Tag: SKINT

Melbourne Fringe review: No Seasons

On By rlsmithwritingIn ReviewsLeave a comment

No Seasons is a unique experimental show by Oliver Ayres that explores gender, IVF, disability, and parenthood.

Upon entering the theatre audience members are asked to take a pair of headphones, color coded based on your lived experience:

– you are a parent already

– you are not a parent, but you might be one day

– you are not a parent and never will be

Before the performance even began, the artist had set up the tension. I experienced a low level of curious FOMO (fear of missing out) all the way through the show. I kept wanting to know the story people with different colour headphones could hear. And no, I’m not telling you my colour.

While multiple narratives played through headphones, the artist performed silently in and around what looked like an old bathhouse. At 19 Oliver had 22 eggs retrieved prior to a gender transition. 22 stones represented those eggs as Oliver’s dilemma unfolded in our ears and on a fragmented visual display.

The effect was beautiful. No Seasons is without a doubt an original work. A vulnerable, intimate and immersive insight into Oliver’s experience as a transgender man with a disability contemplating the possibility of becoming a parent.

If you are like me, you will get an itch to go back and experience the other narratives.

No Seasons is produced by SKINT. Sound design is by Justin Gardam and Rachel Lewindon, lighting design by Sidney Younger, and set design by Ashley Reid.

Tickets are available via Melbourne Fringe website. No Seasons is on at the Meat Market Stables, 2 Wreckyn st, North Melbourne until 18th October. Highly recommended.

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

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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.

Comedy review: BIGFOOT: In Plain Sight

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I saw Handful Of Bugs show (The John Wilkes Booth) at last years comedy festival, and it was great, but this years one person comedy, BIGFOOT: In Plain Sight, takes things to a whole new level.  I would describe this show as a blend of theatre (there’s a plot) with comedy and clowning (for laughs). And it’s a hoot.

Canadian Bigfoot researcher Robert H. McKinley self-published an autobiographical account of his lifelong relationships with Bigfoot. BIGFOOT: In Plain Sight is an interpretation of that work that also explores the ethics of adaptation. The setting is the freezing Canadian wilderness and tells the story of McKinley out there in his shorts, rucksack and hiking boots with his tent and sleeping bag and a big love for BIGFOOT. He wants to prove what he knows to be true – that BIGFOOT is real, and his dad who went missing long ago is still out there somewhere as well. 

And just as you start to wonder where the story is going, there is the most fabulous plot twist that will leave you in jaw dropping hysterics. What is fact, and what is fiction?

Handful Of Bugs theatre company is made up of Alex Donnelly, the performer in BIGFOOT, and his co-writer/conspirator Lachlan Gough who also Directed and did sound for this show. Donnelly led the set, props and costume design. SKINT produced it. Despite the origins of the mythical creature Bigfoot being well known, the show BIGFOOT: In Plain Sight is truly an original piece of comedic theatre, packed full of laughs as well as thought provoking content.

Donnelly is a dynamic and talented comedic actor, with an impressive capacity to switch characters with the flip of a hat (literally) and convey story and emotion through physical theatre. The show is professionally produced and Gough’s Direction ensures a cohesive and authentic work.

I highly recommend BIGFOOT: In Plain Sight. It is playing at the Malthouse Playbox theatre until 20th April, with showtimes at 8.30 pm or 7.30pm on Sundays. 

I highly recommend this trip into mid-20th century folklore and the cultural icon BIGFOOT.