or 6 times in a week over a month and a half stretch. The best plays each week then move on to the Gala, which is held in February, where about 12 shorts are performed and voted on for cash prizes (best actor, actress, director, script, audience favorite, etc.).

BILLY BALFOOR WANTS AN APOLOGY will be directed by Grant Wilson. Grant and I have emailed back and forth - I feel BILLY is in good hands. You can't imagine what goes into writing a play and then sit there - hoping it bodes well in a competition. Unless you write.

Here are my blog links for BILLY'S inclusion in the semi's for Sydney - and for Brisbane. BILLY is actually the third act of the full-length dark dramedy, HOW TO KILL A BOY.

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"Billy Balfoor" makes semi's at Short & Sweet/Sydney 2010!

I've had some good luck at Short & Sweet - Australia, dubbed "the biggest little play festival in the world". "The Bed" - semi's in Sydney 2009, "Pass the Salt, Please." - semi's both in Brisbane and Sydney 2009, and "Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology" - Brisbane 2009.

300 shorts were shortlisted (semi's) out of 1026 entries. 160 are chosen to run over a month or so.

I understand I haven't been at this long, but once - just once - one of my shorts HAS to somehow squeak in the finals. Maybe this time around...

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"Billy Balfoor" semi-finalist for Short & Sweet/Brisbane!

My latest 10-minute play, "Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology", made the semi-finalist cut for Short & Sweet/Brisbane, the largest ten minute theatre festival in the world, with additional festivals in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Singapore and Malaysia. 550 entries were submitted. 103 made the semis...only 7 of which were from the U.S. 40 make the final cut (a process I have issues with).

Two previous shorts - "Pass the Salt, Please." and "The Bed" were also semi-finalists for Short & Sweet/Sydney. This is becoming a habit - being a semi-finalist. I'm on a mission to make the finals this time around. I'll keep you posted.

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