The Inaugural Geelong Short Play Festival

The Inaugural Geelong Short Play Festival

By Ivor

Today I attended the matinee session of the Geelong Short Play Festival at the Geelong Performing Arts Centre, and left feeling inspired by the depth of local talent and the warmth of community spirit.

Organised by Geelong Writers Inc. and supported by the Geelong Arts Centre, the festival marks a vibrant new chapter in the region’s creative calendar. As Paul Bucci, Chair of the Geelong Short Play Festival Working Group, shared:

“The festival is an initiative of the Geelong Writers Group, a not-for-profit community group formed to promote support for writers of all genres and to promote writing and literature in the Geelong and Surf Coast regions.
We hope the festival will become an annual event in Geelong, providing a wonderful opportunity to develop and showcase local talent in writing and performance.
This year, the festival features six plays by local writers that were chosen from 36 plays submitted for consideration and supported by five local theatre groups. Thanks to everyone who took the time to submit – well done to all of you.”

Paul Bucci. Geelong Short Play Festival Working Group Chair:

The Geelong Performing Arts Centre


There are several theatres in the Arts Centre: The festival was held at “The Open House”


It was a full house.


The audience—an eclectic mix of theatre lovers, writers, and curious locals—responded with generous applause and lively conversation during intermission. It was clear that this wasn’t just a showcase, but a celebration of Geelong’s creative pulse.


Among the festival’s generous sponsors was Jaymah Press, a local publishing house committed to nurturing regional voices. It was a delight to see Judy Rankin, editor and publisher at Jaymah, acknowledged for her support—not only of the festival, but of countless writers in the Geelong community.

On a personal note, Judy happens to be the editor and publisher of my own books, and I’m continually grateful for her thoughtful guidance and unwavering belief in the power of poetry and storytelling. Her presence at the festival felt like a quiet thread of continuity—linking the written word to the performed one, and reminding us how interconnected our creative journeys truly are






Ivor Steven (c) November 2025

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ivor20

G'day, and welcome to my blog site. My name is Ivor Steven, I live in Geelong, Australia. I'm an ex-industrial chemist, and a retired plumber, and a former Carer of my wife(Carole), for 30 years, who suffered from severe MS. I Write poetry about those personal thoughts, throughout and beyond my life as a Carer. I've been blogging for over 2 years, and writing poems for 19 years. Of course a lot of my poems are about my favourite subject Carole, but since I've been blogging my writings have become quite varied, humourous, mystical, observational, and even a few monster/horror poems.

33 thoughts on “The Inaugural Geelong Short Play Festival”

    1. Oh, it was display of our Geelong Writer’s plays in action, Carolyn … we are all so proud of how the Festival weekend went, with sellouts for each session 📖🌏😍📘💕

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