Bridgette Burton from PlaySix

Bridgette Burton has been writing for theatre since the early 1990s and formed Baggage Productions with Christina Costigan in 1999, a company dedicated to original work for women. She won the R E Ross Trust Playwrights Script Development Award in 2005 (Killing Jeremy) and again in 2009 (Rhonda is in Therapy) and in was awarded a grant by The Malcolm Robertson Trust in 2012 to develop her new work Fury.  Bridgette has been involved with PlaySix every year and is very happy to be back again in 2012.

The PlaySix annual short play festival was founded in 2006 to provide exposure to the work of emerging and established playwrights and to act as a networking forum for Melbourne actors and directors. Directed by Shannon Woollard, the seventh festival takes place 13–15 December at the Williamstown Little Theatre.

What six words best describe your PlaySix play?
Satirical, political, absurd, humourous, topical and short.

What six words best describe the play you’re directing?
All of the above (I’m directing my own play) .

What makes a good short play?
A good idea, well told in the time permitted. Basically the same things that make a long play good, but shorter.

What’s something else that’s good when it’s short?
A trip to the dentist.

What’s something that should never be short?
A basketball player.

Apart from the PlaySix, what other short-play festivals have you been involved in?
Short and Sweet, Melbourne Writers Theatre: Melborn, Boxashorts, Bite-Size, Crashtest Drama.

Quickly, convince northsiders/southsiders to head west to Wiliamstown?
Come for the theatre, stay for the ocean side views.

What else should people do while they’re in Williamstown?
Steal a pelican.

Write a Tweet for me to share about PlaySix.
Playsix – six short plays about clever short things.

If you could invite anyone to see this show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
Julia Gillard, she’d get a kick out of seeing herself on stage, I’m sure

What is the best directing advice you’ve received?
Cast your play well, and the rest will follow.

As a director, what advice do you give to actors?
Do everything. Write, direct, act and produce – what we need in Australia is people that can do it all and that are motivated.

What’s a great book you’ve read recently?
A Kind of Fairy Tale, Joyce.