Worlds Alive 2025: A Unique Celebration Of Short Plays From Around The World

For theatregoers who are tired of attending the same old, same old mammoth stage productions and would instead like to see something up-close and personal, Worlds Alive 2025 is the perfect event – brought to the stage by Scene Theatre Sydney.

Scene Theatre Sydney’s Artistic Director Carol Dance explained that they specialise in ‘scenes’ as the name suggests. They’ve produced 14 plays for Short and Sweet Play Festivals and last year they ran a national playwriting competition for 15-minute plays.

“Renowned playwrights Stephen Sewell and Justin Fleming were the assessors. The eight winning plays received a dramatic reading in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct in a sold-out performance. People even came from Tasmania and Victoria to see the event!”

Audiences have the opportunity to experience this rather unique production in which 11 short plays from 9 countries will be presented at each of the three weekend performances.

The plays are from Ukraine, Singapore, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Iraq, South Africa, India and Jamaica. Professional actors Charles Mayer, Jo Bloom, Joseph Raboy and Tiang Lim are joined by newcomer Papuan Leonie Ragi.

“We’ve selected plays that are ‘comedies-with-bite’. Entertaining yet thoughtful. A few are only minutes long and are also the most amusing. None of these plays or playwrights have been seen in Australian before and most of the 9 countries represented have also never had plays seen here,” explained Dance.

“Michael De Huy is a composer and arranger, perfect for what we needed for WORLDS ALIVE 2025. He plays the piano for 30 minutes before the plays commence, during the intermission and between each of the plays for a minute or so while we get ready for the next play. The venue has a marvellous grand piano. It’s plays, music and jocularity galore.”

When asked what the thought process was in bringing this event to the stage, Dance said they wanted to give Australian audiences a taste of plays from countries which we don’t often think of having relatable stories to us.

“The Papuan New Guinea play is very funny, taking the mickey out of the Australian kiaps. The Rastafarian play from Jamaica makes fun of the Europeans in a nice way and the Iraqi play, set in an Apple store is hilarious. The South African play is by that country’s equivalent of Barry Humphries.”

Dance said that this project is designed for global thinkers, internationalists and theatre-lovers who crave something different.

“We are ‘globalising theatre’, bringing other worlds to our stage. All the plays are suitable for people 13 to 100 years of age. This would be the perfect way to introduce teenagers to theatre. There’s nothing boring about it and they get a taste of many kinds of plays.”

This should also be a perfect night out for people who detest cramped seating conditions and who are seated a far distance from the stage owing to affordability.

“People who don’t like sitting in the dark for two hours, not able to move, and crammed between other audience members, they can be assured this isn’t going to happen at WORLDS ALIVE 2025. Feel the freedom of spacious seating, up close and personal with the actors and the sound of the natural voice.”

You can find more detailed information on Worlds Alive 2025 here: on the plays, the playwrights and the performers.

Worlds Alive 2025 – March 29 – 30 at Walsh Bay Arts Precinct.