KAZ GETTS pl

Short plays, one act plays, musicals, full-length plays  ... Kaz Getts has written just about everything including 2 novels, many short stories and also technical and advertising copy. (Well, a girl has to make a living!)

For information about any of the works here or in progress please email Kaz at kg@business-sense.com.au or phone +61 2 9440 0013ays playwright journey high school

Musicals:

Coppertail Creek - an hilarious bush musical where city showgirls meet country boys looking for love in a haunted outback town. Described as “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers meets Mark Chagall” and praised for its “Damn fine script .. evocative of Muriel’s Wedding and Strictly Ballroom” (reviewer Brad Sykes 2RRR) this played to delighted audiences in October 2005 at Marian Street Theatre, Sydney.

Coppertail Creek

10 Minute Plays

Window Shopping - is a “what-if love story” and romantic comedy about 2 people who check each other out on the way home from work through their alter-ego’s. There are even musical moments in this delightful shorty. 2 Females, 2 males. Window Shopping was first performed at Short & Sweet 2005 and has since been performed by several high schools, in the USA and Switzerland and was also performed by RAPA as part of Pull Up Your Shorts 2009.

The Perfect Accessory - is a comedy about two people finding love. Cast is 1 male and 1 female, though could be same sex. Mike and Mille are looking for love and decide to borrow an “icebreaker” from their respective siblings. Will premier at Short & Sweet Top 80, Sydney 2020.

Plasticity. Premiered 2019. This is a black comedy spoof on the recent obsession with plastic bags and how literally destructive these can be.

Distortion Premiered 2018. This drama follows the story of Alisha. This is a tale of what can happen when one person is more invested in a relationship than the other.

Wish You Were Hair. Premiered 2017. This drama was written to celebrate the life of one of our dear friends. Cast one male one female, the play tells the story of the couple’s life together until she leaves this world. Fittingly Warren Bradey and our dear friend Chris Engleheart starred in the premier performance at Short & Sweet.

Someone to Watch Over Me. Premiered 2016. This is a black comedy about the general concensus that Australia is turning into a “Nanny State”. “Nan” - played by a man - tries to control her grand-daughter - without success!

No Man’s Land. Premiered 2015. Commissioned for the ANZAC centenary by Concord RSL this moving piece takes us back to the battlefield. Cast is two women, one man.

Ocean Romance Premiered 2014. This play contrasts the reception given to our first “boat person” known through the media as “The Girl in the Red Bikini” with our current attitudes to boat people. cast is 2 women, one man.

Breeding Premiered 2013 Surrogacy was a secret concept in the 60’s. This blck comedy explores this topic set against the more sexual social mores of the 1960’s.

Space Premiered in 2012 This black comedy tackled the concepts of how we can be terrorised by tidiness or the lack of it. Marie Kondo fans take heed!

Insomnomania - Premiered 2011. this laugh out loud funny play had audiences in stitches when it closed Short & Sweet 2011. Tom can’t get to sleep but what starts out as an innocent attempt to find a cure for his insomnia rapidly escalates into chaos when the girl on his “relaxation tape” comes to life.

Hormonophrenia - premiered 2010. This is a comedy about hormones and every woman’s love-hate relationship with them over their lifetimes. Can be performed is a number of ways from 1 female and 1 male to 6 Females and 1 male as it was in Short & Sweet 2010. This play was also selected for a Short & Sweet showcase in Victoria.

Like Cats & Dogs - performed at Short & Sweet 2009 and Pull Up Your Shorts 2009. Director Warren Bradey describes this play as “a  clever take on what makes us human”. Through the eyes of a cat and a dog we can see that there are more similarities than differences in the way we engage with each other. This play was written in response to the Cronulla Race Riots that shocked most Australians. Cast is 1 female and 1 male actor.

Hard Night - Premiered 2006. this gritty tale begins with humour and laughs as it explores the world of working girls. The end has such a dark twist you’ll never see it coming. Cast is 2 female and 1 male actor. Performed at Short & Sweet and several other festivals

Going Down - a blackly comic piece about the little pay backs we all dream of: a young man gets stuck in a lift (elevator) with his ex-girlfriend and a very full bladder. 1 female, 1 male.

The Hitch-hiker. Premiered at Pull Up Your Shorts 2009. This is a very funny play that is always well received by audiences. Beginning with the retelling of a ghost story on a dark and stormy night in a country pub, the high humpor develops from there. 5 cast.

Full-length Plays:

The Oily Rag Murder - inspired by a true story this is a comedy / murder mystery is about a struggling community theatre group staging a classic who-dunnit set in WW2. Introduces the character Fun and tongue-in-cheek all the way this play was performed in February - March 2010 by RAPA and received rave reviews from audiences, directed by Gerry James. This play was also chosen for the inaugural Sydney Fringe Festival (2010).

Encounter with Murder - takes up the story of Inspector Bunny Beardsley who we first met in "The Oily Rag Murder". There is a serial killer loose in London. It is 1920 and the city is terrified. Who will be next? The play is a farcical romp through 1920's London that weaves themes of post-war hysteria, the emerging Soviet state and the notion of class. This is a good old-fashioned who-dunnit that will make you laugh out loud while you're trying to figure out who is pulling the strings.

Shades - is a play about journeys of the physical and of the soul, told through the stories of its 2 main characters, Carmen, a mature woman of 40, and Alex a 17-year-old youth. Carmen and Alex find their lives woven together as each comes to terms with who they are and what they might become. Romantic, touching and laugh-out-loud funny at times, Shades won the inaugural RAPA Playwright’s Award in 2004 and is to be produced this year. Several male and female roles.

The Gift - what do we owe our loved ones? Trent, who cares for his terminally ill mother is sent to a very new age day spa by his well-meaning sister. As the reluctant Trent begins to trust his therapist, Harmony, the demons begin to escape. The Gift is a romantic comedy with a razor sharp edge. Can be played as a two-hander - 1 male and 1 female actor.

Blue Skies - tells the story of how innocents, even in business, can be hijacked and taken advantage of quite mercilessly. Set in the commercialisation department of a major Australian university this play, based loosely on real events, tells a story you would not believe possible in this sophisticated environment. Several male and female roles.

One Act Plays:

Mother’s Day - Helena is at odds with her daughters over staying in her house - they want her to move to a retirement village. It’s all-out warfare, complicated by the arrival of their father’s (Helena’s late husband’s) love-child.

Bound - Commissioned for and performed at “Pull up Your Shorts” 2011: Daniel wants to get married. He buys a ring and intends to propose to his darling Heather. But his mother decides the ring isn’t big enough. Mayhem ensues when Daniel realises the ring on his fiancee’s finger is not the one he bought. A very tongue-in-cheek look at the haves and would-like-to-haves.

Links

Writers on the web

Small Cast One Act Guide on line

Script Writers Portal