DOG SHOW

The audience knows, more or less, what they are in for with Dog Show. We are down an alley in a warehouse behind the North Melbourne Fringe Hub (one of the prized venues close to the action), greeted by three hyperactive performers who are very happy to see us. The circular astroturf with cushions and…

PERFORMANCE

18/09/2018

WILIN SINGE THE FRINGE

I acknowledge the traditional and rightful custodians of the land on which I stand, live and work, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their elders – past, present and emerging. I acknowledge the ongoing legacy of sacred storytelling, ceremony, ritual and performance which has blessed…

MUSIC

17/09/2018

BORN TO ACHIEVE

Lured by the promise of an hour of female teen 00’s references, plenty from that vintage are in attendance and ready for a Delta singalong. Ruby Johnston’s solo fringe debut could have easily slipped down into an exclusive and silly ‘in-joke’ show but – miraculously for the era and subject matter represented – it floats…

PERFORMANCE

17/09/2018

ALONE OUTSIDE

Perth-based writer Liz Newell cites Taylor Mac in their program notes: “I’m not a teacher; I’m a reminder. I’m just trying to remind you of things you’ve dismissed, forgotten, or buried.” Alone Outside is certainly not an educational or politicised experience; there is immediate warmth and inclusivity in the tale of a city woman’s country…

PERFORMANCE

13/09/2018

EVERYBODY LOSES

With the title of this work having had audience wondering if they’d be in for some kind of ‘battle royale’, there was an eerie energy afoot when Tobias Manderson-Galvin (as Margaret Schmidt) arrived to escort them to an undisclosed location. The guests enjoyed wine on the house, while Margaret talked about the terrible fire…

PERFORMANCE

10/09/2018

ICH NIBBER DIBBER

Having decided to make this show before reviewing 15 years of their recorded conversations, their content has still become the script for Ich Nibber Dibber. The title is garbled German gibberish; the show is mostly nonsense, in-jokes and topics that keep circling in on themselves. Performance Trio Post have here placed drivel and outtakes as…

PERFORMANCE

22/08/2018

SCARAMOUCHE JONES

Colin Friels is a skilled, seasoned performer, lauded and rightly so, but it is hard to tell what he sought to achieve in taking on this piece. The same question should be asked of his director Alkinos Tsilimidos: Why? In the director’s note, our only hint is that they so enjoyed Red (MTC 2012) that they felt…

PERFORMANCE

21/08/2018

DYBBUKS

DYBBUK (n): a malevolent wandering spirit that enters and possesses the body of a living person until exorcised. In Yiddish it comes from the word livdak which means to cling. Chamber Made has taken an iconic old-world play (‘The Dybbuk’ 1913, Ansky) and dug under it, deep into the dark, loud and warm female subconscious. During a…

PERFORMANCE