L.A. Producer/Director Matamura to Lead North American Debut of Theatre Festival

SYDNEY, Australia – The Short+Sweet International theatre festival announces that Los Angeles-based theatre director/producer Kaz Matamura has been named director of the Hollywood Short+Sweet theatre festival, which opens on Thursday, Sept. 8, at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood.

Matamura brings decades of performance and arts administration experience to the festival, which will present 60 10-minute plays over three weekends. Awards will be presented to winning productions and performers at a special gala and performance on Sunday, Sept. 25.

Kaz Matamura

Short+Sweet debuted in Sydney in 2002 and has since presented festivals in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Dubai and New Zealand. The Hollywood festival that Matamura directs marks the North American debut of Short+Sweet.

“I am so grateful that Short +Sweet chose Hollywood as the location for the first North American festival,” said Matamura. “Los Angeles has a solid theatre community, and my team and I are determined to make this festival a representation of the diversity and energy that makes up the fabric of this city’s culture.”

In addition to being one of L.A.’s most prolific theatre producers, Matamura has directed short play competitions for more than 20 years. As founder of the non-profit Fire Rose Productions, she produced over 50 full-length plays and festivals, established student exchange programs and formed children’s reader’s theatre groups and arts classes at local libraries.

Matamura also founded three theatre companies: New Rose Ensemble, Mini Rose Ensemble and Arigato Kai, a Japanese-language performing troupe. Along with directing and producing theatre, she teaches acting technique classes internationally, in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Tokyo.

She is the recipient of the Women in Theatre Red Carpet Award, Artistic Directors Award, Fred Vogel/CTI/Drama Biz Award, Woodstock Guild Fellowship and the California Traditional Music and Dance Fellowship.

“We know that we have found a creative and accomplished artistic leader in Kaz Matamura, said Sydney-based Mark Cleary, founder and artistic director of Short+Sweet International. “It is very exciting to have her guiding our entrance into the North American theatre community. We look forward to working with her on the Hollywood festival and in the future as Short+Sweet expands throughout the United States and the North American continent.”

For more information about the theatre festival, visit https://www.shortandsweet.org/. For tickets and information, “like” the Hollywood Short+Sweet page on Facebook or follow it on Twitter at @shortnsweetla.

Short+Sweet is a global festival that aims to build theatre-going audiences around the world. It presents exciting, contemporary works of theatre, dance, cabaret and song that run 10 minutes or less and are designed to challenge and entertain. Short+Sweet plans to expand to more cities in the U.S. and the world in order to fulfill its vision – “to build a more creative world, 10 minutes at a time.”