NSCnews Online nscOctober_2017 | Page 13

ENJOYING LIFE ONE STAGE e a t a t im W HENEVER Defence spouse Paula Mandl is on stage, she is in her “happy place”. It’s not that she is unhappy everywhere else, just that she now understands her acting, and enthusiasm for amateur theatre, is what truly makes her happy in life. Oh, and husband CAPT Matt Mandl - he makes her happy, too. But it’s her love of acting, (not Matt), that drives her to swallow the stagefright, and to constantly walk out of her comfort zone on stage. She’s good, too... having just won the Best Female Actor award in the NQ Festival of One Act Plays. And she and best mate Sonia Zabala last week took their production Random Acts of Fiction to the Big Smoke to participate in the Monash One Act Play Festival at the Peridot Theatre, Melbourne. It was a chance to move way out of their comfort zone, by pitting their production, and themselves against the best in the country. They were chuff ed that Random Acts of Fiction received nominations in three categories - Excellence in Direction (Sonia), Best Playwright (Tim Hehir) and Best Actor - Female (Paula). Happy days. Photos by Paul Freeman OCTOBER 2017 | 13