Short & Sweet Summary

Through to the final:
Memoirs
The Emotional Anatomy of a Relationship Breakdown
Spring Session
Hi It's Me I'm On the Train
Pefect Stillness
Monster Porn
Uncomfortable Silences
Sleepless Night
Paradise
Unreal (wildcard winner)

I'm going along to the final tonight with Michelle, Liza and Ms Macarthur, so I'll let you know what happens.

Week One:
Memoirs (Judge's Vote #1) - A guy and two girls from NICA performing a very physical performance piece about the power memories have to affect our lives. Based on their acrobatic and trapeze skills.
The 11 O'Clock - A patient, a psychiatrist, and a secretary. Or is that a psychiatrist, a patient, and a secretary? Or two psychiatrists and a..... hmm.....just whose secretary was it?
Moving Fast - Roger Johnson's wife leaves the house one morning to get milk. She returns to find that, in her absence, her unemployed truck driver husband has converted to islam, changed his name to Mustafa, started a cult and been voted Emperor of the world.
When We Fall - Four seemingly unconnected people tell their perspective on what starts as an ordinary day. As we discover the ties that link them, we see chance and coincidence lead to a tragic accident and life shattering consequences for them all
The Emotional Anatomy of A Relationship Breakdown (Judge's Vote #2, People's Choice Vote #1) - Anabelle and Christopher have broken up. Three facets of Anabelle and three facets of Christopher illustrate the see-sawing power struggles involved in a relationship breakdown.
Relics - Mathilde, a refugee from Germany, has spent her life collecting grotesque artefacts from Nazi history. After years of sacrifice and self-degradation to build up her collection, finally she succeeds in getting the one piece she has really been searching for - a 'Jewskin' lamp... made out of her own husband...
Charlie - James is gay, much to the disgust of his mother, who warns him that it's a secret best kept from his father, a gruff, no-nonsense old farmer. But the real surprise is that James' secret is no secret at all.
Eight Gen X Women - Eight generation X women who are sassy, sexy, and smart. They want fulfilment, they want answers...and they want a man.
Jack Rabbit - A surreal exploration of four character who meet by a park bench - an artist, a drunk, a psycho and a social worker. We watch as their world turns full-circle.
Spring session (People's Choice Vote #2) - What happens when Kim Beazley's publicity guy meets John Howard's publicity girl...while walking their dogs in the park? Love blooms, that's what.

Week 2:
The Council of Health for the Village of Yan Presents the Inmates of Madhouse #104 in a Play - An allegory for the way goverment uses fear and prejudice to control and manipulate its people. The mayor of Yan has sponsored the local lunatic asylum's production of Little Red Riding Hood. The inmates refuse to play along with his scheme, so it's lucky that "management" has plenty of sedatives to go around.
Snippet - A woman discovers that her relationship with a musician has been one big lie - her love nothing more than an experiment to help him create music from her pain. She fantasises about revenge, but eventually decides on the only solution that he won't be able to use in his songs - suicide.
Echoes - William returns to his wife after 20 years in prison, where he is confronted by her son, and faces the echoes of the past.
Perfect Stillness (Judges Vote #2, People's Choice #1) - Writing the eulogy for his wife's funeral, Tim must face up to the truth about their relationship. after all, it's important to go out with complete honesty...or is it?
Pawn Shop - Gary is an arsehole. He and his heart don't belong together. So he takes it out...maybe if they spend some time apart he will learn to live with it again.
Monster Porn (People's Choice equal #3, Judge's Vote #3) - In cyberspace, a woman takes a man on a wild journey through a mutated Kama Sutra, with knobby horns and forked blue tongues.
The Shard - Maggie's clever husband has, with her help, invented a device for viewing alternate realities. But something goes wrong, the mirror is fractured, and Maggie watches helplessly as her life is stolen...by herself...
Lighthouse - After the loss of their parents, a brother and sister (and more besides) return to the lighthouse where they grew up. As they explore their memories, we discover that their parents aren't the only tragic deaths they must come to terms with.
Losing your marbles - Bradley accepts the frailties of Betty, the elderly woman with Alzheimers that he nurses. His love and care encourage her to recall a treasured memory from her past, but cannot bring about the acceptance he desperately craves from her.
Hi, It's Me, I'm on the Train (Judges Vote #1, People's Choice #2) - Brenda's leaving her family for a cruise, Mick's looking for a night on the town, Sharon's social life is exploding, Tony's on a mission, and Sean is about to have his heart broken. We hear it all at once, as they chat on their phones on the train on the way home...

Week 3
Life As A Springer Show - A "choose-your-own-ending" play that analyses a simple meeting in a cafe from the point of view of a trashy American talk show.
Terror Nullius - The government is determined to ensure its people have 'Australian Values'... and what better time to start testing for it than before birth? The only question is, who decides what it means to be Australian?
David Koresh, Timothy McVeigh and the Beard of Michael Rogers - Michael Rogers has grown a beard, and his parents are both alert and alarmed. A light-hearted look at global paranoia turns very dark.
Billy Windlock - Billy Windlock is dead and, in the small country town where he lived, a young woman forces its residents to take responsibility for his wasted life.
War Poems - A woman searches the war cemeteries of Gallipoli for her missing husband. But faced with the reality of what he might have become, does she really want to find him at all?
Uncomfortable Silences (People's Choice #1) - How do you know when you are more than just friends? This play explores a lifetime of awkward moments as a young man finally gather the nerve to take the next step.
Islands of the Good and the Bad - The truth is just someone else's story. A young girl is a witness to a shocking murder. Or is she? A policewoman tries to get to the truth. A disturbing warning about society's willingness to accept what it wants to hear.
You Make Me - A girl faces the prospect of meeting her real mother for the first time. It's going to take time to get used to the idea.
Sleepless Night (Judges vote #1) - Simon is introduced to the feisty Rita, and it's hatred at first sight. But then there's the second sight...and the third...and eventually he comes to realise that the woman he couldn't stand, is actually the woman he can't stand to be without.
Paradise (Judges vote #2)- Adam and Eve wrestle with their consciences as they struggle to rationalise their desire for that which they cannot have. An exploration of naked desire. VERY naked.


Thoughts, impressions, opinions? Do you agree with the finalists? Do you want to stab the judges in the eye with a needle? Discuss here...