The Salsa Plays were first performed by Archway1 Theatre Company in Sydney, Australia. The production was directed by Rachel Jordan and featured Andrew Fritz, Anja Meyer, Robert Brennen, Campbell Smith, Tuyen Le, Christie Ikonomu, Sarah Anne Wiles, Katie Lees, Kate Michelle Grove, Pip MacLachlan and Iseult Champion. Pictured is Death in a Salsa Class, produced as part of Short+Sweet Sydney 2009, at the Newtown Theatre, NSW, Australia, directed by Katharine Rogers and performed by Naomi Livingstone (Natalie), Elizabeth O’Brick (Sue), Emma Stewart (Shasa), Gillian Emmett (Robbie), Lindsey Chapman (Mary) and Kay Symons (Jennifer).
The Salsa Plays
$2.99
In a local Salsa School, regular Cuban Salsa dance classes are taking place. Friendships are formed and broken, secrets are revealed and a bird lays dead. But despite all the drama, there is the dance – it is what connects the participants to each other.
The Salsa Plays were developed by Alex Broun and the Short+Sweet Melbourne Script Development group (Bobbi-lea Dionysius, Ingrid Gang, Justyna Kiczor, Kate Prestt, Daphne Quah, Nathan Slevin, Janeen Sonsie, Kate Shearman and Lara Woolf) from 2007-08. The aim of the group was to develop ten minute plays for large casts of women. The starting point for the plays was a weekly salsa class and the actors developed characters based around that environment. Alex then facilitated improvisations where the characters were brought into dramatic situations and developed narratives within the class context. The improvisations were then recorded and edited by Alex to create The Salsa Plays. The plays may be performed separately or together to make up a full evening of theatre.
The script download includes all seven of The Salsa Plays: Waiting For Jacqueline (2009), The Salsa Slur (2007), Death in the Salsa Class (2009); Lemon Tart (2007), Salsa Party (2007), The Competition Rehearsal (2007), and Dressing Room (2007).
