Tag: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Melbourne Fringe review: ACTRESS

On By rlsmithwritingIn ReviewsLeave a comment

I love a good drag cabaret show and ACTRESS, performed by Murdoch Keane, is up there with a unique concept and persona and great visual artistry combined with artistic talent. The audience went off. 

As the patrons enter Griselda von Fistenberg dances around a collection of cardboard boxes and other props under a red glow light. Her mass of golden hair sparkles and her opening lines are poetic. 

There’s one catch. She’s dead. Has been for five days after falling down the stairs. Her pool boy found her there. So are we seeing an old actress come back from the dead or has her besotted queer pool boy stolen her identity and put on a show?

This is Hollywood ghosts on steroids – think Judy, Marilyn, Joan, Bette, Liz T, Liza, Ethel and King Kong – bought back to life by Keane’s exceptionally good voice and high energy charisma. It’s queer cabaret delivered with ghoulish glamour.

ACTRESS, created in collaboration with Ozzy Breen-Carr and directed by Brandon Armstrong, is Keane’s debut solo show developed through a La Mama residency. I am confident we will see a lot more of Keane.

ACTRESS is showing at Melbourne Fringe Festival Hub, Trades Hall in the Meeting Room until 19th October. If you’re looking for a wild ride with some old stars and new themes, grab a ticket for this Fringe show now.

Melbourne Fringe review: The Worm

On By rlsmithwritingIn ReviewsLeave a comment

Online dating is tough – if you’ve done it you know what I mean, dating apps have made meeting people highly transactional. A never ending sea of faces, often not the ones that show up on a date, weeks of chatting and creating a projected image of potential partners, random ghosting. Perfect content for comedic story telling when you think about it.

The Worm created by comedian Taylah Whelan and on at Melbourne Fringe Festival makes a comedic soup of online dating and our associated anxieties. Whelan embarks on dates to have hot sex with a man she’s not interested in, an over confident but under talented wannabe screenwriter, and a woman who is well adjusted and interested. And how is a girl supposed to deal with that? Whelan’s crushing anxiety and the quiet rumblings of a talking animatronic worm sabotage everyone of them.

Did you know that earthworms possess not one heart, but five?

With great comedic timing and witty one liners, Whelan has created a funny and insightful show telling a story about the anxiety ridden reality of modern dating, the vulnerability of our efforts to connect, and being our own worst enemy.

The Worm is produced by SKINT and directed by Caitlin Soennichsen. Wriggle over to the Fringe website to grab a ticket to The Worm, playing at the Motley Bauhaus in The Cellar till Sunday 5th October. 

Melbourne Fringe review: Jester’s Privilege

On By rlsmithwritingIn ReviewsLeave a comment

And to be a buffoon was a serious thing as a rule! For a jester’s chief employment, is to kill himself for your enjoyment – The Court Jester

The life of the joker was to amuse the aristocracy. Their privilege came from being the only person in the court who could insult the monarch without consequence. But what happens when a jester goes too far?

Jester’s Privilege, on at Melbourne Fringe Festival is about a jokers existential crisis after the medieval Queen decides to put him to death.  He messed up his juggling act in a way that had dire consequences for the monarchy.

What will become of the Jester who has displeased the Queen?

Jester’s Privilege is a dark comedy by Handful of Bugs writer-performers Alex Donnelly and Lachlan Gough, and produced by Kaite Head of SKINT. Donnelly and Gough are a versatile, dynamic and playful performance ensemble. In Jester’s Privilege Donnelly’s acting skills shine through portrail of multiple characters in quick change successions. Donnelly and Gough are joined onstage by Ayesha Harris-Westman as the Queen. And the costumes are spectacular and colourful.

I have seen Handful of Bugs before and they go from strength to strength in their performances. With clever scripting, impeccable timing, and hilarious facial expressions, this show is a lighthearted exploration of a serious topic – the inner turmoil of the clown for whom sometimes comedy emerges as a release from psychological torment. Who better to unmask the court jester but a comedic duo?

Grab a ticket for a wild ride in Medieval England. Jesters’s Privilege is on at Festival Hub: Trades Hall Old Council Chambers till Sunday 5th October.